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karatecatman · Guest

www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200810170906.htm
RAF team to help raise IAF memorial flight team
London (PTI): The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, which comprises aircraft used in World War II, is to be used as a template for the Indian Air Force's own version of a commemorative display team.

A BBMF team is scheduled to leave for New Delhi on Sunday to advise air officials on raising the team. The decision to invite the BBMF was taken following a visit by IAF's Air Vice Marshal D C Kumaria to the Royal Air Force's base in Coningsby, Lincolnshire, in July.

The BBMF is an RAF flight which provides an aerial display group comprising an Avro Lancaster, a Supermarine Spitfire and a Hawker Hurricane. The aircraft are regularly seen at events commemorating World War II, during British State occasions, and at air displays.

The BBMF team for the five-day visit to the Palam air base in New Delhi will be led by Squadron Leader Al Pinner. The Indian display unit will be based at Palam, according to a report in the Lincolnshire Echo.

"I am incredibly excited to be involved in this. It is a testament to the reputation of the Flight that we are considered outstanding enough to be used as this template," Pinner said before leaving for Delhi.

While I am out there, I will be advising the airmen on the best way to get started and giving them tips on how best to maintain the unit. I am also taking our chief technician Paul Blackah to look over the planes and check if they are fit to fly, he added.

The IAF has hangars full of war planes. The aircraft include a Hawker Tempest, a Dakota, a Hurricane, a Spitfire, a Tiger Moth and a Wapiti. Unlike BBMF, IAF also reportedly has the De Havilland Vampire jet, according to Pinner.