The Indian Air Force (IAF) on Monday formally received an ‘Air Force Kanpur-1 Vintage Prototype Aircraft’ from Punjab Engineering College (PEC). The single-engine rare aircraft machine was designed and built by late Air Vice Marshal Harjinder Singh in 1958 and shall be kept at the proposed IAF Heritage Centre here.
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The indigenous machine was handed over to Air Marshal R. Radhish, HQ Western Air Command, by professor Baldev Setia, director of PEC, at a ceremony held here at the Aeronautical Engineering division of PEC.
The ‘Kanpur-1’ will be displayed along with other aircraft at the heritage centre. At the ceremony, Mr. Radhish said that having the aircraft in the heritage centre will not only hold heritage values but also build a strong relationship between PEC and Indian Air Force.
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This aircraft is a testimony to be seen as a moment of glory for future generations to understand the significance of self-reliance, innovation and the dream of ‘Make in India’, he said.
This vintage aircraft is said to have been gifted to PEC by the late Air Vice Marshal Harjinder Singh in the year 1967.
Earlier this year, the IAF and the Chandigarh administration had signed a pact for setting up an air force heritage centre in Chandigarh. The heritage centre is a project of the Chandigarh administration, which was visualised by Punjab Governor and the Administrator of the Union Territory – Banwari Lal Purohit, and Air Chief Marshal V.R. Chaudhari, Chief of the Air Staff, last year.
The centre is proposed to comprise artefacts, simulators and interactive boards, in order to highlight the various facets of IAF. It will showcase the critical role played by IAF in humanitarian assistance, and disaster relief, besides the war. It will also house various vintage aircraft. These projections at the heritage centre aim to motivate and inspire the youth to get associated with IAF as their career.