Before Hitting The Skies, India's First Women Air Force Fighter Pilots Reveal Their Hopes, Challenges And Journey

Days before getting commissioned in the Indian Air Force (IAF) as India's first women fighter pilots, Flying Cadets Bhawana Kanth, Avani Chaturvedi and Mohana Singh spoke on the lives they have led, the training and their aspirations.

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"I belong to Darbhanga in Bihar and was born and brought up in the refinery township of Begusarai. My father is an engineer in IOCL and my mother is a home maker. I did my schooling from Barauni Refinery DAV Public School and completed my BE (Medical Electronics) from BMS College of Engineering, Bangalore. My hobbies are playing badminton, volleyball, adventure sports like trekking, rock climbing, rappelling and rafting. My other interests are photography, cooking, swimming and travelling," Kanth said.

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When asked why she joined the IAF, she said: "It was my dream to fly like a free bird since my childhood which inspired me to join the IAF. After clearing my Stage I training, I got a golden opportunity to opt for the fighter stream, the best and the biggest thing that has happened to me and the best part is, it is just the beginning. It is my aim to become a good fighter pilot and fight for the nation and make my parents proud."

For her, the first solo spin is a memorable experience.

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"Before opting for the fighter stream lots of people used to tell us that challenges will keep on increasing and so will the gradient, but it used to sound cliched. During our syllabus we were about to be introduced to spin in Kiran aircraft, which I thought would be a piece of cake, as we had already done spin solos in the previous stage on Pilatus aircraft. But the day we were introduced to spin in the Kiran, we realized it was not the same. But time and again we were briefed that if we take prompt and correct recovery actions, each and every time the aircraft will recover from spin. So the recovery actions became a part of my muscle memory. Having cleared my spin solo check in Kiran, it was now time for me to enter the aircraft into spin and recover it all by myself. At 20000 feet the doubt started creeping in of what if the aircraft doesn't recover. Then I told myself that if I don't do it now, I will always be afraid of it. I spun the aircraft and to my surprise, the spin was more vicious or so it seemed. But the fighter pilot in me took over and I told myself come what may, I will recover. And all the recovery actions grilled in us during the training came out correctly and promptly and the aircraft recovered from spin and so did my confidence," Kanth said.

Chaturvedi was born at Satna in Madhya Pradesh and her father is an executive engineer in the state government. Her mother is a home maker. She did her schooling from a small town named Deolond which is located near Rewa. The school's name is Adarsh Higher Secondary School. She joined the IAF after completing her B Tech in Computer Science from Banasthali University, Jaipur.

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"My hobbies are playing the violin, table tennis and painting. I was inspired by military life of Army officers in my family and had a few hours of flying experience in the flying club of my college. This inspired me to join the IAF. I got selected for the flying stream and subsequently for fighters. I got the golden opportunity to fly two different aircrafts. One of them very modern and advanced and a stalwart trainer with the best of the instructors. My dream is to become a good fighter pilot on who my seniors can rely on when it comes to flying for live operations. I want to fly the best fighter aircraft and learn more and more each day," Chaturvedi said.

She remembers the day when she was proceeding for her second solo sortie.

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"The time spent on the ground was more due to a number of solos ahead of me in the taxi sequence; same was being exaggerated by the sun beating down heavily on us. Finally I reached the take-off point and took permission. As I started rolling for take-off, nearing the first marker I heard the Canopy Warning Audio coming on. At first I got confused seeing the emerging situation. However, the training which I had undergone helped me reach the decision almost immediately. I aborted the take-off and took all the actions to stop the aircraft safely on the runway. While I was having lunch that afternoon, I reflected back on the incident. That day I realized how the decision of a split second can get the situation under control or out of control. Had I delayed my actions that day of aborting takeoff or got airborne with the canopy open, the results could have been catastrophic," she said.

Singh is from Jhunjunu, Rajasthan. Her father is in the IAF and she has a teacher as a mother. She completed her schooling from Air Force School, New Delhi and did her BTech (Electronics & Amp Comm) from GIMET, Amritsar. Her hobbies include singing, sketching abstracts and reading. Singh's other interests include travelling, photography and cooking.

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"I joined the IAF for flying was a dream instilled by parents and grandparents. I wanted to carry on the family legacy of serving the nation by being in defence. As a Flt Gunner in Aviation Research Centre, my grandfather used to go to different places on various missions. I wanted to live the same life. Flying was the best opportunity. I aspire to make my parents proud of me by becoming a fighter pilot and fly the best of the fighter aircraft in the IAF. I dream of being part of the future combat missions and fight for the nation when duty calls for guarding the nation's skies," she said.

Her memorable experience was during the night flying phase.

"Night flying was new to me and it was the best thing that ever happened after coming to Kiran aircraft. I remember the small puffs of beautiful crackers bursting 1,000 feet below me on my first take off in night flying phase. The ones I used to gaze from below and was as amazed at when I was a child. I was on my first Sector Solo Sortie by night on Kiran aircraft. While operating in the sector I witnessed some lightning close to me. This frightened me for a moment. I immediately initiated rejoin and during descent I encountered clouds. I faced difficulty in discerning between the stars in the dark sky above and the small clusters of light on the dark ground beneath. Soon I realized that I was not able to maintain any connection between instruments and the visual indications of aircraft attitude. I recalled what my Instructor had taught me, "No unnecessary head movements, switch over to Instruments, Trust your Instruments". These words echoed in my head, I disregarded the visual indications and continued descent to a lower altitude relying totally on instruments. Once visual with the ground, I got oriented and recovered the aircraft safely," Singh said.