Supermarine Spitfire. Asian Users, part one. Burma.

 

The Burmese Air Force (BAF) was created on 16th January 1947 when the country was still under British colonial rule. One year later, when the country was granted sovereignty, the BAF had in inventory various numbers of aircraft, among them, three Spitfire Mk.IX transferred from the Royal Air Force (RAF).
In 1953 the BAF bought thirty second-hand ex-Israeli Spitfire Mk.IX and twenty Supermarine Seafire F.XV (the naval variant of the Griffon-powered spitfire) which were converted to operate from land. 
The Spitfires and the Seafires constituted the main aerial fighter of the BAF and, some years later, in 1957 (although some sources state it was one year earlier, 1956) Israel sold some additional Spitfire Mk.IX, which were acquired from Czechoslovakia and Italy. Both the Spitfires and the Seafires remained in active service with the BAF until the early 1960s, albeit they had already been relegated to training duties as BAF's main fighter during the late 1950s was the Hawker Sea Fury.
When, in 1964, the BAF purchased the Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star (the trainer variant of the P-80 Shooting Star) the Spitfires and the Seafires were, most likely, written off service and sold for scrap.

Sources:

1st https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Supermarine_Spitfire_operators#Burma

2nd https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myanmar_Air_Force

de Havilland Vampire. Part eight. Some Asian users

 

The de Havilland Vampire is a British jet fighter designed and developed by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. The Royal Air Force (RAF) was its main user, however there were some other users all around the globe, among them, the following ones:

• Union of Burma: The Burmese Air Force (BAF) ordered eight Vampire T.55 trainers in 1954. They were built at Chester factory, Cheshire and flown from Hatfield, Hertfordshire, to Mingaladon, Rangoon, Burma, on 7th December 1954 with a second batch following in February 1955. During the long Burmese Civil War, some of the Vampires were used in strafing attacks, and some of them were lost. 
• India: During 1947 India achieved independence, but it was partitioned with Pakistan, leading to many skirmishes and border wars. As the newly created Indian Air Force (IAF) was equipped with piston-powered aircraft, they sought to replace them and, for that end, they reached an agreement with de Havilland in 1948 for 286 Vampire FB.52. This included 39 machines manufactured at Hatfield and the rest were to be built under license in India by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). 
  On 6th November 1948 three Vampire F.Mk.3 were flown to India to provide initial experience on jet aircraft. They were assigned to No. 1Aircraft Testing unit with base at Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. Between the years of 1949 and 1963 the Vampire FB.52 equipped 16 frontline squadrons of the IAF. The agreed 39 Hatfield-made aircraft were delivered between September 1950 and June 1951. The other FB.52s made by HAL were manufactured in February 1952, though it's not known when their production was stopped. 
  To provide training 43 additional Vampire T.55 were ordered, being delivered between May 1953 and April 1954. A further 10 T.55s were delivered between October 1957 and February 1958 with HAL manufacturing 60 T.55s more and Indian buying eight T.55s to Indonesia from surplus stocks. In July 1963 the IAF bought 7 ex-RAF T.11 trainers. It's known that five T.55s were modified with cameras to serve as reconnaissance aircraft, replacing the venerable Supermarine Spitfire PR.XIX. Those Vampires were named as Vampire PR.55. 
  The night fighter version of the Vampire was also employed by the IAF as they acquired 18 ex-RAF Vampire NF.10 (known as NF.54 in their export variant) and were delivered between April and October 1954. Those were reinforced with additional 12 machines in 1957.
  The Indian Navy bought 24 Hawker Sea Hawk FGA.6 to be used on board the INS Vikrant aircraft carrier and, in order to provide jet experience, two Vampire FB.52 and two T.55s were transferred to the Navy.
  During the Second Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 and again in the third one of 1971 Indian Vampires were employed in action against Pakistani forces. Many of them were lost to enemy bombing and strafing attacks. The Vampire was no match for the missile-armed North American F-86 Sabre of the Pakistan Air Force and therefore the IAF lost many of them in combat. On 1st April 1975 most of the remaining Vampires were withdrawn from active service and scrapped.
• Indonesia: In 1955 the Indonesian Government bought 8 Vampire T.55s. The first one was flown from Hatfield to Indonesia on 23rd September 1955 for a handling ceremony with Indonesian officials. The rest were shipped and reassembled in Jakarta, where they were also test-flown and were eventually handed over to the Indonesian Air Force on 20th February 1956. Two years later, the Indonesian Government reached and agreement with the USSR to equip their forces with Soviet material and the Vampires were sold to India in 1958.
• Iraq: The Royal Iraqi Air Force (RIAF) ordered twelve Vampire FB.52 after being influenced by the RAF. Those machines were delivered between May 1953 and November 1955. The first Vampire-equipped squadron of the RIAF was the No. 5 Squadron, based at El-Rashid Air Base, near Baghdad. 
  When Faisal II, last king of Iraq, was overthrown in 1958 only six FB-52s were listed as serviceable, however, in 1961 one T.55 was sent to Chester for overhaul and fitment of ejection seats. Given the poor state of the fuselage, the fuselage of another T.11 was matched with the wings and tail of the Iraqi one. 
  Some Vampires were still operational in late 1961 when they were observed attacking Kurdish rebels north of the country.
• Japan: In 1955 the Japanese Air Self-Defence Force (JASDF) ordered one Vampire T.55 for evaluation purposes. It was delivered to Japan in November 1955 with ejection seats and the new type frame-less canopy. It was demonstrated to JASDF officers during March and April 1956 but the machine failed to convince them and no orders were placed.

Sources:

1st: Hall Park Books - Warpaint 27 - De Havilland Vampire

2nd: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havilland_Vampire

3rd https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_de_Havilland_Vampire_operators

Airspeed AS.65 Consul, part three, various Asian users

The Airspeed AS.65 Consul was a British twin-engined light airliner of the immediate post-war time. It was a conversion of the Airspeed As.10 Oxford military trainer surplus after the World War 2.
The type saw use with many airlines and air forces all around the globe and, on this post, we're going to cover the Asian ones:

• Burma: The Burmese Air Force got 7 aircraft that were supplied between September 1949 and February 1950. They were used as communications and light general transport aircraft. Two aircraft were bought by the Burmese Air Force in September 1949 from the Union of Burma Airways. Their fate and their looking are unknown, so the drawing should be considered as speculative.
• Indochinese Union: Various airlines operated the Consul in the French Colony of Indochina. One of them was the Société Aigle Azur (Blue Eagle Society) which operated five Consuls in Indochina. One of them was destroyed by the Viet Minh on 4th March 1954 at Gia Lam airport, in Hanoi.
  Another important airline which operated the type in this region was the Société Indochinoise de Transports Aeriens (Indochinese Air Transports Society) which was a company operated by the local colonial government. This company operated at least 14 machines, most of them based in Saigon, in local flights to Phnom Penh. Many of them were resold to minor companies like Société Indochinoise des Plantations Reunies de Minot. As both the graphical material and information of these machines serving with those companies is rather scarce, the drawings should be considered as speculative.
• India: Shortly after achieving independence, the government of India acquired four Consuls, although some sources claim it was two of them. They were assigned to Airways (India) Ltd. which was one of the forerunners of Air India. Many of them were also acquired by local Maharajahs as private transports. As we couldn't find photos of these planes in Indian service, the drawing should be considered as speculative.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airspeed_Consul
2. http://britishaviation-ptp.com/airspeed_as65.html
3. https://www.ab-ix.co.uk/pdfs/airspeed_oxford_&_consul.pdf