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Spreading wings of success
The Air Force Station (AFS) at Hakimpet is abuzz with activity ahead of the 85th Air Force Day celebrations that will be held on October 8. While air shows are a regular feature at AFS Hakimpet, only few are aware of the hard work that is involved in making these shows a success.
Secunderabad: The Air Force Station (AFS) at Hakimpet is abuzz with activity ahead of the 85th Air Force Day celebrations that will be held on October 8. While air shows are a regular feature at AFS Hakimpet, only few are aware of the hard work that is involved in making these shows a success.
The airfield that was used by the Royal Air Force during the pre-independence era, is today a premier military aviation training base for the Indian Air Force, Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard. The cadets and officers are trained in the art of fighter flying and rotary winged flying.
The AFS Hakimpet is always filled with activity as budding pilots get ready for sorties during the day and in the wee hours. A senior officer said the station works 24/7 and almost all departments are ready for any eventuality with response time within minutes.
Air Commodore R K Oberoi said, “The helicopter pilots play an important role at borders and also pitch in during the times of distress such as natural calamities including floods, earthquakes, drought and etc.” Initially the flying training is imparted on BELL 47G3 helicopter and subsequently on Chetaks.
The basic helicopter training is for six months and on an average close to 50 trainees undergo training at any given point of time. There are 12 helipads at the station. In the past, even officers of the Army were trained here but their training was later shifted to Allahabad. About 60 per cent of the cadets move to Bengaluru to get training in bigger helicopters and 40 per cent come back for advanced training. The advanced training includes search and rescue operations and how to pick people up from flood affected and other natural calamities.
The AFS is far busier than the Rajiv Gandhi International airport at Shamshabad just by the quantum of flying hours. With a minimum of one sortie per cadet per week and about four sorties by instructors, the station is always abuzz with activity. Instructors alone fly close to 40 hours per month. On a good day, (sorties depend on weather conditions) there are about 100 plus take offs and landings.
