Flying lessons from father to son

Air Marshal Arun Purushottam Garud gets a rare opportunity

in the footsteps of his father:Air Marshal Arun Purushottam Garud, Air Officer Commanding in Chief, Southern Air Command, and Lieutenant Commander Abhijeet Garud a naval aviator, undergoing the qualified flying instructor's course on board an IAF Chetak at Air Force Station, Tambaram in Chennai recently. —Photo: Special Arrangement

He might not have spent enough time helping his son with his homework, but this senior officer of the Indian Air Force grabbed an opportunity to teach his naval aviator son a lesson or two on aviation, while visiting the Flying Instructor School at Tambaram.

Air Marshal Arun Purushottam Garud, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Southern Air Command, spent more than an hour on board IAF’s Chetak helicopter with his son Lieutenant Commander Abhijeet Garud, who is at present taking a Qualified Flying Instructor's (QFI) course.

Nuances of aviation

During the flight, the duo exchanged nuances of aviation, as the senior IAF officer is a Category A QFI himself and has been a directing staff at FIS during his earlier tenure, a defence release stated.

Air Marshal Garud, who has flown over 6300 hours on various helicopters and training aircraft in his career is set to retire on May 31.

India is the only country in the world where French-made single-engine Chetak helicopters are still in service.

It may be recalled that then IAF chief Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne too flew on board Su-30 and Sukhoi-30 with his son Squadron Leader Omar Browne on his last sortie before his retirement in Pune in 2013.