Sarang-Surya Kiran jugalbandi wins hearts at air show

Group Captain Anoop Singh, CO of the Surya Kiran aerobatic team at Yelahanka Air Force Base on February 5, 2021.

Wing Commander Girish Komar, CO of the Sarang Helicopter display team sports a special arm patch on February 5 during Aero India 2021.

Visitors look skyward to a stunning piece of formation by IAF’s Surya Kiran aerobatic team that leaves behind a heart-shaped smoke trail on the concluding day of Aero India on Friday.

The commanders of the Surya Kiran and Sarang air display teams said that weeks of planning had gone into the combined air maneuvers which were executed to acclaim at Aero India this week.

The 13th edition of the show, which ended on Friday, saw the two display teams not only carry out a series of challenging combined maneuvers twice a day for three days but also execute difficult aerobatics such as having one Hawk aircraft carry out a corkscrew maneuver around two other Hawks traveling in a straight line at speeds of over 200 km per hour.

Wing Commander “Naga” Nagendra, a Tumakuru native and a technical officer in the Surya Kiran unit, said that maneuvers required extensive drilling in the unit’s home base in Bidar.

Wing Commander Girish Komar, Commander of the Sarang display team, said that careful attention had been paid to speed rates and distance when formulating the maneuvers. “We had to be careful about our closing speeds and distance separating the two teams because these aircraft are two different types of aircraft with different performance envelopes,” he said.

When asked if the two teams would conduct closer maneuvers in the future, Group Captain Anoop Singh, the Commander of the Surya Kirans, said that was still being considered. At the same time, members of both units said they were not yet certain if the combined display would be repeated in subsequent iterations of Aero India.

“We were asked by a senior officer to practice for and carry out the combined aerobatics this time. Orders on further such maneuvers are yet to come,” Group Captain Singh said.

The two units which once had a sizable contingent of Karnataka pilots and staff is now down to two individuals from the state: Wing Commander Nagendra in the Surya Kiran and Wing Commander Komar in the Sarang who hails from Bagalkot.

Group Captain Singh said, “We see a high rotation of pilots into and out of the unit. On average, we get about four new pilots every year.”