Bengaluru :
In their saffron uniforms, the men and women who swing their Sarangs into perfect flight formations display skill and dare and splendid teamwork. Not many on the ground know the challenges and risks that go into it.
After enthralling the crowd at the inaugural day of Aero India 2017, the pilots shared their life stories, and how they came to be flying their HAL Dhruv choppers.
Sneha Kulkarni wanted to become an event manager, but ended up as an Indian Air Force pilot in 2006. “When my elder brother joined the Army, I went for a training camp. There, the uniform inspired me to join the air force. I had not believed that I would become a pilot, but here I am,” a relaxed Sneha said on Tuesday afternoon.
Wing commander Sachin Gadre, team leader, says the choice of a new teammate is almost always a collective one, with the final call left to him. “First, we ensure that the person joining our team actually volunteers to be here. Considering how strenuous and challenging it is, we don’t want them to be under any risk. He or she has to fly with us once before we finalize the person to ensure that the entire team bonds. The ability to remain calm, no matter what, is the most important quality,” he said.
“We fly so close to each other that the slightest mistake could be disastrous. And we have to ensure that we maintain our formation. We need to have our emergency protocol in place and follow it,” he added.
Considering the challenges, the Sarang Air Force Helicopter team performs on non-fixed wing aircraft, flying the choppers in perfect sync. The highly skilful pilots are called into action 12-15 times a year for various academy parades, exercise programmes and other formal events. To achieve the perfection that they are famous for, they have to put in nearly 500 hours of practice time, specially on a helicopter. “It is for the safety and beauty of our performance that we train so hard. It requires courage,” says Gadre.
It was precisely this precision that attracted squadron leader Bhushan Rao to the elite team of performers. “I saw them perform at Marine Drive in Mumbai and was so impressed that I immediately wanted to join. It is much more difficult than the apparent ease with which the performance happens,” said Rao, who is serving his second tenure and has been with the team since 2012.
Wing commander P Prithvi Ponappa, 38, says he was watching a Sarang display in 2003 when he first wanted to fly one. And at Aero India 2015, he finally did. For him, performing at the Aero Show is like being on home turf. “It was always my dream to perform at the show. I was on standby last time, so this is a dream come true. The first time I flew, I was so nervous that I was looking to my senior beside me for guidance,” he said. The airman from Kodagu narrated how every display performance is preceded by multiple dry runs on the ground, followed by a mandatory video debriefing.
Wing commander Ashish Moghe says, “Apart from maintaining the basic level of fitness that an average military aviator should have, the team claims that they do nothing out of the ordinary, apart from following a balanced diet.”
The voice of the team cannot be missed. Tinju Thomas, 28, from Ahmedabad, is an economics graduate and now commentator of the Sarang team for four years. Managing a team of 15-16 officers and pilots and 30 technicians isn’t easy, but for her it is as much fun as it is duty. “I always wanted to visit Bengaluru and my work brought me here,” she laughs.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Bangalore News / Arpita R / TNN / February 17th, 2017
