Bond of the 'Surya Kiran'

The picture shows me along with the Surya Kiran team members at the Bhopal Airport during their stop over for refueling while flying from Bidar to Agra to perform a show in 2003.

The Surya Kiran is an aerobatics demonstration team of the Indian Air Force and the successors to the Thunderbolts. The Surya Kiran Aerobatic Team (SKAT) was formed in 1996 to serve as the 'Ambassadors of the Indian Air Force' and to 'showcase the professionalism, the caliber and the mettle of the Indian Air Force'. The team has since performed numerous demonstrations in various parts of the country and abroad, and is today among the three renowned nine-aircraft aerobatic teams in the world.
My boding with the Indian Air Force's fire flashers of the sky came about in 2003 and till date have maintained their close association while watching them perform from a very close range. What moves one is when you start to interact with some of the finest pilots who fly these rickety old engines, with zest and precision makes one wonder why are they doing this, when their services is needed in the hot seat of powerful blast engines like the Sukoi, Mirage 2000, MIG's and the Jaguar.
Flight Lieutenant R V Singh, who was the head of the ground staff of the team, says on this posting 'we love this job because it gives us time to relax and also to unwind our minds with our family members'. While Wing Commander Sreekumar Prabhakaran adds that it is fun to be posted with this team, 'Surya'(Sun God), always keeps shining on us for the two years we get posted and we get to free our arms and try some new maneuvers which we would not be able to do on a fighter jet.
Squadron Leader Sanjay Khajuria, says that the past two years of deputation with the Surya Kiran team was great and wants to end it on a high, by showcasing their maneuvers over the blue skies of the city of lakes, as he was talking to me Sanjay pulled out his personal positioning batch in the formation line up and gifted it to me, and added that keep this is my remembrance.
In 2006 the Surya Kiran team was conferred squadron status, and presently has the designation of 52 Squadron, Air force and is nicknamed as the 'The Sharks'. The parent base for the SKAT is Air Force Station, Bidar.
The AOC of AFS Bidar serves as the guardian for the Squadron when it is at base or touring. AFS Bidar is one of the main training bases for IAF pilots, and operates numerous Kiran MK I 1A and MK II aircraft.

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Team 'Surya Kiran' - IAF's Pride

Monday, 20th Ocober, 2003 - Bhopal: A dozen flaming –red Hindustan jet Trainers (HJT) which are used by the 'Surya Kiran Aerobatic Team' halted for refueling for an hour at the city airport on October 21, 2003 while flying from Allahabad to Baroda where they were to hold an air show on October 22 and 23, 2003.
The 12 member team which was led by Wing Commander Sreekumar Prabakharan flew into the airport in a four- row formation after the technical team which landed 10 minutes earlier in a carrier aircraft. Indian Air force's Surya Kiran team was formed in May 1996 with six HJT's taking off together giving birth to the 13 year old history of the aerobatic team.

Two of the twelve Surya Kiran aircraft while flying to Allahabad to Baroda, landed at Bhopal airport for refueling.
The team in all as 14 flying officers with one commentator & administrator. The technical side consists of 50 members led by a Flight Lieutenant RV Singh.
This team was formed basically to show to the Indian citizens what the Indian Air force is all about and also to encourage the youngsters to opt for a career in the Air force, said Wing Commander Prabakaharan.

Wing Commander and Surya Kiran team leader Sreekumar Prabhakaran being greeted by children with rose on touching land at the Bhopal airport.
Since the foundations, the team has learned various maneuvers and acquired new skills that has won acclaim and awe the world over. The formations have their own names and in each, the distance maintained between two jets is a mere 5 meters even as these aircraft fly at 600 KMPH varying from height of 30 meters to 1 kilometer from the ground level.
To name a few of the various formations- Diamond, Phoenix, Sukohia, Columbia, Delta, Card, Shock Wave, Loops, Barrel Rolls and the latest being Bomber, says Sqn Leader Sanjay Khajuria who doubles up as the spokesman of the team.
Most of the pilots have a stint of a three year period with the Surya Kirans and all of them enjoy the rides says Sqn Leader John Cruz, who prior to joining the team was flying the MIG 27.

Flight Lieutenant Bhavana Mehra, the only woman member of the Surya Kiran team embarks from the plane after landing at the Bhopal airport.
"Well, after flying the Mirage 2000, flying the Kiran MK II HJT planes is fun but at the same time it is more dangerous," said Sqn Leader Monish Yadav. The close maneuvers that we do are rib braking and the whole team carries a big risk, he added.
The Indian Air force is proud of the fact that its Surya Kiran aerobatic team is only the third in the world with nine aircraft. The other two teams that have nine aircraft in the world are "red Arrows" of the British Royal Air force and the "Snow Birds" of the Canadian Air force.

The Kiran MK II planes are also used for training the future fighter pilots of the IAF and the aircraft weighs about 5 tonnes. It is powered by an Orpheus engine that can touch 780 KNPH or 0.7 Mach. The Kiran MK II can also be deployed in counter insurgency operations and can carry a payload of 250 KG bombs and 68mm rockets apart from its internal guns thus making it a quick hit and fly plane, says Wing Commander Prabakharan.
Come November and the City of lakes skies will be conquered by the maneuvers of Surya Kirans, said Group Captain P S Sandhu, Commander Tactical Air Center, Bhopal, who was at the airbase to receive his flying guests and then wave them off at the time of take off.
Though this did not happen the same year it did happen in 2004 December and the show went off great, so read on why the delay.
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After the Surya Kiran team members did more than 10 trips from November 2003 to October 2004, to choose the place of their show the members led by Wing Commander Prabakharan settled for the open sky above the Upper Lake of Bhopal. Wing Commander Prabakharan said that his team members had to do a lot of planning since the lake had an all round hill cover which may be difficult to maneuver the planes at that speed. So "we had various field rounds and then finally checked as to what kind of maneuver to present in the short space of 1 kilometer between the West and the East end of the lake and the 3 kilometers stretch between the North and South end of the lake", said Prabakharan. He also went on to add that since the air space was less we were forced to use only four of the 12 planes for the show. The show took place in December 7th and the 8th, 2004 in Bhopal.
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A Breathtaking air show, by the Surya Kiran team of the Indian Air Force (IAF), caught citizens fancy on Tuesday afternoon and hundreds of them gathered near the Boat Club, Chief Minister's house and the Wind & Waves restaurant to watch the perfectly coordinated moves in the air made by the four aircraft's.

The air show was part of the two-day motivational programme of the IAF ahead of the recruitment rally for personnel below officer rank to be held between December 10 & 13 2004 at the Lal Parade ground. The show would be repeated at 4.00 pm on December 8 near the boat club.

Today's show started at around 3.30 pm, but the interested citizens had started gathering near the Boat Club far earlier. All the places, from where the show would be best visible were taken up quite in advance, but citizens kept flowing in jamming the entire Boat Club road as also the area near the Chief Minister's residence.

The Surya Kiran team led by Wing Commander S Prabakharan started the show and immediately had the citizens in awe. The four pilots performed breathtaking aerobatics with the beautiful Upper Lake in the background. As the coordinated dance like movements caught up, citizens were silenced in awe. The sun low over the horizon provided perfect setting for the show.
However; after the show was over, citizens had a tough time getting out of the Boat Club road as four wheelers and two wheelers along with pedestrians had literally clogged the road. The traffic cleared from the venue after a long time.

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