EGGS IN THE AIR 1. When you fly in the secrecy of your sector, only you or at the most your co-jo finds out the level of your incompetence. But when you fly in front of 20,000 Goans, entire Goa discovers that instead of loops, you can only make eggs in the air! 2 Put up as impressive a show as you can but, at an air show the ice cream vendor is more popular so dont get too carried away. 3 If you think the crowd is big and loving your display, remember the crowd will be much bigger and loving it even more if you make a big, smoking hole in the ground. (Second and third quotes are not mine; only copied) (Note: A long article, Please read only if you have time to spare) I was the senior pilot, 551 squadron in 1983/84. Since the squadron commander was admitted in the hospital for the past few weeks, I was looking after the squadron in his absence. There was continuous requirement of the Kirans to carryout AA tracking, strikes on the ships and of course, the air shows (shop-windows). The OFT (Operational Flying Training) of the pilots was carried out as and when it was possible. Since ours was a training squadron with most of the pilots having limited experience, I had worked out a simple yet reasonably impressive format for the Kirans to fly during the air shows. Three aeroplanes would get airborne and come over the runway 26/08 at high speed (for the Kirans) in close ‘Vic’ formation. As the aeroplanes were reaching the demo area, I would pull up steeply; it seemed to be vertical from the cockpit, but actually was 60/70 degrees in the vertical plane. As the two planes on both the sides of my Kiran continued flying straight at high speed, it gave the impression of two missiles having been launched by my aircraft while pulling up. The two wing-men after crossing the runway would go and stack up in the pre-designated area. After establishing a near vertical climb, I would carry out two vertical rolls and then I would go on my back at the top of the climb with my head pointing 180 degrees away from the crowd. Pull the aircraft in a half loop, build up speed, come low in front of the crowd and then commence low level aerobatics. A couple of loops followed by barrel rolls to both the sides, a roll off the top and then descend at high speed and fly low over the crowd at high speed, turn downwind at 500 ft. at high g and land off a tight continuous turn approach. It was an easy and effective format, not testing my skills too much and gave the desired thrills to the spectators. There would be a gratifying applause from the crowd, as I stepped out of the cockpit. On this Navy Day I was flying the standard profile. I pulled up vertically, opened full power, rolled the aircraft 360 degrees- once to the left and then to the right. Put the Kiran on its back and gently pulled to come down in a half loop, adjusting the stick pressure to come down to the desired height to commence the first loop. I pulled up for the loop and on completion of the first loop cursed myself, “Sareshth Kumar, must you carry out all your aerobatics in the Ionosphere?” Pulled up for the second loop and after going 45 degrees past the horizon on my back, relaxed the backward pressure to let the aeroplane lose sufficient height to pull out closer to the crowd. The increased noise level and the ASI (Air Speed Indicator) racing in the clockwise direction told me that I might not have made a wise decision! I saw both the arms of my co-pilot shoot forward with a gasp of alarm from him. “Don’t” I yelled, as I increased backward pressure on the stick and throttled back. Despite my foolishness, I was still far more experienced to deal with the developing situation. As I coaxed the aircraft out of the dive using maximum g without stalling or juddering the Kiran, I was acutely aware of the size of the NOFRA (Naval Officers’ Residential Area) buildings on the ground getting bigger at an alarming rate. As I crossed the nose vertically down position, I looked up. The Avro HS 748 parked in the dispersal was assuming the proportions of a Jumbo jet. Most disturbing for me was the tail of the Avro, which with each passing second was rising vertically to give a close competition to Qutub Minar! The upturned faces of the crowd were clearly visible, as I flashed past over the Avro, clearly missing the tail of the aircraft!! Let’s not try to put down these heights in to, “How many feet or meters?” The Avro was safe. I completed the rest of the profile in the Ionosphere. As I was taxying back, the ATC called up, “Commander Air would like to see you.” Not surprised. Commander Air, Percy Macaden was tossing the paperweight from one hand to the other. This was bad. When Macaden was the Squadron staff officer, he would be tossing the paperweight from one hand to the other after returning from the office of the squadron commander. Macaden was only tossing that paperweight; he would have been fully justified in aiming it at my head. It was better than his banging his head on the wall for having allowed an impressionable senior pilot to undertake a potentially hazardous sortie! He looked at me and looked away. He again looked at me and looked away. I was not used to it. I fidgeted. There were six or seven people in the room. No one moved or spoke. Mac put down the paper weight and looked at me directly, “What were you doing?” I stood shamefacedly. “You were supposed to be doing loops.” Macaden drew a circle in the air with his finger. ………………… “You were making eggs in the air.” Percy now drew an egg in the air with his finger. “Sorry sir.” Macaden looked at me for a few moments, “OK go.” I slinked out of the Commander Air’s office. “What were you doing?” My wife. First and the only time she commented on my flying, “Cheenu (my son) ran in to the briefing room. He was scared.” When we were newly married, our accommodation was the master bedroom of 80-A, Lieutenant Commanders’ accommodation in the Hansa mess area. The other two rooms were occupied by another officer and the drawing room and the kitchen were shared by both the families. Many times when I returned from the squadron for lunch, I found the senior ladies, wives of the Commander Air/Squadron Commander 310 or/and ExO, who were residing in that area, sitting with my wife and happily chatting. They had taught her, “Do not question your husband about his profession, you cannot do anything except get tense and increase his tension.” “He will have his professional fights with the other officers. That is his problem. He will sort it out. For you, all the officers and their wives are your friends.” (It is most applicable to fighter flying, where during de-briefs, sometimes we used to be quite close to fist fights.) But the vital lesson that they had drilled in to her was, “Whatever be your tensions at home; whatever be the worries, in the morning always send him off with a smile. He must never carry any worries about his home or his family in to the cockpit!” This is the wisdom passed down the generations of the aviators from the senior ladies to the newly married ones. Her mild rebuke was a testimony to the seriousness of the situation. I looked at my seven years old son. May be true; may not be true, but I felt that he looked a little more mature than he had been; when I went up for the sortie. His eyes seemed to be saying, “You are not as level headed papa, as I had believed you to be!
Posted on: Thu, 10 Jul 2014 04:04:22 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015