Hindan Air Force Station

Coordinates: 28°42′28″N 77°21′30″E / 28.70778°N 77.35833°E / 28.70778; 77.35833
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the civilian use of this facility, see Hindon Airport.

Air Force Station Hindon
AMSL
700 ft / 213.4 m
Coordinates28°42′28″N 77°21′30″E / 28.70778°N 77.35833°E / 28.70778; 77.35833
Map
Air Force Station Hindan is located in Uttar Pradesh
Air Force Station Hindan
Air Force Station Hindan
Air Force Station Hindan is located in India
Air Force Station Hindan
Air Force Station Hindan
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
09/27 9,000 2,743 Asphalt concrete
Sources:[1][2]

Air Force Station Hindon (Hindon AFS) (also Hindon) is an

civil enclave at Hindon as part of the government's Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS).[5]

Units

History

Originally the base was home to a squadron each of

No. 3 Squadron moved here in July 1971 and was operating Mystère IVAs at the time. After the war it moved back to Hindon, until it shifted base to Pathankot in 1975.[7]

In the mid-1980s, it was identified by ornithologist Dr.

Ghaziabad
industrial city. In the coming years, the number of accidents increased.

Finally in 1997, when three plane crashes occurred within a span of few days, Hindon was abandoned as a fighter base and remained home to Avros and Mi-17 helicopters and transport aircraft in the following years, apart from being used by the IAF Aircrew Examination Board.

However, in 2003, with growing terrorist threats, its importance as a strategic air base to provide air cover to the capital was realised, as Hindon-based fighters could reach the skies over New Delhi within five minutes as compared to the 15-plus minutes it would take from other closest bases, namely

S.P. Tyagi becoming the first Chief of Air Staff to earn para wings while in office, as he finished his fifth and final para jump at Air Force Station Hindon.[9]

In 2006, Indian Air Force shifted its 74th-anniversary celebration venue from

Palam Airport in Delhi, to Hindon to avoid airspace closure for commercial traffic, where the Air Force Day Parade cum investiture ceremony was held on 8 October, and an air display by 66 aircraft.[3][10] This also gave the IAF aircraft more air space during the air show, till then was uses primarily as a helicopter base.[11] After that it has become an annual event at the station.[12]

On 1 June 2007, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal

microlight expedition, part of the IAF's Platinum Jubilee celebrations, aiming to creating a record by completing the expedition, Around the World in 80 Days. Wing Commanders Rahul Monga and Anil Kumar reached Hindon back on 19 August, and covering 40,497 km in 80 days they achieved a speed of 21.092 km/h thus beating the previous record of 16.53 km/h set by Colin Bodil of the U.K. in 2001.[13][14] Although the FAI ( Fédération Aéronautique Internationale - world governing body for air sports, aeronautics and astronautics world records) has denied their claim as both the pilots and the Indian Air Force could not furnish any proof for such a feat.[15]

In 2007, when the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the Indian Air Force (IAF) launched a pilot project to test joint management of the airspace, Hindon was opened to civilian flights, though its open for flights only during stipulated hours of the day.[16]

After the

MiG-29s to the air base in order "to protect the capital from aerial threats."[17]

Hindon was amongst nine airfields in the Western Air Command (WAC) for the Modernization of Air Field Infrastructure programme (MAFI), started in 2009. Due its proximity to the Delhi, work at the station which included equipping it with sensitive radars was to commence first. This work completed in 2011 when the first of six

C-130J Hercules tactical transport aircraft arrived from the US. Hindon was designated to become home base for these aircraft and for this purpose, the Hindon runway was extended and modern hangars, servicing and operations facilities suitable for the C-130J aircraft were added.[18][19]
Hindon currently hosts 18 C-130J's.

In June 2011, the IAF signed a contract with the USAF to purchase 10 Boeing C-17 Globemaster III's. With the No. 81 Squadron bed down, the contract includes a dual-bay hangar, squadron operations facility, and other facilities and utilities to support aircraft operations. Deliveries began in June 2013 and are to continued through December 2014.[20][21]

Historical use

The Garud Commando Force of the Indian Air Force are trained at this base.

Civil Enclave

Main article: Hindon Airport

The

civil enclave at Hindon, built and operated by the AAI,[5] because slot constraints at the Indira Gandhi International Airport prevented the operation of flights under the government's Regional Connectivity Scheme called UDAN.[22]
The Indian Air Force permitted the Civil Aviation ministry to use the air base for civil operations in August 2017.[23] Since the government has an agreement with the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), the operators of Delhi airport, prohibiting operations of another airport within a radius of 150 kilometres from Delhi airport, the MoCA negotiated with DIAL for permissions. DIAL gave approval in September 2017 for temporary civil operations from Hindon. When DIAL's on-going expansion of Delhi Airport is completed around September 2022,[24] all UDAN operations would revert to Delhi Airport.[22] The Uttar Pradesh government gave its approval for the project in March 2018.[25]

The enclave is built on 7.5 acres at Sikandarpur village in Sahibabad, adjacent the airbase.[26] The terminal has a capacity of serving 300 passengers an hour. 45.2 crores is being used to build the new civil terminal. Air traffic control will be provided by the Indian Air Force.[27] It was inaugurated by prime minister Narendra Modi on 8 March 2019.[28]

See also

References

  1. ^ Information of Hindan Air Force Base, airport-data.com, accessed 15 January 2011
  2. ^ a b Hindan Air Station, Wikimapia, accessed 15 January 2011
  3. ^ a b "Air Force Day Fly Past an Appeal". PIB, Ministry of Defence. 26 September 2006.
  4. ^ "Air Force Day 2006 Rehearsal - Hindan AFS". Bharat Rakshak. October 2006.[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ a b "Regional flights to 4 cities including Kannur and Hubli from Hindan airbase expected by October end". Hindustan Times. 5 July 2018. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  6. ^ No.7 Squadron, Indian Air Force webpage Bharat Rakshak.
  7. ^ No. 3 Squadron, Indian Air Force Bharat Rakshak
  8. Rediff
    News. 16 April 2003. Retrieved 17 January 2011.
  9. ^ "Para wings for Chief of Air Staff". The Tribune. 29 September 2005.
  10. ^ "Aerial display marks Air Force Day". The Times of India. 8 October 2006. Archived from the original on 4 November 2012.
  11. ^ "Scintillating show marks Air Force Day". The Tribune. 9 October 2006.
  12. ^ "IAF celebrates Air Force day in style". The Times of India. 8 October 2010.
  13. ^ "Indian Air Force'S pilots create a new world record IAF microlight expedition flies around the world in 80 days". Ministry of Defence. 19 August 2007.
  14. ^ "IAF pilots create record". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 20 August 2007. Archived from the original on 25 January 2012.
  15. ^ "iaf world claim falls flat". The Indian Express. 19 February 2008.
  16. ^ "AAI-air force pilot plan for traffic management". 22 August 2007.
  17. ^ IAF closely monitoring Pakistan activity[permanent dead link] Express Buzz (Indian Express), 25 December 2008.
  18. ^ "Hindan gets more airpower". MiD DAY. 22 May 2009.
  19. ^ "IAF's first C-130J airlifter to arrive this week". The Economic Times. 16 January 2011. Archived from the original on 20 January 2011.
  20. ^ "Purchase of Transport Aircraft." pib.nic.in, 12 December 2011. Retrieved: 2 August 2012.
  21. ^ "Boeing delivers third C-17 Globemaster military transport aircraft to Indian Air Force". The Economic Times. 23 August 2013. Retrieved 23 August 2013.
  22. ^ a b "DIAL gives nod to use of Hindon airbase for RCS flights". The Times of India. 22 September 2017. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  23. The Hindu Business Line
    . 30 August 2017. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  24. ^ "You could board a flight from Gzb in Jan '19 - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  25. ^ "Ghaziabad: Govt approves plan to operate regional flights from Hindan airbase". Hindustan Times. 7 March 2018. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  26. ^ "Land identified for civilian flights from Hindan IAF base in Ghaziabad". The Times of India. 29 November 2017. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  27. ^ Staff Writer (4 December 2018). "Delhi to get second airport at Hindon by February next year". mint.
  28. ^ "PM Narendra Modi inaugurates civil enclave at Hindon airport". The Economic Times. 8 March 2019. Retrieved 10 October 2019.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hindon Air Force Station.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hindan_Air_Force_Station&oldid=1226855554"