The Helicopter Training School was chosen by HQ TC to be the venue to celebrate the Six decades of service put in by the Chetak as a part of the Indian Air Force. The Alouette III (SA 3168) A.k.a the “Chetak” was inducted as a part of 105 Helicopter Unit in November 1962. Yes, during the Sino-India conflict. Even though the license agreement for its production in India was signed with the French concern “Societe National Industries Aerospatiale (SNIAS) in June 1962.
The best part of the Chetak is that the decision to induct it was arrived at jointly by representatives of all the three services. This was reflected in the choice of speakers during the conclave held on April 02,2022 at Hyderabad.
These included Lt Gen Narayan Chatterjee PVSM AVSM SM VSM (Retd.), Adm Karambir Singh PVSM AVSM (Retd.), Air Mshl Packiam Paul Rajkumar PVSM AVSM ADC (Retd.) , Mr Pranab Kumar Sarma GM HAL Barrackpore, AVM SK Jain VSM, ACAS Eng (T&H), Air Mshl AS Butola PVSM VM VSM (Retd.),AVM Manmohan Bahadur VM (Retd.), Wg Cdr Unnikrishna Pillai (Retd.) and Wg Cdr BS Singh Deo VM (Retd.). The three panel discussions were chaired by Air Mshl Manavendra Singh PVSM AVSM VrC VSM ADC AOC-in-C Training Command IAF, Air Mshl B Chandra Sekhar AVSM Commandant AFA and Air Mshl SP Wagle VM DCIDS DOT.
A large number of veterans made it a point to attend the special occasion.
The Hon. RM Shri Rajnath Singh also graced the occasion and released the coffee table book and a special postal cover.
In his address he stressed upon the need to make and Achieve “Atamnirbharta” as a national mission.
He also witnessed a flypast by various aircraft and appreciated the display by the Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) and the Light Combat Helicopter (LCH).
The next day’s event was hosted by the Helicopter Training School at Air Force Station Hakimpet.
The former Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Fali H Major PVSM AVSM SC VM ADC (Retd.) was the Chief Guest.
The highlight of the occasion were a series of fly pasts aerobatic performances by the Suryakiran (AJT) & Sarang(ALH).
The LCH was also put through its paces by the HAL test pilots.
