Chennai, Apr 26 (UNI) A batch of 54 officers from the Defence Forces graduated

as 'Qualified Flying Instructors,' from the Indian Air Force Station, Tambaram. on

Friday.

A defence release here on Saturday said besides the IAF, the batch also had

officers from the Indian Army, the Indian Navy and the Indian Coast Guard and

two officers from friendly foreign countries.

They belong to the 158th Qualified Flying Instructors' Course (QFIC), who had

successfully completed a challenging 24-weeks curriculum comprising of

rigorous academic and flying training interspersed with tests at regular intervals.

The valedictory function of the course was held at the Flying Instructors' School

(FIS).

Air Marshal Tejbir Singh, Senior Air Staff Officer, Indian Air Force Training Command

presided over the function as the Chief Guest.

Group Captain KP Singh, Commanding Officer of FIS summed up the achievements

of the course.

Addressing the gathering, the Chief Guest congratulated the graduating officers and

complemented team FIS for their pivotal role in flying training.

The Air Marshal extended his best wishes to the graduating officers in their future

endeavours, emphasising their role and responsibility in shaping the future of the

IAF.

Trophies were awarded by the Chief Guest to the pilots who achieved distinction in

flying and ground subjects. The prestigious 'Majithia Trophy' for standing first in 'Overall

Order of Merit’ was awarded to Sqn Ldr Shubham Bhandari, 'The Chief of Air Staff's

Trophy’ for ‘Best in Fixed Wing Flying’ to Sqn Ldr Vikrant Beniwal, 'The Chief of Air

Staff's Trophy’ for ‘Best in Rotary Wing Flying’ to Sqn Ldr Akash, ‘The Commodore

Commandant's Trophy' for standing first in Aerobatics was awarded to Sqn Ldr

Deepak Gurjar, ‘The Dibagh Trophy’ for standing first in Instructional Technique to

Sqn Ldr Apoorva Yadav, 'Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief's Trophy’ for standing

first in ‘Ground Subjects' to Sqn Ldr Shubham Bhandari, and the 'Air Officer

Commanding-in-Chief's Trophy' for standing second in 'Overall Order of Merit’

was awarded to Lt Cdr Aarambh Sharma.

The FIS, based at Air Force Station Tambaram, is a unique institution with more

than 75 years of rich experience in aviation training. At the international level,

several professional pilots from militaries of friendly foreign countries have also

been graduated from this school.

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