Hunter at RV University

Finding a new unreported Hunter nowadays is an event, mostly because we think we know of all the Hunters that are in existence out there – and this one turns up at the RV University in Bengaluru – as reported by to Arun Swaminathan.

RV University is a state-private university established under the RV University Act 2019 and is approved by UGC (University Grants Commission) and Karnataka State Government. RV University promoted by the Rashtreeya Sikshana Samithi Trust is a trust managing RV Educational Institutions in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. RV University is one of the parent institutes which come under Rashtreeya Sikshana Samithi Trust which also manages RV College of Engineering.

Arun writes:

I had visited the RV University as I was invited to see the RV School of Design… We are trying to see what interactions can take place between the RV Design School and RV College of Architecture where I am the Professor – Design Chair…

It has been years since I visited the University campus where our former Architecture building now houses the Aero Dept which is headed by my friend Dr Ravindra Kulkarni whose daughter was incidentally my student.

I was pleasantly surprised to see the Hunter as a Gate Guardian…(But).. The paint scheme, roundel location and the Mig 21 Drop Tanks need to be addressed …

As Arun indicated the aircraft is a complete airframe, with undercarraige extended and displayed on a pedestal (Thank god!) instead of a pylon. But the underwing tanks came from a MiG-21 and the entire paint scheme was new and inaccurate.

There is no indication to the aircraft’s true identity. Where did this come from and what journey did this one take? The answer is probably there in the IAF’s archives, but one clue is the dissappearance of Hunter BA-312A from Chakeri in Kanpur. A Hunter was replaced by a HPT-32 in Kanpur, and there is a distant possibility that it made its way here?

Another clue is revealed in the close up of the nose of the Hunter.

Close up of the nose shows square panels which could have been the “Fighter Recce” modification the IAF did close to 1971 to capture air to ground tactical recce photos. Also missing were the prominent “Sabrinas” – the bulging sections under the cockpit that would collect the ammunition links from spent catridges.