Aero India 2017: Bengaluru boy Ponnappa part of Sarang team

BENGALURU: Pemmanda Prithvi Ponnappa, who is part of the Sarang aerobatics team, is proud to perform before his local crowd at the Yelahanka Airbase.

He was flying one of the choppers that performed the gravity-defying heart shape and dolphin sleep manoeuvres at the inaugural of Aero India 2017 on Tuesday.
“It is a challenge to fly four Sarang helicopters with just 5-metre distance between them. Showcasing Sarang, which is fitted with the indigenously developed Dhruv engine, is an amazing experience. Our aim is also to motivate youngsters to join the Indian Air Force,” Mr Ponnappa said.

“The performance at Aero India this time is special as the team has come up with more manoeuvres. From being a standby pilot in 2013, I have been inducted into the aerobatic team. I was here in 2015, and I am happy to be back. We have performed at over 200 places, including Bahrain and Sri Lanka,” he said.
More power to women Gone are the days when women were considered physically weak and joining the forces was a taboo.

Flight Lieutenant Sandeep Singh, who is an engineering officer and part of the Sarang aerobatics team, said, “If you look at the enrolment of women at the Air Force Academy, the numbers are steadily going up. In my batch in 2013, of the 135 recruits, 45 were women. More women are getting absorbed into the IAF. Given the trend once a male bastion will soon be dominated by women."

Flight Lieutenant Tinju Thomas, Sarang commentator and administrator, said the IAF is providing equal opportunities to women and has invited more women to take up the job.

Squadron Leader Sneha Kulkarni, who piloted one of the Sarang helicopters that wowed the crowds, said, “There is a widely believed myth that the job at the Indian Air Force is tough for women. But times are changing and we are proving that women are not lesser than any others.”