We return to one of our earliest guests, Air Mshl Philip Rajkumar, PVSM, AVSM, VM. His episode on the Sargodha raid during the India-Pak war of 1965 was covered here and remains the most popular Blueskies episode to date.

In this episode, we discuss his test flying career, including training at EPNER, France, test flying early versions of the MiG-21, various evaluation trials he participated in, such as MiG-23, Advanced Jet Trainer, etc.

Our interview continued into his involvement with, and leadership of the Flight Test effort on, the LCA, which will be released next weekend as part of a series on the LCA / Tejas.

Air Mshl Rajkumar's profile can be found here. 

We interview AVM (Retd) SC Chafekar, AVSM, SC. He speaks about his initial journey into the Air Force, flying Otters single pilot in the North East, an incident where his AN-32 was hit by a Stinger missile, and how he planned and executed the first-ever landing of an AN-32 in Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO), Fukche and Nyoma ALGs in Ladakh. He also speaks about the IAF's HADR (Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief) operations, induction of the C-17, C-130 and more. 

AVM Chafekar's profile is available here: http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Database/17013

The video of the C-17 landing in Mechuka is here: https://youtu.be/N2F7qdTRBII
A video of the C-130 landing at DBO is here: https://youtu.be/7KUprBZsdcI

His book "Shades of Blue" may be purchased by calling or messaging Rajhans Publications at 9372225201. 

We interview Wg. Cdr. PK Raveendran, a Flight Engineer on board the ill-fated TU-124 "Pushpaka" which crashed in Jorhat with the Prime Minister on Board. In addition to the crash, he talks of his career as a Flight Engineer on Packets, becoming a Flight Test Engineer in France, and more. 

Wg. Cdr. Raveendran's profile can be found here: http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Database/12821

His account of the Pushpaka crash is here: https://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/history/1970s/1364-jorhat-crash.html#gsc.tab=0

An article on Klopfstein he wrote for the Society of Flight Test Engineers, India Chapter, is here: https://www.sfte-india.in/a-tribute-to-a-maverick-flight-test-engineer-test-pilot-and-professor-of-aeronautics-all-rolled-into-one-monsieur-gilbert-klopfstein/

Wg. Cdr. Raveendran played a critical role in the Flight Testing for the LCA, and his interview on those experiences will appear as part of the series on the LCA, in January. 

1971 war veteran Air Vice Marshal Jagbir Singh recounts his experiences operating hunters from Jaisalmer. He talks of hitting tanks in Longewala, hitting the Sui Gas Plant, hitting a tank train carrying Pakistan's strategic reserve, and more... 

AVM Jagbir Singh's profile can be found here: http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Database/5783

More about Longewala is here: http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/history/1971war/1282-kukke-suresh.html and here: http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/history/1971war/1281-longewala-saga.html#gsc.tab=0

In a long but fascinating interview with Cmde Jaideep "Mao" Maolankar, we discuss Naval Aviation and how it is different from the Air Force or Army Aviation, his path into that branch of the Navy, his initial training and experiences flying the Sea Harrier, Dissimilar Combat (DACT) with the Air Force's TACDE ("Top Gun" school),  becoming a test pilot, flight testing the MiG-29, integrating new systems into the Sea Harrier, and his initial involvement with the LCA. 

In another interview that will be released as part of a mini-series on the LCA / Tejas, we will discuss his experience of flight testing that aircraft. 

Cmde Maolankar can be followed on twitter at https://twitter.com/JA_Maolankar

In this episode, we interview Wg. Cdr. Vinayak Davray, who was commissioned as a Navigator into the Indian Air Force in 1963. After a long a successful career on Dakotas and Canberras, he moved to civil aviation, where he played a key role in the growth of Civil Aviation Departments of several countries around the world. He also trained as an Aircraft Accident Investigator in the US, and led / participated in several important accident investigations.

His profile may be found here: https://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Database/7475

A link to the Gulf Air A320 crash is here: https://wiki2.org/en/Gulf_Air_Flight_072
A link to the mid-air crash between a TU-154M and  B757 is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_%C3%9Cberlingen_mid-air_collision

In this episode, we interview Air Marshal Sumit Mukherji, who is perhaps one of the few officers to have commanded and actively flown every type of MiG in the Indian Air Force's inventory - MiG-21, 23, 25, 27 and 29. In this interview, among other things, he talks about force landing a Kiran with a seized engine, flying the MiG-25 Foxbat, and commanding a MiG-29 Fulcrum squadron. 

Air Marshal Mukherji's profile can be found here: http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Database/12925

His excellent Hush-Kit article on the Foxbat is here: https://hushkit.net/2018/12/12/loneliness-at-mach-3-interview-with-a-mig-25-foxbat-pilot/

The induction of a new aircraft is always an interesting phase in military aviation. In this episode we speak to Air Cmde Harish Nayani, a test pilot who participated in the significant upgrade to the MiG-21 BIS that resulted in the MiG-21 Bison and was one of the first officers to command a Bison squadron. Through this interview, we will learn about how such upgrades are planned and executed. 

Air Cmde Nayani's bio can be seen at this link: http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Database/17135

More about the MiG-21 Bison upgrade program is available at this link: https://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/aircraft/current/605-bison.html

In this episode we return to that versatile deep penetration strike platform of the IAF, the Jaguar, with AVM Sunil Jayant Nanodkar. In 2003, AVM Nanodkar led a contingent of 6 Jaguars to Alaska to participate in exercise Red Flag with friendly NATO forces. He speaks this, and other experiences in his long career in the Air Force in this interview.

AVM Nanodkar's profile can be found here: http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Database/16555

More about Red Flag can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Flag_%E2%80%93_Alaska

Continuing our theme of "Helicopter Month", we interview Capt. P Rajkumar, a veteran of the Indian Navy with over 5,400 hours of military aviation experience. He was awarded a Nao Sena Medal for rescuing four scientists stranded on a mountain in white-out conditions in Antarctica, and a Shaurya Chakra for saving lives of fishermen off the coast of Trivandrum after Hurricane Ockhi in 2017. He speaks of these and other experiences, including Anti-Submarine Warfare, in this interview.