Thread by @AnchitGupta9

Aerobatic flying has enthralled us ever since aviation started. This is an attempt to trace the evolution of aerobatic teams in the @IAF_MCC . Flypasts in Box and Balbo formation on various occasions were frequent, but formation aerobatics, not so. #IAFHistory (1/n)

The first-ever display team was formed in 1945 and was called IAF Display flight (well after a lot of debate). They had 6 Spitfires, 4 Cornells, and 2 Harvards with them - Jumbo Majumdar, Mehar Singh, and Arjan Singh served as COs. (2/n)

W/C Jumbo Majumdar as CO sadly perished in an air accident in Feb 45. The flight was disbanded - Reformed as Demonstration Flight in Sep 45 with W/C Mehar Singh as CO. It would only be operational for another few months before partition took focus away. (3/n)

Fast Foward to 1951, it emerges that 7 Sqn would find itself leading the charge. In Sep 1951, 7 Sqn was equipped with the Vampire ac and they were given a free hand to hard test the aircraft. From this emerged a 4 member team led by Dicky Law. (4/n)

They performed on 13 Feb 1952 at Eden Gardens, with none other than PC Lal (later CAS) as a commentator. The team performed at Race Course soon after and Bharat Singh (3582) joined in after Dicky law left. But the team soon disbanded with the pilots getting posted out. (5/n)

Bharat Singh and 7 Sqn would return in the late 1950s, this time on the Hunter aircraft. Having done aerobatics earlier, he was encouraged to form an aerobatics team and soon came up with a 4-ac formation. It would be in order to quote the man himself..(6/n)

"We progressively lowered our height from 10.000 ft. down to 500 feet above ground level. Forget about aerobatics which was limited to 10,000 ft, even straight and level flight was totally banned below that height. I obtained special dispensation to perform aerobatics" (7/n)

They performed across the country and were asked to become a 9-ac formation. The first nine aircraft formation aerobatic display was flown on 06 Jan 62 on the occasion of the squadron’s 20th anniversary. More on this team can be read here - tinyurl.com/d8szf8xd (8/n)

For his role in formation aerobatics, Bharat Singh would become the first IAF officer to be recognized with a Vayu Sena Medal. (9/n)

Early in 1971, AirHQ authorized 4-ac MiG-21 Aerobatics teams to be based at Hindon. 29 & 47 Sqn contributed aircraft and pilots. It was named Scorchers (portmanteau of the two sqns that contributed, Archers & Scorpions). @ReviewVayu did a write-up on them in 2009. (10/n)

The team was led by CO of 47 Sqn, Wg Cdr HS (high Speed) Gill and incl Sqn Ldr Kapila,DS Sant, Lagad, Boparai,Raje and AK Singh.The first performance at Tilpat was a raging success, Gill did LL Aerobatics - inverted flypast, Twinkle roll,loops, barrel rolls and eight point rolls.

The team disbanded soon after. In 1980-81, Flying Instructors School at Tambaram on the Kiran formed a 4 a/c team called "Silver streaks". Im RD 1981 they were across the newspapers with national colors streaming from three Kirans framing Rashtrapati Bhavan. (12/n)

They also featured in the AF Calendar IAF. Anil Trikha, Kuldeep Shiva, Nanderjog, Marcus Dare, Shyam, and Ghalawat were the pilots and this too was disbanded soon. But a permanent team was coming soon, first time since 1945(13/n)

To commemorate the Golden Anniversary of the IAF in 1982, 20 Sqn (Lightnings) with the Hunter ac was earmarked for the dedicated role of formation aerobatics with base at Hasimara. The aerobatics display team was named Thunderbolts and was in
existence for eight years. (14/n)

The inaugural team had 13 members, led by Prithvi Singh Brar ‘Ben’ in his favorite aircraft BA 472. Ben was deputed to @rafredarrows and could not believe that a 9-ac team can be put up on the aging hunter in a few months! But Ben made it happen... (15/n)

The last performance was at Tilpat on 18 April 89, led by TS "Teji" Randhawa who had also fittingly been part of the inaugural one. Earlier in 1982, the color scheme for Dark Blue and White strips was agreed. The unit made the strips look like the ‘bolts’ of ‘lightning’. (16/n)

By the time Thunderbolts wound up, they had 4 team leaders and 30 members. But more importantly, had created a syllabus and aerobatics maneuvers like never before. The members of the thunderbolts would play a crucial role in the formation of the next team - SuryaKirans (17/n)

Soon after, it was decided to form an Aerobatics team at AFA on the Kiran Mk 1. Gp Capt Badhwar as CI was tasked. However, it was a "no-go" as the ac was underpowered and vertical maneuvers did not look good. He did a solo low-level aerobatic show in a Kiran painted red. (18/n)

Serious planning began for Aero India 96, the first major air show and aviation trade event ever hosted in India. In May 1996, then Wg Cdr Kuldeep Malik, who had been a member of the 'Thunderbolts', was posted to Bidar, with instructions to raise a new aerobatic team (19/n)

After a lot of deliberation, an Indian name "Suryakiran" was chosen. Initially, it was mandated to be a six aircraft Team. Many believed, Kiran Mk II lacked the required thrust to weight ratio and side-by-side seating cockpit of the Kiran Mk II ac imposed restrictions (20/n)

Two ac painted in different schemes, "post-box red" and the other in "day-glo orange" were shown to the CAS and he chose the latter.On 15 Sep 96 the team went public for the first time at Coimbatore. It was a flawless display and included the Goblet roll and the Tango roll (21/n)

With effect from 01 May 2006, the team became 52 Sqn. They were numberplated in 2011. In 2015 @Suryakiran_IAF was raised again on the Hawk Mk-132 ac and has remained the longest performing Aerobatics team. Nearly 100 pilots have worn the Suryakiran overalls since formation.(22/n)

A 3-ac formation team was put together for AeroIndia 2003, for the first time on the Mirage aircraft. The Mirage Aerobatic team consisted of a mix of pilots from both No.1 and No.7 Squadrons. These pics from the time is credited to Gp Capt Jaspreet Singh (23/n)

Finally, the IAF did raise its first Helicopter display Team, Sarang in October 2003 on the ALH Dhruv and was later given the status of 151 HU at Yelahanka. Other than Thunderbirds and Suryakirans, Sarang is the only team to perform internationally. (24/n)

Aerobatics is about precision and the best make it. Many have perished in accidents and we must never forget them. The team performs to build confidence in the capabilities of the IAF and to motivate the Indian youth. A book on aerobatics in IAF would be a fitting tribute (n/n)

To complete the circular loop, @zone5aviation tweet on IN Aerobatics team deserves to be here -