At its peak, the IAF operated six Hunter Squadrons (No. 7. 14. 17. 20, 27 and 37) but when No.27 Squadron changed from Hunters to Jaguars in 1985, No. 20 Squadron "Lightnings" was the last remaining Squadron operating the type. The squadron also provided nine Hunter F.56 for the Thunderbolts Aerobatic Team which was formed in 1981 for the IAF Golden Jubilee in 1982 and the last display was flown at Tilpat on 18 April 1989. Surprisingly only a handful of pictures exist from this Aerobatic Team!
The Squadron moved to Kalaikunda Air Force Station in West Bengal near Calcutta in 1990 and relinquished its last Hunters in 1996 when the Squadron was Number plated (but was re-commissioned in 2002 with Sukhoi Su-30).
I visited Kalaikunda Air Force Station in November 1990 which was also the home of the HAL Ajeets from No.2 Squadron "Winged Arrows" and MiG-21FLs from No.8 Squadron "Eight Pursoots", making it a very interesting place to visit (more about the other units another time).
Officially, No. 20 Squadron existed until 1996, but when visiting Kalaikunda, there was a mix of a few Hunters with 20 Squadron markings, but most had the marking from the Hunter Operational Flying Training Unit, also known as HOFTU on the nose.
The biggest surprise was that four Hunters still retained the striking blue and white colour scheme from the Thunderbolts Aerobatic Team!
Hunter F.56A A943 was former XG211 and still with Thunderbolts title and 20 Squadron marking.
Hunter F.56A A463 with Thunderbolts title and 20 Squadron marking. This aircraft is now preserved in Bangladesh apparently.
And Hunter F.56A A484 with Thunderbolts title and 20 Squadron marking.
Hunter F.56 BA312A was without Thunderbolts title and with HOFTU marking in pristine condition.
Being able to photograph four Thundebolts Hunter in flight was beyond my wildest dreams. Last check prior the photo flight.
In addition to the four Thunderbolts Hunters, there were plenty other Hunter in use with HOFTU wearing various sized HOFTU markings. Hunter F.56 BA258 with some old tactical markings. Of interest is also the locally modified nose to accommodate camera gear.
Hunter F.56 BA219 also with some old tactical markings. This aircraft is now preserved at the town park in Faridabad.
Hunter F.56 BA255 with a large HOFTU marking.
And Hunter F.56 BA260.
Another Hunter unit at Kalaikunda was the Target Tug Flight (TTF) which operated some Hunter Trainers plus single seaters of which Hunter F.56 BA218 was one.
Hunter F.56A A483 was another one.
Hunter Trainer T66 S571 in use with TTF which made the last IAF Hunter flight on 8 October 2001!
Hunter Trainer T66 BS489 without TTF marking, but still with Thunderbolts name, so I assume this aircraft was used by the Aerobatic Team in the past.
Most Hunters had a well-used appearance, but Hunter Trainer T66 BS488 was an exception in its pristine finish, but unfortunately without the TTF marking applied.
The TTF operated the last eight Hunters until 2001 when the then called "Banners" made the last flight.
Let me close with some important wishes.
Some further reading if interested:
Thunderbolts Aerobatic Team https://www.bharat-rakshak.com/iaf/hist ... nderbolts/
Kalaikunda Air Force Station history https://iafhistory.in/2023/11/22/evolut ... a-airbase/
On a side note, as Kalaikunda was built for USAAF use, there was a god chance that P-47 Thunderbolts visited the base.
Thanks for looking and I hope these pictures are of interest to some.
Cheers, Peter
