Date:05/12/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/12/05/stories/2008120550050100.htm

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Navy aerobatics show enthrals audience

Staff Reporter

Kochi: A scintillating aerobatic show by the famed Sagar Pawan squadron, a solemn Beating Retreat ceremony and a marvellously synchronised continuity drill marked Navy Day at the Naval Base here on Thursday. In a low-key affair conducted in the aftermath of terror strikes in the country, the day’s ceremonies were dedicated to the victims of terror attacks as also to the fighters of terror who are “not cowed down by the dastardly acts”.

The aerobatic show, led by Commander Satyam Vartak, Commanding Officer of the Goa-based Indian naval Air Squadron (INAS) 551, had the Sagar Pawan team carry out breathtaking and gravity-defying manoeuvres on four Kiran MK 2 trainer aircraft.

The team, comprising Commander J.J. Jose, Commander S.K. Maurya and Commander Y. Karkare, besides the leader, displayed dexterity and remarkable control flying at times as close as 200 metres above the ground and at speeds of over 1,000 kmph while performing awe-inspiring manoeuvres.

Aerobatic parlance

This was followed by what in aerobatic parlance is known as a ‘Yankee’ (Y-shape done in reverse) manoeuvre, on the heels of which came the Tango (T-shape), high-speed synchronised earth kissing crossing, the enchanting ‘starburst’ in which all the four aircraft fly out in a opposite direction after a split second mid-air rendezvous, splattering the tricolour as they roared out.

The last manoeuvre, done in gratitude to the spectators, had two aircraft forming the heart and one playing the cupid by piercing the heart like an arrow. Earlier, Lieutenant Colonel S. Verma, Major Ashwin Nagpal, Havaldar N. Patil, Havaldar B. R. Chandmare, Naik Shiv Singh and Naik Parke V.D. of the 50 Independent Para Brigade of the Army did para-jumping, landing precisely on their designated spots.

The team was dropped off at 8,000 ft by a Dornier aircraft.