Photos: B. Satheesh Kumar, SPO (Defence)
Naval Air Station Rajali, Arrakkonam witnessed an impressive passing out parade on June 11 marking the graduation of the 76th Helicopter Conversion Course. Nine Navy and six Coast Guard pilots were awarded Wings by Vice Admiral Sunil Lanba, AVSM, Chief of Staff, Headquarters Eastern Naval Command.
The pilots underwent rigorous training for 21 weeks in flying and aviation subjects at the Helicopter Training School INAS 561 (HTS). The school has passed out over 500 pilots for the Indian Navy and Coast Guard till date and is commanded by Commander Divesh Khorana. The school was based at Kochi till 1992 and thereafter shifted to INS Rajali at Arakkonam, which is the largest operational air base of the Navy. The base is commanded by Captain Raghunath K. Nair.
The Governor of Kerala Rolling Trophy for the best all round trainee pilot was awarded to Lt Vaibhav Gupta. The flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command Rolling Trophy for the trainee pilot standing first in order of merit in flying was awarded to Lt Vaibhav Gupta. A book prize for standing first in ground subjects was awarded to Lt A Kulkarni.
(Posted by Abraham V. Kuruvilla, intern with Tarmak007.
Limited updates on the blog till June-end.)
