SHILLONG: Flight Lieutenant Siddharth Singh has followed in the footsteps of his father, Air Vice Marshal Manavendra Singh, to reach the sky. On Saturday, during the Indian Air Force’s 84th anniversary celebrations at Eastern Air Command in Upper Shillong, the father-son duo made history of sorts by flying a Mi-17 V5 helicopter together.
Speaking to media persons, Air Vice Marshal Singh expressed his happiness as he has passed on the baton to his son. He said under normal circumstances, family members are not allowed to fly together and a special permission was issued just for the Air Fest 2016 so that the duo could fly the helicopter together.
Singh, who is one of the senior helicopter pilots in IAF, has to his credit over 6,700 hours of flying. The Air officer is a qualified flying instructor and has instructed on various types of helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft in his career spanning nearly 35 years.
Having flown in challenging sectors like the North East, Uttarakhand, Siachen, Western deserts and Democratic Republic of Congo, the officer has vast experience in helicopter operations.
Siddharth, a young officer, was commissioned in 2011 in the helicopter stream. The youngster has flown Mi-17 V5 and has represented his unit in various Air Force level exercises. “It is proud moment for me to pass on the legacy to him,” said the father.
Siddharth said his father was a role model for him and inspired him to fly helicopter that always fascinated him as a child. But when in cockpit, the duo maintains a strictly professional relation and Siddharth addresses Singh as ‘Sir’.
Singh is currently the senior officer in charge administration HQ EAC and Siddharth is a unit pilot posted in one of the Mi-17 V5 helicopter unit under HQ EAC.
To witness this special flight, Singh’s father and wives of the two officers were also present. Both the senior and the junior officers were felicitated by Air Marshal C Hari Kumar.
The Mi-17 V5 helicopter is the latest acquisition by IAF and form the backbone of the Medium lift helicopter fleet and the aircraft is a state-of-the-art platform equipped with advanced avionics and has proved to be an asset to the IAF in various operations and exercises.
