The thunderous roar of the MiG-27 aircraft which participated in the Kargil war may be missing here, but, if one is headed towards Shanghumughom, one cannot miss the sight of this majestic aircraft.
The TS 509 aircraft is on display at the Rajiv Gandhi Academy for Aviation Technology, which got its new premises adjacent to Air India’s Maintenance Repair Overhaul unit at Chakka.
Donated by the Indian Air Force (IAF) to the academy, the MiG-27, placed on a raised platform, has completed its full operational life after it was inducted as a frontline fighter aircraft in the 1980s.
ADVERTISEMENT
The IAF has only gifted the shell of the aircraft to the academy as the engine is still being used by them.
The aircraft was dismantled at its base, in north India, and taken to the State capital by road and reassembled here by the IAF for display.
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, who inaugurated the 22,000 sq ft, Rs.3-crore hangar of the academy on Wednesday, also inaugurated the display of the aircraft for the public.
ADVERTISEMENT
The authorities were planning to construct a boundary wall to separate the display area from the operational area of the international airport.
Academy Executive Vice-Chairman G. Chandramouli said no fee would be charged from visitors. The idea behind putting the de-commissioned aircraft on display was to generate an interest in defence services in children, he said.
Minister for Ports K. Babu, Minister for Health V.S. Sivakumar, and Mayor K. Chandrika were present.
The other aircraft on display in the city is on the premises of the Jawahar Balabhavan, adjacent to the Kanakakunnu palace. The Sea Hawk, single-pilot bomber aircraft, which was part of the 1971 Indo-Pak war, was installed there in 1980.