Sagar Pawan
Encyclopedia
Sagar Pawan also called Nagari , is an abugida alphabet of India and Nepal...
- sea breeze) is the aerobatic demonstration team of the Indian Navy
Indian Navy
The Indian Navy is the naval branch of the armed forces of India. The President of India serves as the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff , usually a four-star officer in the rank of Admiral, commands the Navy...
's Aviation Arm
Indian Naval Air Arm
The Indian Naval Air Arm is part of the Indian Navy which is tasked to provide an aircraft carrier based strike capability, fleet air defence, maritime reconnaissance, and anti-submarine warfare. To undertake these tasks, the Indian Navy employs an aircraft carrier and a variety of manned and...
. It is one of the only two naval aerobatic teams in the world, the other being the Blue Angels
Blue Angels
The United States Navy's Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron, popularly known as the Blue Angels, was formed in 1946 and is currently the oldest formal flying aerobatic team...
of the US Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
.
The team uses 4 Hindustan Aeronautics HJT-16 Kiran Mk.2
HAL Kiran
-See also:-See also:...
trainer aircraft, and are based at the Dabolim Naval Air Station, INS Hansa in Goa
Goa
Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...
, Southern India
South India
South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...
. The colour scheme
Color scheme
In color theory, a color scheme is the choice of colors used in design for a range of media. For example, the use of a white background with black text is an example of a basic and commonly default color scheme in web design....
used by the aircraft is dark blue on white.
The Team started training for aerobatic aerobatics in end 2001. The Squadron Commander of INAS 551, then, was Cdr JS Tewatia. The work-up at that time was, however, informal. The drive gained formal momentum in later part of 2002. The paint scheme of the aircraft was changed to the current one and the aircraft were modified for smoke emission with the inboard stations modified for carriage of kerosene tanks mixed with colour dyes (if you do not mix a dye, the smoke is white in colour). The Team was initially called as Sagarkiran and it is under this name that the Team made its formal inaugural debut display (then with only three aircraft) in Kochi, India on 11 May 2003 for the Golden Jubilee of the Indian Naval Aviation. The founding Leader of the Team was Cdr Surendra Ahuja. The formation of the Team gave the Indian Naval Air Squadron 551 a new role. The squadron had on some occasions in the past also attempted to set up an aerobatic team and but the attempts were informal and were not sustained for long enough to assume any significant formality. The other members of the inaugural Team in 2003 were Lt Cdr Yogesh Garud (who himself later, as a Commander, led the Team) and Lt Cdr N Thiagarajan. The Team's name was later changed to the present name of Sagar Pawan (Hindi equivalent of sea breeze). The new name was selected (among a few others that were suggested) by the then Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command Vice Admiral Arun Prakash (later Admiral and CNS). The Team is also fondly referred to as INSPAT - Indian Navy Sagar Pawan Aerobatic Team or simply SPAT. Since then the other Team leaders have been Cdr Sameer Mehra, Cdr Yogesh Garud and Cdr Satyen Vartak. The Team is presently being led by Cdr Yashwant Hemant Karkare. Since inception the Team has performed in Kochi, Visakhapatnam
Visakhapatnam
Visakhapatnam is a major sea port on the south east coast of India. With a population of approximately 1.7 million, it is the second largest city in the state of Andhra Pradesh and the third largest city on the east coast of India after Kolkata and Chennai. According to the history, the city was...
, Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
(Gateway of India
Gateway of India
Its design is a combination of both Hindu and Muslim architectural styles, the arch is in Muslim style while the decorations are in Hindu style. The Gateway is built from yellow basalt and reinforced concrete. The stone was locally obtained, and the perforated screens were brought from Gwalior.The...
), Pune (NDA, Kharakvasla), Lonavla (INS Shivaji) and a number of other locations as also at their home location in Goa. They have also performed for the International Film Festival of India
International Film Festival of India
The International Film Festival of India , founded in 1952, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia. Held annually in the beach town of Goa, in the Western Coast of the country, the festival aims at providing a common platform for the cinemas of the world to project the excellence of...
. The Team members use every opportunity to interact with their Air Force counterparts, Suryakirans, who also fly the same aircraft, and the Royal Air Force's Red Arrows who have performed in Goa on a couple of occasions. The Squadron that boasts of the Team (INAS 551) has, for its contribution to the Navy as a training squadron as also for its contribution in setting up an aerobatic team (only second Navy aerobatic team in the world), been recently awarded the Chief of the Naval Staff's Unit Citation which is a matter of great honour for all the pilots who have trained in this squadron in the past.
On March 3, 2010, an aircraft of the Sagar Pawan team crashed in Hyderabad while performing in an airshow. Pilot Commander Suresh Kumar Maurya and co-pilot Lt Cdr Rahul Nair
Rahul Nair
Lt Commander Rahul Nair was a pilot with the Indian Navy. He served in Sagar Pawan, the elite aerobatic demonstration team....
were killed in the crash.
