AFVOA Newsletter May 2020

Section 3 - Memoirs Newsletter No. 1 / 2020 P a g e 33 | 101 A couple of days after the surrender, some of the Pilots visited DIu to see the damaged targets. This picture was taken on the Northern beach. The structure in the sea channel behind them can be located on the maps. (L -R) The Author - P M Ramachandran, Flt Lt S.B.Bhagwat (Later shot down over Sargoda in 1965 war), Fg Offr N.Venkatramani (A Transport pilot of Target Towing Flight, TTF, Later a senior pilot of Air India). The author with 3 Air Marshals from Chennai. L to R. Matheswaran, Varthaman, Author, Sukumar (About the Author) The Air Marshal did his schooling in Salem followed by graduation from the Annamalai University before joining the IAF in 1955 as a fighter pilot. In his long meritorious career of 38 years he became a pioneer in many fields. Soon after the Goa Operations where he was awarded a Shaurya Chakra for his courage and determination he joined the prestigious Empire Test Pilots School in the UK. He won the Edwards Award in ETPS and graduated as an Experimental Test Pilot. In his remarkable flying career, he flew all aircraft in the IAF. He is the first Indian Pilot to fly the trisonic MiG25 in Russia. He carried out several aircraft evaluations all over the world and flew over 50 types of aircraft. He commanded a MiG21 Sqn in the North East, set up the Experimental Test Pilot Course in India, became the Chief Test Pilot for the IAF and later commanded the prestigious ASTE in Bangalore. After commanding the vital Ambala airbase, he joined the NDC followed by Chief of Staff of SWAC. He then was appointed as the Vice Chief of Air Staff. He is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society as well its Indian counterpart. The Air Marshal and Mrs Ramachandran live in Chennai.