New Garden Airport Airshow

While going through a free newspaper about local news - i picked up at the groceries store, I was surprised to find an ad about an "Air Show!" . What?? an airshow close to home?? turns out that the New Garden Airport at Toughkenemon, PA has an annual airshow. a small affair, but a regular one.

Having an airshow close to home - I just had to haul my ass off to watch it - and i did. the airport was a cute place - single runway - lot of gen av aircraft. the arrangement was such that you could literally sit about 50 - 100 feet away from the runway threshold and take pictures. The aircraft actually come into land flying just above the parking lot. So I had some wonderful shots. Some of the best i have taken (Beating even the WW2 reading ones)

More of the photos at this link

World War II Weekend at Reading, PA

P40 Tomahawk
Originally uploaded by Super Zag

Attended the World War II Weekend last Saturday at Reading airport in Pennsylvania. An incredibly hot day that resulted in several people passing out due to the heat.

A number of warbirds were there - though the Hurricane and Yak were missing from last year. The Weather was glorious for flying and so was the lighting and angles. Took 450+ photos - some of the best aircraft ones are uploaded here

Recommended Books added

I have added some books that I recommend to the widget on the right. The goal is to identify one book per conflict which is the 'master reference' document. Keep checking the updates!

A Boeing 707 in the Indian Air Force Colors

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Seen above in the Google Maps view is the ARC tarmac area at the New Delhi International Airport in Palam. The aircraft to the right in the above frame is a Boeing 707 maintained by the Aviation Research Center. Around 2002, there was only one Boeing 707 in the ARC area - which looked like it was gathering dust and like it hadnt taken to the air in years. However in recent years, a Second 707 has arrived. suggesting that it has flown in from elsewhere. And more importantly as the photograph on the right shows, the 707 sports IAF markings rather than the civilian ones of the earlier one. The Boeing 707 carries the IAF roundel on the top side of the aft fuselage and the fin flash - certainly a rare illustration of this type in IAF colors.

According to my notes, the IAF received two Boeing 707s ex-Air India. The aircraft VT-DVB and VT-DXT were numbered K2900 and K2989 respectively - and it is belived that the two B707s at Palam are these two types. I am not aware of any specific photos of this type in IAF colors if you have seen something somewhere, do let me know.

An Indian Army Alouette in Gilgit, Pakistan - Redux

Following up on my earlier post , found this interesting photo by Nadine on Picasaweb - showing another view of the same helicopter - from a slightly higher viewpoint. There apparently is a plaque at the base of the platform - wish someone took a shot of it.
Apparently the place is called "Helicopter Chowk" - and is located right along the main road that runs through Gilgit Town. Heres the Wikimapia Link - See the same place in Google Maps in the iframe below.

Its interesting to see the amount of reconstruction that this aircraft underwent. However I can just about see the control columns inside the cabin. Guess no one is interested in them as souvenirs!


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"Go Army"..

"Go Army"..
Originally uploaded by Mark D. Martin India

I have to get one of these trucks for my house at hyderabad.

An upcoming Warbird?

seaharrier
Originally uploaded by fostermadscientist

A sea harrier being transported by road from NAS Garuda (cochin) up north along the highway. I would suspect that it is delegated to warbird duties ?

The NAM Sea Harrier gets its "legs"

Surprise to find it here
Originally uploaded by karanmerchant

The Sea Harrier was formerly on stilts and trestles - looks like they fixed up some wheels for it. Good going!

Amazon.com: "Indian Air Force" Search Results

Thanks to the recommendation of one of the readers, a search on Amazon.com for "Indian Air Force" brings up "The India-Pakistan Air War of 1965" as the No.1 Result.

Amazon.com: "Indian Air Force"

Piet Kruizinga: Geweld in Hyderabad- India.

Piet Kruizinga: Geweld in Hyderabad- India.

A nicely authored article on Hyderabad and the Police Action - as well as interesting notes in the end analysing the works of Omar Khalidi, Narendra Luther, V K Bawa etc who have written books on Hyderabad.