SHANKAR TURHA
UMIAM:
The oohs and aahs from the crowd below pierced the air every time the Sarang Helicopter Display team manoeuvred their machines high above the Umiam Lake on a bright and wintry Friday morning; for the pilots, the red-white-golden Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopters were like toys in their hands as they wove spellbinding intricate patterns with seeming gay abandon, at times passing by each other at hand-shaking distance, creating a flutter among those below craning their necks to soak in the grand spectacle. Call it precision flying at its nerve-racking best.
The air show was organised as part of 91st Anniversary celebration of the Indian Air Force and Eastern Air Command’s outreach initiative.
It was not only about the Sarang Helicopter Display team.
An assortment of aircraft, including the blink-and-it’s-gone Rafale and SU 30, the more leisurely Dornier, and the twin-rotor big-build Chinook helicopter that would disturb the otherwise serene water of the lake every time it passed above, kept the audience on the edge of their seats through the nearly one-hour show.
The aircraft had converged in the sky over the lake having taken off from different air fields.
The overall show was testimony to the IAF’s complex training, competency, and serviceability in the harshest of terrains.
Speaking to The Meghalayan, one of pilots of the Sarang display team, Flight Lieutenant Pallavi Sangwan said that the team is the only five-helicopter military display team in the entire world.
Sangwan informed that the Sarang team was led by Group Captain Santosh Kumar Mishra, and flying with him were Squadron Leader Akash, Wing Commander Shridhar, Wing Commander Janpriya, Wing Commander Chandan Patnaik, Squadron leader Avinash, Squadron leader Karan Prabhakar, and Wing Commander Thakur Vikash Raj Singh.
Air Marshal SP Dharkar, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C) of the Shillong-based Eastern Air Command, who was the chief guest at the show, stated that the idea of holding such a show was to allow the people to enjoy such aerial displays.
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“We were worried about weather, like you saw in the morning there was fog, but then it cleared up, and I hope that the crowd had enough thrills for the day,” Dharkar said.
Stating that holding such shows frequently is not possible in Shillong, Dharkar mentioned that the team comes from Sulur in Coimbatore, and it takes time to get them across as they do shows all over the country.
Asked about the Umiam location and its feasibility of hosting the show, Dharkar said that there are three challenges associated with the place, the weather, elevation, and operation in a tight zone.
The audience was made up of civil, state and defence dignitaries, children and the general public. As the AOC-in-C said, they had had their thrills