Kochi: In a historical first, naval air squadron no. 550, called the ‘Flying Fish’— the fountainhead of naval aviation in India — has taken on the task of training naval pilots.
The first batch of three pilots who underwent their basic conversion course on the Dornier maritime reconnaissance aircraft at the squadron, based under the Southern Naval Command in Kochi, will receive the ‘wings’ at a passing-out ceremony at the command on Wednesday.
“The Indian naval aviation inventory, which boasts 223 aircraft, is bigger than that of some air forces in the world. We are set to make a fresh cycle of inductions, which requires us to augment our crew strength as well,” said Commodore G. Prakash, director of Maritime Warfare Centre (Kochi).
Until now, basic flying training of naval pilots was done by the Air Force at its academy at Dundigul, where 17 seats are earmarked for naval flyers. “But with the IAF also growing rapidly, it is unable to cater to our increased demand for training. Then the Navy decided to send its officers opting for the flying stream to train at the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi (IGRUA) at Rae Bareli,” Cmde Prakash said.
27/07/14 S. Anandan/The Hindu
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The first batch of three pilots who underwent their basic conversion course on the Dornier maritime reconnaissance aircraft at the squadron, based under the Southern Naval Command in Kochi, will receive the ‘wings’ at a passing-out ceremony at the command on Wednesday.
“The Indian naval aviation inventory, which boasts 223 aircraft, is bigger than that of some air forces in the world. We are set to make a fresh cycle of inductions, which requires us to augment our crew strength as well,” said Commodore G. Prakash, director of Maritime Warfare Centre (Kochi).
Until now, basic flying training of naval pilots was done by the Air Force at its academy at Dundigul, where 17 seats are earmarked for naval flyers. “But with the IAF also growing rapidly, it is unable to cater to our increased demand for training. Then the Navy decided to send its officers opting for the flying stream to train at the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi (IGRUA) at Rae Bareli,” Cmde Prakash said.
27/07/14 S. Anandan/The Hindu
