Air Cmde Jagdev Chandra – The first flying instructor of the Indian Air Force and the architect of the post-independence IAF training setup. As a father figure of training in IAF, he probably deserves more credit and publicity.
Jagdev Chandra was born on 6 Oct 1916 in Gujranwala in a Punjabi family, father a doctor and brother, the politician Jag Pravesh Chandra. He quit medical school to join JRD Tata as one of his first students and got his civil flying license from Nothern India Flying Club,Lahore.
He volunteered with the IAFVR and was commissioned with the 4th Pilot Course in Aug 1940. He had nearly 1,000 hours of flying when he joined the IAF. After completing his initial training at ITS, Walton, he was sent to SFTS, Ambala for intermediate flying training.
Wg Cdr Simpson (RAF) as Chief Instructor was impressed with Chandra’s abilities and recommended that Indian pilots be enrolled as instructors too. Chandra completed his flying training in May 1941 and joined No.2 Squadron where he remained till October.
Soon he was called upon to be a flying instructor. He, along with three others, went for a 4-week training program at SFTS and emerged as the first instructor in the IAF. What followed was a long stint with 7 Sqn at Peshawar and in Burma and then with 4 sqn incl as the Commanding Officer.
Chandra’s 4 Sqn was selected to go to Japan as part of the Occupation Forces, including a voyage on a Royal Navy aircraft carrier. Spitfires were fitted with wingtip extensions and developed wooden pegs to hold the flaps in a suitable position for short take-offs.
Chandra was described as “unassuming-looking but with a reputation that preceded him”. It seems, post-independence, he would be the designated “training man” in the IAF. At independence, he was made Wg Cdr (Training), which was the de facto head of Trg at AirHQ.
On promotion to Gp Capt in Nov 1955, he was posted as Commandant of AFFC, Jodhpur, a position he remained in for nearly four years. Brief stints as SAASO, MC, and stn cdr, AFND , before taking over as Director of Training at AirHQ and remained so till early 1963.
Finally, he was posted to Training Command as SASO. It is unclear where he moved from there but took pre-mature retirement from IAF in 1968 and passed away in 1991. During the course of his career, he had flown nearly 20 different aircraft and clocked 3,000 flying hours.
Originally published on Twitter
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