Surya Kiran (Sun Rays) History
The first aerobatic team in Indian Air Force is formed in 1982 in occasion of its Golden Jubilee. The team flies with nine Hawker Hunter F.56A airplanes from the 20th Squadron, painted in dark blue and white. They receive the name Thunderbolts.
In 1990 the commandment decides to reequip the team with four Indian built jet training planes HAL HJT-16 Kiran Mk.II.
On 27 May 1996 another two planes are added to the team plus one spare. Then the team receives its present name Surya Kiran (Sun Rays). First demonstration under the new name is on 8 October during Indian Air Force Day at Palam. On the next year the team planes become nine, while two of them are solo pair.
In 2001 Surya Kiran made its foreign debut performing in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
In 18 March 2006, during practice flight in three-ship formation at Bidar Air Base, one of the team's planes crashed taking lifes of the two team pilots - Wing Commander Dheeraj Bhatia and Squadron Leader Shailendra Singh. The crash occured when they perform low level pass. Maybe one of the planes hit another cousing its crash. The plane missed a college building just about 30 feet and crashed outside buildings complex. This is the first Surya Kiran crash ever. (see photo)
Who are Surya Kiran
The team consists of nine demonstration planes Kiran Mk.II and two spare, 13 pilots and about 50 technicians. The team's home base is Bidar airbase. All planes are equipped with smoke generators releasing red, white, blue and green smoke. During show season Surya Kiran made about 30th airshows, while the exact demonstration is 20 minutes long.
