Air India's Iconic Boeing 747s Find New Owners, Ending Hopes for Indian Testbed

An era of Indian aviation has drawn to a close as Air India sells its final four Boeing 747-400 jumbo jets. The "Queen of the Skies," once a hallmark of Air India's global presence, will depart for new lives with US-based AerSale.

The sale marks a bittersweet moment for aviation enthusiasts in India. The 747's luxurious cabins and iconic silhouette were synonymous with opulent air travel. However, many had hoped these aircraft could serve a final, critical purpose for the nation's aerospace ambitions.

India's Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE) had expressed interest in acquiring the four-engine 747s. These aircraft are prized as flying testbeds for engine development programs, allowing engineers to evaluate engine performance under real-world conditions.

The 747's design allows for a test engine to be securely mounted on an external pylon. This configuration was seen as potentially vital for testing engines developed under India's Kaveri (fighter jet) and AMCA (Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft) programs.

However, with the aircraft now sold, the dream of a readily available testbed has faded. India's pursuit of self-reliance in engine development will continue, and opportunities to secure alternate test platforms may emerge.

 

[Deepak Hegde]

Organizations like GTRE never have an actual plan beyond crying for lack of funds. They never plan proactively for anything.

 

[Anant]

We should have retained two of these beauties. One as a flying testbed, and one as a museum exhibit. The 747 has a lot of history for Air India.

Then again, a lot of our defence procurement is a littany of cases of missed opportunities, isn't it?

 

[Anant]

Organizations like GTRE never have an actual plan beyond crying for lack of funds. They never plan proactively for anything.

They are an utterly useless organisation in many aspects. Now, they are rushing forward in their bid to get some ToT from the F414 deal and try to partner up for the 110 kN engine. I have a feeling they'll muck it up as well.

 

[Ysmir Rewari]

Saw one of these at Mumbai airport few months back, they are unbelievably large compared to A321s.

 

[charminar_waale_ismail_bhai]

Iss mei petrol bhar ke tanker role ma nahin use kar sakte kya?

 

[Radha Ramanan]

what happens if the request of gtre falls on deaf ears? it is like that. Any body developing a engine will need a test bed its basic common sense . The request was put forth and as usual pushed under the carpet for unknown reasons.

 

[kumar]

And we have people here describing how kaveri and gtre is a failure. Even after request for flying test bed decade earlier, it is yet to be sanctioned.

 

[Amit]

It takes decades in MOD and IAF to take decisions...so until then Air India cannot wait right? God knows why are there so many bottle necks in our military acquisitions.

 

[Devasahayam]

We should have retained two of these beauties. One as a flying testbed, and one as a museum exhibit. The 747 has a lot of history for Air India.

Then again, a lot of our defence procurement is a littany of cases of missed opportunities, isn't it?

How about as an AEWCS instead of museum piece?

 

[Bikramjeet Goswami]

We should have retained two of these beauties. One as a flying testbed, and one as a museum exhibit. The 747 has a lot of history for Air India.

Then again, a lot of our defence procurement is a littany of cases of missed opportunities, isn't it?

Are there any Aircraft museums in India?

 

[Bikramjeet Goswami]

They are an utterly useless organisation in many aspects. Now, they are rushing forward in their bid to get some ToT from the F414 deal and try to partner up for the 110 kN engine. I have a feeling they'll muck it up as well.

They have been looking for a engine development partner since forever. Strange nothing has materialized till now. 🤔

 

[Alok]

We're good for building temples and shouting Jai Shri Ram only..

 

[Mak]

Organizations like GTRE never have an actual plan beyond crying for lack of funds. They never plan proactively for anything.

Wrong.
They have been vying for a flying test bed for years.

MOD and IAF simply refuse to help.
Are they supposed to beg or something?

 

[Sandeep]

These planes are very old and to modify them to test engines it would be very expensive to modify the structure, air frame, technology, software, equipment and they are over 20 years old and close to retiring so these planes wouldn't be to our benefit. Also the large and heavy plane size requires a lot of fuel and the engines are older and not fuel efficient making it very expensive just to fly.

We already have a few flying test bed that's used by the DRDO called Anusandhan and we use the IL76 plane that we bought a while ago and use in Russia to certify the engine technology. What India now needs is a very modern flying test bed to test engines, sensors, instruments, equipment and future technology that can be done all in one.

 

[Anant]

Are there any Aircraft museums in India?

A lot of them. Three big ones that immediately come to mind are the HAL Museum in Bangalore, the IAF Museum at Palam Air Force Base in Delhi and the Naval Aviation Museum in Goa. In fact, the Indian Naval Air Arm has got atleast one aircraft of every type it has ever operated and retired preserved at the Goa museum.

Besides these, we have a lot of single-aircraft museums. For instance, there are three Tu-142s preserved in Visakhapatnam (next to INS Kursura), Kakinada, and Kolkata. There are plans to display an Il-38 somewhere in TN (besides one in the Museum in Goa). There is an old Tu-134 in Goa. There is a DC-3 (in fact, this aircraft is a veteran of World War 2 and the 1947-48 Indo-Pakistan War) preserved at Bhubaneshwar Airport. Then there are the dozens (actually, over a hundred) fighters displayed in cities at roundabout, as gate guardians, at airbases, etc.

 

[Anant]

How about as an AEWCS instead of museum piece?

I would say we should have both preserved, Sir. Of course, the only AWACS we have ever operated that isn't operational anymore is the Avro 748 conversion, and that aircraft was lost in a crash. It will be a long time before the A-50s or Netras come up for retirement.

 

[Anant]

Iss mei petrol bhar ke tanker role ma nahin use kar sakte kya?

In theory, yes. However, the airframe age would have meant any conversion would not have too long left at standard pace of operations. Then again, two of those 747s are being repurposed as cargo aircraft, so they quite possibly have the life.

A flying testbed flies far less, so can serve for longer.

 

[Vinod Kaka]

We're good for building temples and shouting Jai Shri Ram only..

Sorry bro your point of reference here is totally incorrect as we are not good in building temples either if that's hasn't been the case then we didn't need to have waited for too long for nearly centuries if we count before independence period & 77 years after independence to built just one temple n that's too after so much difficulties of intense nature n that's too via supreme Court judicial verdict & not just that there are still so many mosques built over the historical temples for which people are fighting legal battles with no immediate chance of verdict in the near future for these one's & as far as yours reference for Jay shree ram is concerned it's again misplaced deliberately because there are still several states in India where you might be put behind bars just for uttering or saying Jay shree Ram ... Case in point is West Bengal. And therefore yours both points of references are totally wrong n misplaced deliberately..

 

[Parthasarathi DasGupta]

We're good for building temples and shouting Jai Shri Ram only..

Say somethinglike that about Peacefuls...and your neighbor would have your Sar Tan Se Juda by now.
Be careful in the future about insulting Ram.
Bharat is Rising.
And Bharatiyas have had enough of being trampled in their own land by outsiders.
Jai Bharat.

 

[Deepak Hegde]

Wrong.
They have been vying for a flying test bed for years.

MOD and IAF simply refuse to help.
Are they supposed to beg or something?

They are supposed to budget for it and come up with a viable proposal. Are they even capable of doing this?

 

[Anant]

These planes are very old and to modify them to test engines it would be very expensive to modify the structure, air frame, technology, software, equipment and they are over 20 years old and close to retiring so these planes wouldn't be to our benefit. Also the large and heavy plane size requires a lot of fuel and the engines are older and not fuel efficient making it very expensive just to fly.

We already have a few flying test bed that's used by the DRDO called Anusandhan and we use the IL76 plane that we bought a while ago and use in Russia to certify the engine technology. What India now needs is a very modern flying test bed to test engines, sensors, instruments, equipment and future technology that can be done all in one.

A flying testbed should have more engines rather than less. There is a reason most nations use four-engined aircraft as testbed, you know.

As for airframe life, well, two of the 747s being sold will be converted to freighters, which shows they have atleast 10-15 years of commercial life left in them. Factor in for reduced usage as a flying laboratory, and these aircraft could easily fly for 25 years, if not more.

Coming to DRDO's flying testbed, you do realise that that particular A321 was essentially donated to DRDO by Air India at scrap value, right? DRDO only made a very nominal budget, and AI lost money on that sale. Obviously, a privatized Air India isn't an idiot to do the same, and GTRE has never prepared a formal budget for the same.

Oh, and as far as that Il-76 you referred to goes, we do not own it. No, it is simply one of Russia's testbed Il-76s that we contract every now and then. We don't actually own the aircraft.

Finally, if the cost of refitting an old aircraft as a flying testbed is seeming too steep for you, let me assure you a new-build jet being repurposed for that would be far, far more expensive.

 

[RG]

India should have made use to it, lack of foresight to use and repurpose for other developments, they could have turned then into transporters, engine test beds and other use cases.

 

[avinash]

They have been looking for a engine development partner since forever. Strange nothing has materialized till now. 🤔

who will be ready to give them their share of cut ?