Thread by @srikantkesnur

1/n. That's a wonderful recap of the Cobras by @SandeepUnnithan. The Cobras or 310 Sqn have much to celebrate on their diamond jubilee. The article brings out their participation in every war or conflict we have been involved in from liberation of Goa to Op Parakram. The Alizes

https://twitter.com/SanjoyRoyTWA/status/1373495637036048388

2/n. First & Dornier aircraft now, the Sqn has had an illustrious history. I too have been previleged by close association with them in last couple of decades & they are fine bunch of professionals indeed. Much owes to the great work done by the pioneers. Sixties were early days

3/n. For aviation in the Indian Navy. The role of VAdm Mihir K Roy has been written about & his many splendoured life & contribution needs a seperate essay. Micky Roy apart, others like Raj Anderson, Ramsagar & Akku Roy mentioned in the article were great characters. We must

4/n. Also acknowledge people like Ravi Dhir, the Sqn Cdr during 71 war, the dashing Mohan Verghese, who unfortunately died in a helicopter accident some years later, JC (Jackson) Puri, Arindam Ghosh who recovered from near fatal accident as Sub Lt and got to fly the Alizes and

5/n. K Mohanan the juniormost in Sqn during the 71 war, to name a few. Many of them did 2 or more assignments on aircraft carrier Vikrant while operating the Alizes. Not many know that Micky & Anderson had ditched in Mediterranean during initial trials & Anderson had a near miss

6/n. On Vikrant few days later. While many are aware of Peter Debrass's miraculous underwater ejection when Capt Tahiliani was the Captain, that tenure also saw a 'copybook' Alize ditching by the pilot Gokul Theograj after engine failure. He too was promptly resuced by SAR helos

7/n. Another interesting Alize incident or accident happened during Tahilianis tenure when a sailor, during ground run of the Alize misjudged the distance from the propeller & had his skull split open & 'brain hanging out'. A 4 hour long surgery on board in the ships OT followed

8/n. By evacuation by Seaking to Pune saved the sailor who rejoined ship few months later fully fit. One other unique part of sqn history is that RAdm SK (Gigi) Gupta, a Seahawk pilot & the hero of 71 war also served in Alize sqn in 1964 & flew both Alizes & Seahawks on Vikrant

9/n. By day & night. Possibly a unique achievement on which avgeeks can shed more light. Also, during the 65 war, the Alizes operated in Punjab, apart from naval stations, for recee & EW missions. This is similar to how the Dorniers have been used in latter conflict situations.

10/n. One more unique aspect about Alizes was that in case of catapult failure on the Carrier it could operate like a Short Take Off and Landing (STOL) aircraft if relative wind on deck was more than 30 knots. This made it superbly flexible & immensely versatile. During Op Pawan

11/n. The ageing Alizes operated from Madurai airfield flying extensively to maintain vigil. The last Alize take off from Vikrant happened on 10 May 87. There would be no controlled crashes thereafter. The last Alize take off happened from INS Hansa, Goa on 12 Apr 91. Dorniers

12/n. Took over & continue the saga of valour, adventure, Service to the nation with their state of the art sensors & their constant presence over seas as brought out in the article. The Sqns motif is the majestic King Cobra. That's also the moniker for CO of the Sqn. Here's

13/n. A toast to Cobras & wishing them all success in future @indiannavy @arunp2810 @JaggiBedi @subnut @theUdayB @probirpaymate @SanjoyRoyTWA @EmergingRoy @karthikavk @sanjeevsanyal @shekhar19541 @JA_Maolankar @AhujaSurendra @PadmajaParulkar @MHSofIndia @rhinohistorian @w_karve

14/n. Thread INAS 310 Cobras @CaptDKS @db2691 @realkaypius @Amruta_k @Soldier_forlife @tarunsingha @TheBrownBeagle @sneheshphilip @navalhistorian @OnthisdayRN @SandeepUnnithan @AshishSinghNews @ajaynewsman @Palaksharmanews @sameerkarveMT @vinivdvc @MVictoryIndia @vgmenon99

15/n. Thread INAS 310 Cobras. @zwerubae @Aryan_warlord @Leopard212 @ThingsNavy @hukum2082 @writetake @CovertShores @HistoryStrategy @GlobalMarHist @DefPROMumbai @mumbaiheritage @LiveHIndia @livefist @delhidefence @amitabhprevi @PragyaP07 @ICWA_NewDelhi @nmfindia @NauticalHistory