Republic Day Flypasts have captivated our nation for decades. As we approach another flypast, we reflect on the first 50 years of this tradition, a mosaic of our country, its people, and the Indian Air Force.
In 1950, despite the IAF’s ban on flypasts, Air Chief Marshal Elmhirst permitted a nine-aircraft “loose” Liberator formation for the momentous occasion. Wing Commander HSR Gohel led the 5 Squadron at Poona, pioneering a regular nine-aircraft Liberator formation.
1951 featured a diverse formation of Harvard, Tempest, Vampire, Dakota, and Liberator aircraft, totalling about 40. Notably, 23 aircraft from 3 & 4 Squadrons formed the letters IAF under Minoo Engineer’s leadership. Engineer significantly elevated flypast standards in subsequent decades.
In 1952 and 1953, the Vampire and Liberator continued their presence, 1953 introducing the homegrown HT-2 Trainer. Led by Arjan Singh, six aircraft flew in from Bangalore. Singh’s leadership spanned a record seven years.
Between 1954 and 1958, Flypasts were segregated into “Subsonic” and “Transonic” blocks. Debuting were Toofanis in 1954, and in 1958, Mysteres, Hunters, Canberras, and Gnats. The latter year also marked the first time an aircraft broke the sound barrier during the flypast.
As a result of the rising breadth of IAF ac inventory, flypasts in the late 50s included 70 odd aircraft across 6-7 types with 6-12 aircraft of each type. Toofanis provided the oomph from 1954 – performing vertical climbs & peel-off while streaming the tricolour. 6/
A significant change occurred in 1962, with three helicopters dropping petals over Rajpath, introducing the Avro (Subroto) and the HF24. This 80-aircraft display was the largest to date.
The 1962 flypast was also a grim reminder of the risks pilots take in formation flying. During a rehearsal on 17 Jan 1962, Gp Capt ZA Shah and Flt Lt VK Singh, flying a Vampire (45 Sqn) & Gnat (23 Sqn), respectively, were killed during a mid-air collision while joining a circuit.
The practice of showering petals/ flying with a national flag before the parade has persisted non-stop with minor modifications. It started in 1959, when a S-55 did it for the first time. Later on, the job was taken over by a Mi-4 (1966- 75), Mi-8 (76-85) & Mi-17 (86 onwards).
Another non-stop practice, at least between 1955 -73, was that AOC-in-C of the Western Air Command used to lead the flypast, flying in the lead ac. They flew the Vampire (Arjan Singh), Canberra (Pinto, Rajaram, Shivdev Singh) & MiG-21 (MM Engineer).
After the peak in 1962, ‘63 did not have a flypast due to the war, the first time since 1950. It was not until 1968 that the flypast size returned to the levels of 1962- being between 35 and 50 aircraft – Canberra, Mystere, Hunter, Gnat & Toofani.
In 1964, The Gnats flew at trail height (30K feet) & not the usual 500-800 feet they were doing earlier. But this also marked the first time the flypast had a different formation – the Echelon formation by the Gnats. It was the first of many innovations in the years ahead.
Another innovation was shown in 1964 with the Toofanis modifying the showstopper. After the first loop over the saluting base, they went in for a 2nd & from the vertical position and executed a “Prince of Wales peel-off” under the command of CO 47 Sqn, S/L CD Fernandes.
1966, IAF finally added a third block to its RD flypast – the “Supersonic” block. 4 MiG-21s & 4 HF-24 Maruts flew 45 seconds after the transonic block. In the 1969 flypast, as many as 44 MiG-21s flew, a record for any type in any RD Flypast.
1968 & 1969 were the years of gay abandon for Flypasts in India. Both held under Shivdev Singh as AOC-in-C WAC, 136 (7 minutes) & 164 (9 minutes) aircraft took part in these two displays. We had come a full circle from just before the 1962 war.
“Vic Formation” gained prominence during this period, taking over from Box Formation historically, at least for the sub-sonic block. Canberras moved to it. In both years, the 20+ aircraft Canberra formation was led by 5 Sqn CO, W/C Ashok Kumar.
After 13 years as the showstopper, the Toofani finally gave way to the Hunters in 1968. For 15 years, the seven or 9-aircraft Vic formation of Hunters would enthral the crowds, pulling up at Rajpath and dispensing the national colour trails.
The introduction of the Transport fleet for the first time happened in 1968 with the An-12s of 44 Sqn under W/C VC Mankotia of 44 Sqn, performing the vic formation of 3 in all 12 aircraft.
These years also saw a much larger helicopter show of strength. 3 Alouettes (Chetak) and 7 Mi-4s flew over Rajpath with petals and the national flag. The Chetak would also showcase the Elephant dance (in a unique camo) from 1970-73 & 1979-85.
Between 1970 & 73, 4 Flypasts were held under Minoo Engineer as AOC-in-C WAC. An avid flyer, he took to further innovations. In 1971, in a first, he flew in a Bright red MiG-21 & did a pull-up. In 1971, the Su-7 participated for the first time, 24 of them together.
1970 saw the third Mid-air collision in the run-up to RD Parade rehearsal. One of the aircraft crashed in Delhi, but the other nursed back courageously.
Post 1973, austerity measures of the Govt & fuel shortage led again to a curtailment of flypasts. 1974 had no flypast & 1975-80 were done on more minor scales of 25-30 aircraft. Menace of birds in the Delhi region was also beginning to hinder safe flying.
In 1981, Jaguar and MiG-23 were introduced into flypasts. While Jaguars did a 12 a/c display, a solo MiG-23 was flown by CO 10 Sqn, W/C RL Bamzai, and the aircraft was nick-named “High Speed”.
In 1982, Hunters replaced hunters! The baton of the showstoppers moved from the Hunter formation to the formal aerobatics display team of IAF – Thunderbolts under W/C PS “Ben” Brar.
Over the next few years, Chetaks (elephant Dance), Mi-8s, MiG-23s, Jaguars, MiG-21s, Maruts & Thunderbolts did displays of 30 odd aircraft. In 1986, weather led to the cancellation of the flypast. However, it was executed during the Beating the Retreat.
This flypast in 1986 was unique as it had 3 IL-76s under G/C Ashok Goel flanked by 2 Ajeets. Unlike the usual aircraft, these aircraft were doing a flypast for the first time. This was the last display till 1996, as IAF shuttered RD flypasts.
The flypast returned in 1996. While the aircraft changed, the flypast practice under the AOC-in-C WAC continued with Air Mshl Tipnis taking to the skies in a Jaguar. The highlight was the Big-boy formation of 1 Il-76 +2 An-32 + 2 Do-228, a formation that flies to date.
4 Mi-17s carried out an inverted Glass formation in a display that also had 15 MiG-29s & 15 Jaguars. In 96, flypasts involved only multi-engine aircraft to build safety for spectators. In 97, the Mi-26 joined the Mi-17s & the MiG-29 performed a vertical Charlie as the showstopper. 28/
1998 saw the Canberra perform for the last time, 40 years since its first display. It also had the Su-30K (an earlier variant of MKI) show up for the first time, where three aircraft did the vertical Charlie and low loops.
As RD Flypasts turned half a century, they introduced Naval aircraft – Kamov and Tu-142 in 1999 and 2000. Later, the Army joined in as well. Fiscal prudence has probably reduced the size of the show, but it still enthrals us as it has since 1950. Look forward to this year.
Originally published on Twitter
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