SHILLONG, July 27: The oldest surviving fighter pilot of the Indian Air Force turned 103 on Thursday Squadron leader Dalip Singh Majithia ( Retd ) in his 7-year career flew 1100 hours on 13 types of aircraft and saw action in World War II over Burma.
He was born on 27 July 1920 at Skiplin Villa, Simla. Dalip joined the 4th Pilot Course, the first one to be conducted at the Initial Training School (ITS) at Walton, Lahore on 1 Aug 1940 to train on the TigerMoths along with 71 others. He flew his first sortie on 5 August and went solo on 22 August.
By the end of Nov 1940, he had completed 58 hours on the Tiger Moth and had bagged the best pilot trophy. Yet to earn his wings though, he was sent to No.1 Flying Training School at Ambala. He flew approximately 150 hours on Wapiti, Audax & Hawker Hart aircraft doing Map reading, night approaches, loops, stalls, Cross country ferry, aerobatics, formation, force landings, dives & instrument flying earning coveted wings on 24 May 1941.
The officer was commissioned into the Indian Air Force in 1940, joining No.1 Flight (Coastal Defence) based at Madras. He retired from the air force in 1947. He was also the first pilot to land a plane in the Kathmandu valley in 1949 in an aircraft that his family had acquired.
