Tarmak007 -- A bold blog on Indian defence: Women Fighter Pilots

Showing posts with label Women Fighter Pilots. Show all posts

Saturday, June 16, 2018

Chikmagalur’s daredevil Meghana Shanbough is IAF’s new poster girl

By Anantha Krishnan M

The News Minute

Flying Officer Meghana Shanbough MR is the new poster girl of Indian Air Force (IAF). As she graduates from the Air Force Academy (AFA) in Dundigal on Saturday at the impressive Combined Graduation Parade, Meghana has become the sixth female fighter pilot to join the ranks of IAF, and the first from south India.

Being different was normal for Meghana, and it was while she was studying in Class 4 that she told her father that she wants fly out of the comforts of home. She was a student of Maharishi Vidya Mandir Public School, Chikmagalur then.

“I told my dad that I wanted to study in a boarding school. My mother was initially hesitant, but my dad did not chip away my wings and was very supportive,” says the 23-year-old daredevil pilot who hails from Marle village in Karnataka’s Chikmagalur district.

Backed by her parents, Meghana’s bold journey began after she joined Little Rock Indian School in Udupi, where she studied from Class 5 to 12 as a boarding student.

Her experiments with life continued even after she joined Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering (SJCE), Mysuru. Accustomed to doing things differently in life, Meghana formed the Sahas-SJCE Adventure Club, which she says transformed her.

Read the full report, here: https://bit.ly/2Mwq0R6

Sunday, August 28, 2016

Women pilots set for practise combat missions on Hawks in Bidar

By https://twitter.com/writetake

Bengaluru, Aug 28: Two months after the historic induction of first three women pilots into the fighter stream of Indian Air Force (IAF), the Bidar Air Force Station is all set to give them the first flying experience on Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer, as part of the Stage-II training.
IAF sources told Mathrubhumi on Sunday that the three women Flying Officers -- Bhawana Kanth, Avani Chaturvedi and Mohana Singh – have already begun their sessions on Hawk simulators.
“As part of the Stage-III training being imparted to these women officers, they have begun sessions on the simulators from August 22. They will start flying the Hawks in the next one or two weeks,” an IAF official said.
The official said the three pilots were given adequate familiarisation training to switch over to higher Gs on Hawk as compared to the Kiran and Pilatus platforms they were trained during their stint with Air Force Academy (AFA) at Dundigal near Hyderabad.
These three women moved to AFS Bidar last month for their training on Hawks, ahead of their final destination in flying supersonic jets, next year.
At AFS Bidar, the trio would be trained in ‘practise combat flying’ during which their body is set to experience new challenges. “It will be different and the girls have been already prepared for the same. They have been given a whitepaper (a book let) that explains their role,” says an official.

Full report here: http://bit.ly/2bJeK5r