Spectacular air show at Kovai captivates public

In addition to stunts by the Sarang Team, students and public were awestruck by the ‘bambi operation’ by the Mi-17V-5 chopper. It lifted 5,000 litres of water in a bambi bucket from the Sulur lake and performed a fire extinguishing drill.

 In the ‘slithering operation’, armed personnel got off the fighter chopper using ropes and secured a location. Such operations are performed to land at tough terrains or atop buildings that are under the control of terrorists. Sounds of the engines and frequent take off and landings of the IAF aircraft were a treat for the spectators. More than half a dozen IAF planes and choppers were on Static Display. They had a detailed description of the air carriers and the purpose for which they were used. Among them were the Dornier aircraft from Germany that were inducted in 1987, AVRO  Aircraft from UK that was inducted in 1964 and Russian ANTONOV-32 inducted in 1984. 

Pilots and technical personnel handling them answered specific questions raised by students and shared their experiences with the IAF and how the young aspirants could join the force. A stall was set up at the show venue to create awareness among students on the spectrum of career prospects for them in IAF.

On Tuesday evening, twenty-three air warriors of No 5 Air Force Band, led by Squadron Leader BN Ashok presented a music concert at a mall in the city. With trumpet, flute, French-horn, euphonium, clarinet, saxophone, jazz set, guitar, bass drums and trombone numbers they played ‘V ande Mataram ’, ‘Renaissance’ and ‘ Sande sey Aate Hain ’.

Spectators at the Know Your Forces programme organised by the Indian Air Force (IAF) at Sulur here on Wednesday were spellbound by the breath-taking stunts of Sarang, the helicopter display team of the Indian Air Force.

With an Advanced Light Helicopter MK-I, the team performed several stunts for an hour. The red chopper with peacock painted on its sides began its performance with a ‘quick stop’ on air, followed by a ‘pirouette’ a ballet like motion, in which the chopper performed rotational movement around a single spot. 

They also performed a ‘vertical screw’ when the chopper scaled to heights at the same spot similar to the tightening of a screw, stall turn (also known as dolphin’s leap) and concluded the show with a dip and salute. 

The Sarang (means peacock in Sanskrit) is the only four helicopter military display team in the world. Members of the team based at Sulur in Coimbatore claimed that the other military chopper display teams world over have one or two choppers, making Sarang an international attraction.

With the motto ‘But for the rotors we would have been closer’, they have performed stunts in various countries. Flight lieutenant Tinju Thomas, who has been part of Sarang for two years, is one of the four women members of the team. Tintu, who is the commentator of the team, said that three others include a pilot and two technical officers.