ON ‘CLOUD-NINE’ : THE SURYAKIRAN STORY

Flypasts have always been practiced by Air Forces all over the world to mark a special occasion, and those with multiple aircraft in formation have always caught the awe of an audience present at air-shows or military parades. Most Senior Citizens of this country recollect the formation of Westland Wapiti and Hawker Tempest over the capital, New Delhi, during Indian Independence, on 15th August 1947, and flypasts have since been a tradition at Independence and Republic Day Parades. Aerobatics is the art of performing loops, rolls and other manoeuvres in air, that pushes both, the aircraft as well as the human crew, to the operational limits while entertaining the crowd below.

Formation Aerobatics showcases the ethos of the Indian Air Force(IAF); pilots’ flying skills as well as capabilities of the machine, while simultaneously motivating youngsters to join the IAF or its sister armed forces. To commemorate the Golden Jubilee of IAF in 1982, fighter pilots from various squadrons formed an aerobatic team, ‘Thunderbolts’, on the venerable Hawker Siddeley Hunter, that performed for nearly decade, soon after which the Hunters were decommissioned.

“The Hunter was a pleasure to fly. Equipped with good control harmony, reserve and response of power, it was easy for formation members to maintain position”, says a veteran Flying Instructor, who was also qualified on Hunters. In 1996, a former member of Thunderbolts had been tasked to raise a formation aerobatic team, based in Karnataka’s IAF Station Bidar, on the indigenous HAL HJT-16 ‘Kiran’ Mk-II Jet Trainer, that formed the genesis of the present team, now operating BAe Hawk Mk-132. The historic town of Bidar is often termed as ‘the crown of Karnataka’ and with the team’s signature formation, it would be apt to say “The Crown Needs A Diamond”.

‘Suryakiran’ translating to ‘Rays of the Sun’ was an Indian name chosen during the team early months, which coincidentally complemented the aircraft’s name ‘Kiran’ (‘Ray of Light’). After performing nine-aircraft formation displays across the length and breadth of the country as well as overseas on numerous occasions for fifteen years, the Suryakiran Aerobatic Team (abbreviated as SKAT) on Kirans had to disband owing to a shortage of training resources.

Exactly four years later, in 2015, SKAT resurrected on the Advanced Jet Trainer Hawk Mk-132, of British origin designed by British Aerospace, but license produced by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. The ‘Hawk Pioneers’ comprised four former members of the erstwhile Kiran team, along with three instructors from the Hawk Training Squadron, to bring in the precise experience of formation flying and the new aircraft. The team started off with four-aircraft formation, then gradually a six-aircraft formation and finally the former glory of the nine-aircraft formation, in two years, much the same way as that of the building the erstwhile SKAT.

It was indeed a moment of pride for me to watch the resurrected SKAT’s maiden performance on Hawk, though only with six aircraft, at Bangalore’s AFS Yelahanka during Aero India 2017, having witnessed the previous team’s penultimate performance on Kiran during 2011’s edition of the airshow.

When the team was in transition, I, Arnav Pai, had the privilege to interact and interview the Commanding Officer & Team Leader (CO), Commentator (Administrator), Senior Team Pilot (No.7), and the youngest member, an Engineering Officer (EO), who joined during the expansion from six to nine-ship team, as SKAT, or 52 Squadron ‘Sharks’, as they rehearsed for their maiden nine-aircraft public performance during the Air Force Day Parade, at Hindon, on 08 October 2017.

TEAM LEADER - “SURYAKIRAN-1” A thorough professional and a fine aviator who is the sole reference during the close formation aerobatic display. A fearless gentleman known to be calm and composed, trusted with the ability to match his flying knowledge to that of his leadership skills, while also taking responsibility of his team members’ safety, from ground and in the air.

Q1: How big is the responsibility of a Commanding Officer of a team that goes around motivating youngsters to join the Indian Air Force? CO: Suryakirans are ambassadors of not only the IAF but also nation’s armed forces. Our duty is to inspire confidence in minds of Indian citizens about sound professionalism, ethos and discipline of IAF. It also serves the purpose of igniting young minds and motivating them to join IAF. Hence it’s the ultimate responsibility of the CO to reflect the best values of the Armed forces through all aspects of the team.. be it flying, ground drills, bearing and demeanour of all team members as well as social interaction. To ensure all this is indeed a mammoth responsibility and a lots of meticulous planning and hard work goes into that.

Q2: What were your initial thoughts about Suryakiran and the takeaways for future, after completing a tenure with the team?

CO: SKAT combines passion for flying with astute professional values. Hence it’s the epitome of what IAF stands for.

A tenure in SKAT not only improves one’s professional skills but it also teaches one to be a team worker. It teaches you to trust into the ability of others thus enhancing your value as a team man. It also teaches you the value of self-discipline in each aspect of life. Flying with the team alleviates anxiety about any adversity in the air and increases concentration, endurance and skill.

Q3: How was it to transform the team from four to nine aircraft in two and a half years? What were the challenges faced during this process ?

CO: It was an extremely challenging journey. I had decided to meet my goals in a timely and professional manner irrespective of the obstacles faced. I put my heart and soul into it with whatever resources the IAF gave me and through about 2.5 years of continuous toil resurrected a nine aircraft team on Hawks. I barely went on three weeks of leave each year and never stopped till we put up the diamond back in the sky. I had to put up with some personal challenges such as the surgery of my 3 year old daughter. But the Almighty was kind to me.

Q4: The team’s profile formations vary at every occassion. What is unique about some of them?

CO: Amongst the new formations I introduced were Tejas, Crossbow, Flogger, Big Arrow (Inset: Title Banner) as well as certain manoeuvres like roll backs and corkscrews which were entirely new for Suryakiran Aerobatic team. My personal favourite apart from the Diamond are the Fulcrum and Thunderbolt formation.

SENIOR TEAM PILOT "SURYAKIRAN-7" At the Tail of the formation, trailing the deputy leader, another senior pilot performs a challenging task of flying second in line astern, which at times creates a situation in which the team leader is beyond visual range. During the Synchro sequence, he’s often seen as the ‘Inverted Man’. Q1: You were a Junior Pilot in the Previous Kiran Team and Now, a Senior Pilot in the Present Hawk Team. What are the differences between the two aircraft in Aerobatics?

No.7: I have been lucky enough to be a part of Suryakiran Aerobatic Team on both the Kiran aircraft as well the Hawk aircraft. Although I enjoyed both my tenures tremendously, there were a lot of differences in both the aircraft and the way they handled.

The Kiran Mk II was inherently more suitable for the role of e aerobatic display aircraft as it was more voluminous, thereby increasing the visibility. The radius of turn was much smaller. As a result, the display profile always remained within the visual bubble of the audience. The landing light located on the nose also increased the visibility. The biggest advantage was the tricolour smoke system which greatly the appeal of the display. Handling wise, it was more tricky, as during vertical maneuverers we had to operate close to the buffet regime. The thrust was inadequate, so the outer members had to resort to “cheating” to maintain position. Side by side seating was a disadvantage too, as the far side wing was not visible to the pilot. Inverted flying was a real problem as the nose used to drop substantially and aircraft was prone to entering a flick while rolling out of inverted flight. The Hawk is a much more subtle aircraft to handle, however it also meant more jerkiness in the air. It has very poor gust riding characteristics specially at low levels which made the job more difficult. The radius of turn is very large making the display profile go out of the visual range of the audience. The landing light comes on only with the undercarriage down. Without smoke the effect of display is reduced considerably. The Hawk has however, adequate thrust to see you through all manoeuvres and no cheating is required to maintain position. Inverted flying is not so difficult with the HUD picture available to you for reference and the nose doesn’t come down as easily.

Q2: What does it take for an IAF Pilot to be part of the Suryakiran?

No.7: Selection procedure for the team is fairly tough with only 1 out 5 pilots making it through. Apart from flying skills the main focus areas where they are judged are team spirit, maturity level and ability to interact socially. The applicants are also checked for discipline and issues of indiscipline are viewed very seriously. Other than flying skill, team spirit and cooperation are given most important priority while selecting a pilot for the team.

TEAM ADMINISTRATOR & COMMENTATOR A soft-spoken ‘all-rounder’ who balances work on computers & papers at base, and the microphone during air displays, he plays the integral role of being the link, with his melodious voice, between what happens in the air and what the audience views and understands.

1. What does the Team Administrator do?

Admin: While at base, the team administrator is responsible for HR management, administrative policy compliance, facility management of the Sqn Infrastructure, budgeting and control of various accounting code heads, liaison with Higher formations and host stations for display detachments of the team, responsible for movement of personnel, service level professional examinations of personnel, promulgation of Office orders, planning and monitoring civil works of the squadron complex etc. The visible or rather 'audible' public role during displays is that of the air display commentator. The commentary is conducted so that the spectators Understand and enjoy the show better.

Q2: During displays, you simultaneously observe the formations in air, listen to commands by the leader and lend your voice for commentary, briefing the audience. How difficult is doing three things for a single outcome?

Admin: Yes. The commentator goes by several cues. There are three four mental clocks running at different timings and all are important. While talking over the mic, one has to manage shuffling of the background score tracks, and listen to the leader's Radio calls. Sometimes someone would come in with additional written instructions from the safety supervisor, which you have to read and comprehend without a change in tempo or Tone in your voice, over the mic.

The leaders calls are also very important because sometimes display sequence might have to be altered from what was briefed, due to inflight visibility conditions or general flight Safety. It is extremely important to monitor the Radio calls and make announcements accordingly, cos a goof up in announcement can really spoil the show. Multitasking of this sort is not easy initially, but with experience one gets used to it.

Q3: Coming from a different flying branch, just like other pilots of the team come from different aircraft backgrounds. How did your inputs help in raising the team ?

Admin: My aircraft/flying background could not contribute significantly to the team formation, but my previous stint in the team as administrator did ensure that the administrative support for Safe flying operations had a strong advantage over a greenhorn.

ENGINEERING OFFICER He is to aircraft what a doctor is to humans. Led by a Senior Engineering Officer, and assisted by the most experienced technicians, the ‘Tech Team’ performs a herculean task of not only maintenance and servicing, but also executing the plans for logistics during the touring season. A team that consists of the best pilots, naturally would have the best ground crew to support them backstage.

Q: As an Engineering Officer, your duty is to maintain the air worthiness of the nine as well as standby aircraft prior to the display. What is the teamwork involved in the ‘backstage’ process?

EO: The importance of teamwork cannot be stressed enough when it comes to SKAT, both in the air and on the ground. For a display of nine aircraft, eleven need to be prepared. This requires consolidated efforts from a team of around ninety ground crew. Right from inspection of the aircraft, replenishment of gases and fuel to the cleaning of the tarmac for operations, every single individual behaves like a cog in a well-oiled machine which makes the magic in the air possible.

'DIAMOND'

'FULCRUM' OR 'BAAZ'

'SUKHOI'

'TEJAS'

'VAJRA' OR 'MIRAGE' (EARLIER KNOWN AS 'GRIPEN')

'THUNDERBOLT'

'BOMB-BURST'

As the Nation celebrates the 88th Anniversary of the Indian Air Force on 8th October, Suryakiran - IAF’s Formation Aerobatic Team commences it’s tour for the 20th display season, given the hiatus of four years with the squadron being number plated.

Due to the ongoing Corona Virus Pandemic, the Ministry of Defence & Government of India have imposed certain restrictions that also include a ban on public interactions with Armed Forces Personnel. This interview, conducted in the year 2017, has been published on the eve of Air Force Day (7th October 2020), with the hope of bringing Asia’s premier air display team as close as possible to their ardent fans reading while staying safe indoors.

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES MUST THE TEXT OR PHOTOGRAPHS BE REPRODUCED IN ANY FORMAT. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED BY MR.ARNAV PAI.

IN FOND MEMORY OF:

WG CDR SAHIL GANDHI * [18 OCT 1982 - 19 FEB 2019] SURYAKIRAN - 3 OF 4 {2015-16}, 5 OF 6 {2016-17} , 9 {2017-18} & 7* {2018-19*} OF 9. WG CDR SAHIL GANDHI WAS A HAWK 'ENCYCLOPEDIA', HAVING BEEN IN THE INITIAL BATCH OF I.A.F PILOTS TO TRAIN ON THE AIRCRAFT IN R.A.F VALLEY, AND WAS PART OF THE CORE TEAM THAT RESURRECTED SURYAKIRAN IN 2015.