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Downloaded from
YTS.BZ

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Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.BZ

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[narrator in Hindi] He was Arjun's arrow,

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a flying sword.

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Fierce like the sun…

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the wind's own warrior.

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The zeal of the Army…

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wild and intoxicated.

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Across the frontier,

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he used to travel like an arrow.

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Having struck down the enemy,

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he used to return a hero.

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MiG-21.

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I myself joined this aircraft
as a pilot officer,

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I remember, way back in 1985.

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And about 70% of the fighter pilots
of the Air Force

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have been trained on this aircraft.

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[SS Tyagi] MiG-21 is,

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I think, one of the most beautiful thing
which was ever produced in the world.

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Sixty countries in the world flew this,

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and every pilot who flew, fell in love.

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Every pilot who didn't fly
was dying of envy.

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And he wanted to, some way,
get a chance to get into MiG-21 cockpit,

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just to get a feel
of actual fighter pilot.

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[BS Dhanoa] As a child, I saw
all those war movies of First World War

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and the camera being in the cockpit,
and how the aircraft was manoeuvring.

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You know, that sparked my imagination,
and that is how I decided that okay,

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I'll join the military
but I'll come and join the Air Force

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because I wanted to fly.

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I was a young bachelor,
so MiG-21 was my sweetheart.

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[chuckling]

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Only one I had at that time.

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So first time I saw the MiG-21,
I thought it's like a rocket.

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It is a kind of alien aircraft
which I couldn't believe can fly.

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Because it doesn't have
the kind of aerodynamic structures

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which I normally am used to
in an aircraft,

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which is big wings, and big tailplane.

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And I just refused to believe
that it can really fly successfully…

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till I flew it.

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I am Air Commodore Amit Budhwar.
Currently, I am

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Air Officer Commanding
of Air Force Station Nal.

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I have about nearly 3,000 hours of flying

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and I have operated across

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many Air Force Stations
in the length and breadth of the country.

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So, 23 Squadron is the last squadron

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which is flying the MiG-21s
in an operational role.

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I'm Group Captain Nanda Rajender.

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I'm the Commanding Officer
of 23 Squadron presently.

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My first operational squadron
was 23 squadron

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and this is my third posting
to the squadron.

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As everyone is aware,
the legend is being phased out.

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So it's a matter of pride

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for being given the opportunity
to command the last MiG-21 squadron.

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I don't think
even the first-term Commanding Officer

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who inducted MiG-21 would've ever imagined

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that this aircraft
is going to serve for 62 years.

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I'm Group Captain Mohit Gupta.

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Presently I am the Flight Commander
of 23 squadron which has got the privilege

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of being the last fighter squadron…

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not only in Indian Air Force,
but I think world over,

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to fly the MiG-21s.

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A squadron which has got many greats

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in the history of Indian Air Force.

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I am squadron leader Priya Sharma.

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I am flying a MiG-21 Bison
and I got commissioned in December 2018.

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MiG-21 is brutally honest.

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Whatever it says,
you can feel it very clearly.

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It's scary, it's aggressive.

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It knows how to scare people.

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I'm Wing Commander Sunil Yadav.

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I have been flying this machine
for last 16 years.

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Hi, I'm Wing Commander S Chetan Giridhar.
I'm posted in Panthers

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from last year in April,

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and I've been associated with MiG-21s
for last 13 years,

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and I'm also a test pilot.

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For a fighter pilot,
your aircraft is kind of your first love.

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I was not even driving motorcycles
when I was learning to fly.

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So yeah, I have a lot of love for MiG-21s.

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[Deepak Pant] MiG-21s, it was like
they were born at this base.

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It was like coming out of mother's womb.
This was a place where they did come out.

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They survived, they thrived,
they gave us national security.

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And finally, this is the place
from where they are bidding farewell.

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Or rather, we are bidding farewell
to that great fleet.

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So, it's a very emotional moment
for all of us who are based here,

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and definitely for everyone

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who has either flown this machine,
or has maintained it.

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[Amit Budhwar] I've been seeing MiG-21

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since I was very young as a child,

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because I grew up in air force stations.

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My father was in Indian Air Force.

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So, I have seen MiG-21s
all during my schooling,

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and it actually in a way I can say,
came naturally to me.

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I never thought of doing anything else
except for becoming a MiG-21 pilot.

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Anybody who has come into the Air Force
after the stage one training,

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they come in at the age of 21, 22.

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So that is a young impressionable age

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and MiG-21, there is no extra flab.

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It is there in your face all the time.

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Sleek, sharp,

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and you have to be on top of your game

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to ride the MiG-21.

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Absolutely pristine,

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a weapon, a legend on its own.

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[Nanda Rajender Logana] I am ex-NDA.

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So in our parade ground,
we have a MiG-21 on display.

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That's the first time I saw it.

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Literally, the thing which came to my mind
is, "Where are the wings?"

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So I started flying the glider initially

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and there was a lovely wing on both sides

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to tell me,

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"Okay, that is what is keeping us flying."

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However, when I came on to the MiG-21,

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I found that the wings were way behind

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and you couldn't really see the wings
on both sides.

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So I was a bit confused on that,
and it kind of even gave me some times

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a kind of disorientation kind of feeling,

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initially,

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till I got used to it.

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[Priya Sharma] A pilot
came in our squadron

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and he was a MiG-21 pilot.

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So we all rushed towards the tarmac
to look at it.

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And the moment we entered the cockpit,
we were feeling so amazed.

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There were so many instruments,
so many gauges.

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The brakes are on the control stick.

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It was different from anything
I'd ever flown or seen.

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So I was in awe of this aircraft.

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Something that clicks me
is the reverberating sound it makes

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while it is taking off.

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[whooshing]

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And that is one thundering noise
which keeps my heart also pounding.

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So the first feeling that I got is that,

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[in Hindi]
"Gosh, this makes so much noise!"

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[over radio]
Tower to one, cleared for take-off.

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[Neha Devi] As a controller,
you wear headset,

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and you are supposed to discern
what the pilot is saying.

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So initially, I was not able to make out
what the pilot is communicating on RT.

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[over radio] Tower to one,
winds twelve o' clock, five kilometres,

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runway three-six, cleared to land.

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The first day
when I sat down in the aircraft,

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that was to learn.

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00:10:06,360 --> 00:10:09,200
My instructor took me up
to turn the aircraft.

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He said, "Look down."

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I got so scared.

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00:10:11,480 --> 00:10:14,320
I was holding the seat,
more worried about falling off.

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And looking down,

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my eyes are open, but it was total blank.

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The instructor must have understood there.

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He reduced the bank.
He said, "Now look down."

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I looked down,
I saw the Gurudwara over there.

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He says, "Pray that we are getting into
the profession."

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[Priya Sharma] And then,
there was the time to go solo.

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So people had scared me enough
that, you know,

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you will forget something
or you will not be able to land.

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You will just mess it up really bad.

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And I was not confident.

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Nobody is confident
when they first fly this aircraft.

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[Vipin Yadav] Though I was very qualified
in other aircraft,

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but I do not remember

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when I took off in a MiG-21

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for my first solo, and when I landed.

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Everything just happened in a glance,
which I can say.

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We didn't feel comfortable.

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Not only me, all my coursemates.

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Because first few sorties,

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they actually got over

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before we could say Jack Robinson.

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[Jagrati Gupta]
Initially, I was apprehensive,

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[in Hindi] wondering what would happen
in the sortie, and all that.

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[in English]
And I stuffed a lot of puke bags

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all over the anti-G suits,
all prepared for the eventuality.

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And the pilot did a vertical Charlie

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and somewhere in between, I conked off.

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And by the time it was about to land,
that is the time I gained consciousness

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and all I remember is that
I utilised one of the puke bags.

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So that was the first time

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in the MiG-21 cockpit.

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I simply had a lot of respect
for all the pilots after that.

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The first feeling doesn't come
just when you take off.

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It comes as soon as
you start strapping up.

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Because once you strap up,
it becomes a part of your body.

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00:12:01,560 --> 00:12:03,280
So right from the word go,

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when you start the aircraft,
you can feel the vibrations.

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When the reheat kicks in, in the MiG-21,

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for a pilot who's just joined in new,

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there is that kick
that pilots used to feel.

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In fact, a lot of pilots
who flew on MiG-21s,

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they talk about

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-light…
-[beep]

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-light…
-[beeping]

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00:12:27,080 --> 00:12:28,400
-fork…
-[whooshes]

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00:12:28,480 --> 00:12:29,680
drop,

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-kick.
-[rumbles]

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That kick is the thrust
that the MiG-21 used to give.

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The moment the aircraft is about to roll,

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you get a backward jolt.

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Even in civil aircraft, when the aircraft
starts rolling, you get that kick.

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You get a feeling
of being pushed backwards.

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00:12:51,960 --> 00:12:55,800
So you can multiply that push
into, say, hundred thousand times,

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00:12:55,880 --> 00:12:58,240
that is the kind of push
you're going to get in the cockpit

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00:12:58,320 --> 00:13:00,920
when you engage reheat
and commence your roll.

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00:13:01,000 --> 00:13:04,680
I went solo after I think,
eight dual checks in Tezpur.

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00:13:04,760 --> 00:13:05,720
Thirty squadron.

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00:13:05,800 --> 00:13:09,120
So you know, there is no time
for melancholy and feeling

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00:13:09,200 --> 00:13:13,560
and, you know, it's not Richard Bach,
Jonathan Livingston Seagull, or something.

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00:13:13,640 --> 00:13:15,360
No. There's no time for all that.

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00:13:15,440 --> 00:13:18,400
So we are more bothered about
sticking to our briefing

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00:13:18,480 --> 00:13:19,960
than having any feeling.

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00:13:22,560 --> 00:13:25,320
[Uday Kolhatkar] When you are
in this aircraft, you are like Superman.

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00:13:25,400 --> 00:13:27,400
You can do whatever the aircraft can do,

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00:13:27,480 --> 00:13:30,720
whether it's flying at 100 feet
or 100 metres.

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00:13:30,800 --> 00:13:33,560
You can carry out attacks on enemy tanks.

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00:13:33,640 --> 00:13:36,840
You can carry out attacks
on just normal targets.

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00:13:36,920 --> 00:13:41,640
You can do anything, because it's
so manoeuvrable, and so multidimensional.

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00:13:45,360 --> 00:13:49,040
[in Hindi]
Our instructors used to tell us that

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00:13:49,120 --> 00:13:55,160
God has created humans only to walk
and run, not to swim and fly.

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00:13:55,240 --> 00:13:57,520
But humans have taken on that challenge.

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00:13:57,600 --> 00:14:02,160
So to keep yourself alive by that logic,
[in English] you have to be good.

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00:14:05,440 --> 00:14:10,160
My generation, all of us
have started flying fighters from MiG-21s.

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00:14:10,240 --> 00:14:12,200
We had
MiG operational flying training units.

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00:14:12,280 --> 00:14:16,400
These are the units which train raw pilots
who have just got commissioned

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00:14:16,480 --> 00:14:19,080
into the Air Force,
to operate MiG-21 aircraft.

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00:14:19,160 --> 00:14:22,680
So it was a route for everyone.
You first go and you fly there.

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00:14:22,760 --> 00:14:25,400
So that sets your routine,

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00:14:25,480 --> 00:14:28,560
the way you go about
your day-to-day working.

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00:14:28,640 --> 00:14:31,320
And then it continued with us
for rest of our life.

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00:14:31,400 --> 00:14:35,040
Everything, initially, was all mechanical.

227
00:14:35,120 --> 00:14:38,640
Because you had gone like a robot,
you're doing all the actions.

228
00:14:38,720 --> 00:14:42,360
Because you're so well prepared, you know
at this stage, you'll do this action.

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00:14:42,440 --> 00:14:43,720
You've done blindfold check.

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00:14:43,800 --> 00:14:47,600
Blindfold check, we mean that you're put
in the cockpit, your eyes are closed

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00:14:47,680 --> 00:14:48,840
and then you ask,

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00:14:48,920 --> 00:14:53,360
"Switch A," so your hand should go there.
"Switch B," your hand should go there.

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00:14:53,440 --> 00:14:55,080
Brake, stick, everything.

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00:14:55,160 --> 00:14:58,400
So you get so used to,
that if you blindfold me,

235
00:14:58,480 --> 00:15:01,160
I'll still bring the aircraft back
and land it safely.

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00:15:01,240 --> 00:15:03,360
[NJS Dhillon]
Actually, the instructors also tell you,

237
00:15:03,440 --> 00:15:06,800
and you also have to ingrain in your mind

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that you cannot make the aircraft too big.

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00:15:10,160 --> 00:15:12,560
Otherwise you'll become fearful
of the aircraft.

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00:15:12,640 --> 00:15:15,520
For any trainee officer
who goes from a training aircraft

241
00:15:15,600 --> 00:15:19,480
to a first operational aircraft, there is
always an iota of doubt in his mind,

242
00:15:19,560 --> 00:15:21,000
"How am I going to hack it?"

243
00:15:21,080 --> 00:15:23,360
So the same thing popped up in my mind,

244
00:15:23,440 --> 00:15:25,600
especially when you know the fact

245
00:15:25,680 --> 00:15:28,960
that this is the fastest aircraft
to take off and land.

246
00:15:37,400 --> 00:15:39,360
[S Chetan Giridhar]
MiG-21 doesn't forgive in case

247
00:15:39,440 --> 00:15:42,520
you're making any mistakes or not.
That discipline has to come in your life.

248
00:15:42,600 --> 00:15:45,920
For my life, it came through MiG-21
and so I'll say it's my mentor.

249
00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:48,160
And whatever I'm in Air Force,
how my life is shaped,

250
00:15:48,240 --> 00:15:49,640
that is because of MiG-21s.

251
00:15:49,720 --> 00:15:53,600
[NJS Dhillon] Indian Air Force gives about
eleven dual sorties in the trainer

252
00:15:53,680 --> 00:15:55,840
when the instructor is sitting behind you.

253
00:15:55,920 --> 00:15:58,800
Fortunately, by the time
you go for the solo check,

254
00:15:58,880 --> 00:16:01,600
your confidence level,
from being almost zero,

255
00:16:01,680 --> 00:16:03,560
it comes down to about 60-70 percent.

256
00:16:04,360 --> 00:16:06,960
And thereafter, if you are found fit,

257
00:16:07,040 --> 00:16:10,360
they send you solo
in a single seat fighter aircraft.

258
00:16:10,440 --> 00:16:12,840
It requires little more concentration,

259
00:16:12,920 --> 00:16:15,000
or the effort in piloting the aircraft.

260
00:16:15,080 --> 00:16:17,360
You have to be always up to it.

261
00:16:17,440 --> 00:16:19,520
You should not be behind the aircraft
at any stage.

262
00:16:19,600 --> 00:16:21,720
[BS Dhanoa] When you come
to the operational squadron,

263
00:16:21,800 --> 00:16:23,640
there's a day ops syllabus.

264
00:16:23,720 --> 00:16:27,520
You'd learn how to fly it
as a machine in war, in combat.

265
00:16:28,840 --> 00:16:31,760
Now if war breaks out tomorrow,
you can fly it during the day in combat.

266
00:16:31,840 --> 00:16:33,440
Then you do your night syllabus.

267
00:16:36,600 --> 00:16:38,960
[rumbling]

268
00:16:40,880 --> 00:16:44,480
[BS Dhanoa] And then when you finish that,
then you become fully ops.

269
00:16:44,560 --> 00:16:47,680
It used to almost take two years, plus,

270
00:16:47,760 --> 00:16:50,640
after joining the squadron
till you became fully ops.

271
00:16:50,720 --> 00:16:52,720
[Sudha Rani] I have seen
scores of young pilots

272
00:16:52,800 --> 00:16:54,480
getting trained on MiG-21s

273
00:16:54,560 --> 00:16:56,400
and passing out from these units.

274
00:16:56,480 --> 00:16:59,440
That was the very first posting
I've had, and today I'm here

275
00:16:59,520 --> 00:17:02,240
as a Chief Admin Officer
of Air Force Station Nal.

276
00:17:02,320 --> 00:17:04,080
This station also,

277
00:17:04,160 --> 00:17:06,720
the reason for its existence

278
00:17:06,800 --> 00:17:09,000
has been MiG-21 operations.

279
00:17:09,079 --> 00:17:12,760
And to see that this legacy aircraft
is bidding adieu,

280
00:17:12,839 --> 00:17:15,440
it is like life coming full circle for me.

281
00:17:18,319 --> 00:17:21,680
[Amit Budhwar] We, the whole contingent,
will move to another base

282
00:17:21,760 --> 00:17:24,599
where it is more convenient
for people to come and attend

283
00:17:24,680 --> 00:17:27,079
the culmination ceremony
of MiG-21 operational flying.

284
00:17:27,160 --> 00:17:30,839
For me, personally, I will get to meet
many veterans, seniors,

285
00:17:30,920 --> 00:17:34,720
who'll be coming to attend that ceremony,
who've taught me and my generation

286
00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:38,560
how to walk to the aircraft,
how to take off, how to land.

287
00:17:38,640 --> 00:17:41,320
So it'll be good to fly in front of them
and show them

288
00:17:41,400 --> 00:17:44,480
that we are maintaining this
the way they taught us.

289
00:17:48,920 --> 00:17:54,400
[in Hindi] When the Russians
built this aircraft in the 1950s and '60s,

290
00:17:54,480 --> 00:17:57,120
[in English] it was basically made
as an interceptor,

291
00:17:57,200 --> 00:18:00,440
and it was to intercept
the intruding western aircraft.

292
00:18:00,520 --> 00:18:03,840
[in Hindi] In those days,
there was an American aircraft, the U-2.

293
00:18:06,680 --> 00:18:10,040
So the MiG-21 was built to intercept them.

294
00:18:10,120 --> 00:18:13,400
[AP Singh] And, you know, it was a time
when we needed an aircraft

295
00:18:13,480 --> 00:18:15,480
to create air superiority in our region,

296
00:18:15,560 --> 00:18:17,640
and MiG-21 was sought after that time.

297
00:18:17,720 --> 00:18:24,640
We got Type 74 and then 76
in 1963 at Chandigarh.

298
00:18:24,720 --> 00:18:26,320
For the entire Air Force,

299
00:18:26,400 --> 00:18:29,360
and for a defence setup,
it was a historic moment

300
00:18:29,440 --> 00:18:32,680
because MiG-21,
at that time, was one of the aircraft

301
00:18:32,760 --> 00:18:36,600
with modern avionics
and quite modern technology for that time.

302
00:18:36,680 --> 00:18:40,320
So it gave us that edge
against our adversaries.

303
00:18:45,320 --> 00:18:47,960
[Jaideep Singh] The 28th squadron
is called First Supersonics,

304
00:18:48,040 --> 00:18:52,000
and it's because of this aircraft that
the squadron was named First Supersonics.

305
00:18:52,080 --> 00:18:54,760
Because MiG-21
was the first supersonic aircraft

306
00:18:54,840 --> 00:18:56,400
in the Indian Air Force.

307
00:18:56,480 --> 00:18:59,360
[Nanda Rajender Logana] The first war
wherein it was used was 1965,

308
00:18:59,440 --> 00:19:02,920
wherein it was the most advanced fighter
of the Indian Air Force then.

309
00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:07,800
And thereafter, for almost two decades,
it has been the most advanced fighter.

310
00:19:07,880 --> 00:19:10,680
And even after the induction of Mirages
and the MiG-29s,

311
00:19:10,760 --> 00:19:14,840
MiG-21 remained the vanguard
of any Indian offensive

312
00:19:14,920 --> 00:19:17,880
or defence action
which our military has taken.

313
00:19:17,960 --> 00:19:21,000
Air Force evolved with MiG-21.

314
00:19:21,080 --> 00:19:26,640
That means 21 grew
from six aircraft to 31 units

315
00:19:26,720 --> 00:19:28,280
in the Indian Air Force

316
00:19:28,360 --> 00:19:30,120
which were only MiG-21.

317
00:19:30,200 --> 00:19:34,000
So which actually formed
nearly 70% of the Air Force.

318
00:19:41,840 --> 00:19:46,960
'71 war, we had bombed Dhaka runway,
and totally rendered them useless.

319
00:19:47,040 --> 00:19:49,760
[in Hindi] Because now their pilots
couldn't take off,

320
00:19:49,840 --> 00:19:54,480
that means, what kind of warrior are you
if there's no enemy to fight?

321
00:19:54,560 --> 00:19:58,120
[Jaideep Singh] TACDE, Tactics
and Air Combat Development Establishment,

322
00:19:58,200 --> 00:20:03,600
where the MiG-21s had struck
important airfields at night.

323
00:20:03,680 --> 00:20:07,720
These were Chaklala, Sargodha, Risalewala.

324
00:20:07,800 --> 00:20:12,120
These all airfields were struck by
a single aircraft going again and again.

325
00:20:12,200 --> 00:20:16,080
And the complexity of this operation

326
00:20:16,160 --> 00:20:17,480
cannot be judged right now

327
00:20:17,560 --> 00:20:20,800
because there was no navigation system
guiding the pilots.

328
00:20:20,880 --> 00:20:26,120
It was just pure time, map
and airspeed management.

329
00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:29,400
Another notable part of the 1971 war

330
00:20:29,480 --> 00:20:35,160
was the attack on the governor's residence
in Dhaka, East Pakistan.

331
00:20:38,080 --> 00:20:41,560
The pilots got the information
very last minute

332
00:20:41,640 --> 00:20:43,200
about an important meeting happening.

333
00:20:43,280 --> 00:20:45,280
So they had a tourist map.

334
00:20:45,360 --> 00:20:50,400
The attack was so intense and so timely
on the enemy's command structure.

335
00:20:50,480 --> 00:20:52,680
This was 14th of December.

336
00:20:52,760 --> 00:20:54,160
15th of December,

337
00:20:54,240 --> 00:20:57,320
Governor of Dhaka,
he signed his resignation.

338
00:20:57,400 --> 00:21:00,120
And 16th of December, as we all know,

339
00:21:00,200 --> 00:21:03,440
Pakistan forces had to surrender
with 93,000 troops.

340
00:21:03,520 --> 00:21:06,480
And Indian Air Force,
along with Indian Army,

341
00:21:06,560 --> 00:21:08,680
had carved out a new nation

342
00:21:08,760 --> 00:21:10,600
called Bangladesh today.

343
00:21:10,680 --> 00:21:13,280
[in Hindi] When the Kargil War broke out,
I was posted in Chabua.

344
00:21:13,360 --> 00:21:15,720
It falls in the eastern sector,
extreme east.

345
00:21:15,800 --> 00:21:18,480
We received a message asking us
to commence movement.

346
00:21:23,600 --> 00:21:26,120
With operations like this,
when war breaks out,

347
00:21:26,200 --> 00:21:29,240
we shift to wherever the action
is unfolding.

348
00:21:29,320 --> 00:21:30,720
Very little time is given for this.

349
00:21:30,800 --> 00:21:35,960
Within 24 to 36 hours, we have to get
our entire contingent ready,

350
00:21:36,040 --> 00:21:39,040
get all the aircraft ready, and move.

351
00:21:39,120 --> 00:21:41,640
So we got there,
and the operation was carried out.

352
00:21:51,920 --> 00:21:55,000
In Safed Sagar,
to fly this aircraft to engage targets

353
00:21:55,080 --> 00:21:57,160
at 14,000, 15,000,

354
00:21:57,240 --> 00:22:01,120
the air is so rare and the weapon
is not behaving the same manner.

355
00:22:01,200 --> 00:22:05,560
So it was basically at that time,
lot of you can say, jugaad, was done

356
00:22:05,640 --> 00:22:09,720
to make the aircraft perform
and then become more accurate

357
00:22:09,800 --> 00:22:14,120
at those altitudes when we carried out
our bombing, day and night.

358
00:22:15,320 --> 00:22:19,000
One of my best experiences
was when we were doing

359
00:22:19,080 --> 00:22:20,760
our first night strike sortie…

360
00:22:24,240 --> 00:22:26,160
during Operation Safed Sagar.

361
00:22:35,360 --> 00:22:39,440
And the target was inside a valley,
so we went inside the valley

362
00:22:39,520 --> 00:22:42,600
and then we came down to one kilometre
above the target level.

363
00:22:42,680 --> 00:22:44,760
The snow-clad peaks on both sides

364
00:22:44,840 --> 00:22:48,000
and, you know, the moon phase,
they were looking beautiful.

365
00:22:48,080 --> 00:22:51,200
Of course, I was keeping a track
of my course and compass also,

366
00:22:51,280 --> 00:22:52,440
what I was doing.

367
00:22:52,520 --> 00:22:55,760
But at the same time, I could see all that
and it was beautiful.

368
00:22:55,840 --> 00:22:59,040
And then there is battle
going on below you.

369
00:23:05,720 --> 00:23:07,920
In fact, when we came and landed,

370
00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:12,440
that is when Late Dhaliwal, he told me,
"Sir, they are trading cigarette butts!"

371
00:23:12,520 --> 00:23:15,640
I said, "No, they aren't trading
cigarette butts, those are shells!"

372
00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:19,880
The rear half of the shell gets heated up
when it gets fired out of the barrel.

373
00:23:19,960 --> 00:23:22,000
So you can see that red hot glow

374
00:23:22,080 --> 00:23:25,120
of the rear half of the shell,
and that's how you see the whole thing.

375
00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:27,480
And in the cockpit, it is all quiet,

376
00:23:27,560 --> 00:23:31,440
you don't know, actually,
the death and devastation going on below.

377
00:23:31,520 --> 00:23:36,160
I don't think so it's possible for anyone
to get that unless he's gone into battle.

378
00:23:36,240 --> 00:23:40,520
Op Safed Sagar,
MiG-21 was deployed in all the roles.

379
00:23:40,600 --> 00:23:42,840
I mean, it's been a extraordinary fighter.

380
00:23:42,920 --> 00:23:45,200
We've used it for photo reconnaissance.

381
00:23:45,280 --> 00:23:46,880
We've used it for strike.

382
00:23:46,960 --> 00:23:48,680
We've used it for air defence.

383
00:23:49,560 --> 00:23:52,520
In fact, some of the radio
telephony chatter

384
00:23:52,600 --> 00:23:54,120
that was picked up by the Indian Army.

385
00:23:54,200 --> 00:23:57,440
The Pakistani forces
which had come in and dug in,

386
00:23:57,520 --> 00:24:01,760
they were short of rations,
they were short of ammunition.

387
00:24:01,840 --> 00:24:04,440
So this is the kind of effect
that Indian Air Force

388
00:24:04,520 --> 00:24:06,800
and of course, the MiG-21s also had.

389
00:24:06,880 --> 00:24:09,040
Thereafter, in 1999 again,

390
00:24:09,120 --> 00:24:12,560
Squadron Leader Bundela
had shot down an intruding aircraft.

391
00:24:12,640 --> 00:24:14,040
That was the Atlantic.

392
00:24:14,120 --> 00:24:17,680
He had used the R-60 missile
strapped on the MiG-21.

393
00:24:17,760 --> 00:24:19,120
During Balakot operations,

394
00:24:19,200 --> 00:24:22,760
I was Senior Air Staff Officer
of Western Air Command,

395
00:24:22,840 --> 00:24:25,800
who is operational head of the Command.

396
00:24:25,880 --> 00:24:28,520
And we were given about 14 days

397
00:24:28,600 --> 00:24:31,040
to plan the Balakot operations.

398
00:24:35,560 --> 00:24:39,520
Pakistan had to respond as a face saver.

399
00:24:39,600 --> 00:24:41,120
We had Su-30s,

400
00:24:41,200 --> 00:24:44,200
we had Mirage 2000s, all MiG-29s,

401
00:24:44,280 --> 00:24:45,200
and also MiG-21.

402
00:24:45,280 --> 00:24:48,960
And it so happened that on the final day,

403
00:24:49,040 --> 00:24:50,880
the action which took place,

404
00:24:50,960 --> 00:24:54,000
it was between F-16 and MiG-21.

405
00:24:54,080 --> 00:24:55,920
It gives me great pride.

406
00:24:56,000 --> 00:24:59,320
One is, it happened from
Western Air Command, which I was heading.

407
00:24:59,400 --> 00:25:02,200
And the second, it happened on MiG-21,

408
00:25:02,280 --> 00:25:04,720
which could get the better of F-16.

409
00:25:04,800 --> 00:25:09,360
And that's the reason why MiG-21 today
is known as Falcon Slayer.

410
00:25:09,440 --> 00:25:13,920
You take a ballpoint pen,
put a dot on the paper,

411
00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:16,240
that is how small the MiG-21 looks

412
00:25:16,320 --> 00:25:19,120
to a pilot in the vast sky.

413
00:25:19,200 --> 00:25:24,160
But as far as the enemy is concerned,
if they are not trained with the MiG-21,

414
00:25:24,240 --> 00:25:29,000
it is impossible to spot a MiG-21 till
the time it gets into the kill ranges.

415
00:25:29,080 --> 00:25:32,040
Nowadays, it's one of the rare occasions
where you get to participate

416
00:25:32,120 --> 00:25:34,560
in actual operations
like Sindoor and Balakot.

417
00:25:34,640 --> 00:25:36,480
Having participated in both of them,

418
00:25:36,560 --> 00:25:39,600
it's a good experience
and good learning value going forward.

419
00:25:39,680 --> 00:25:42,520
This aircraft has been a forerunner,

420
00:25:42,600 --> 00:25:46,160
you know, whether it was 1965 war
or '71 war

421
00:25:46,240 --> 00:25:49,400
or thereafter in 1999, Kargil War,

422
00:25:49,480 --> 00:25:52,200
Atlantic shooting down in Bhuj area,

423
00:25:52,280 --> 00:25:54,120
and then even in 2019,

424
00:25:54,200 --> 00:25:58,080
the shooting down of F-16
by a Bison aircraft.

425
00:25:58,160 --> 00:26:00,880
Can you imagine any fighter aircraft,

426
00:26:00,960 --> 00:26:05,960
nearly 11,600 aircraft were produced

427
00:26:06,040 --> 00:26:07,120
of MiG-21.

428
00:26:07,200 --> 00:26:13,480
We in India produced nearly 674 MiG-21s.

429
00:26:13,560 --> 00:26:15,080
So very large number.

430
00:26:15,160 --> 00:26:18,920
So we could say that MiG-21
has been the backbone of Indian Air Force.

431
00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:21,360
It has been the staple diet
of Indian Air Force.

432
00:26:21,440 --> 00:26:24,680
And colloquially you call,
it was dal chawal of Indian Air Force.

433
00:26:28,400 --> 00:26:31,040
[Mohit Gupta] Jai Hind, Air Warriors.
As we know, MiG-21 phase out

434
00:26:31,120 --> 00:26:33,240
has been planned
at Chandigarh Air Base on 26th.

435
00:26:33,320 --> 00:26:37,680
They'll be parked in this area,
carrying out their tyre check here.

436
00:26:37,760 --> 00:26:40,280
After carrying out tyre check
for runway two-niner,

437
00:26:40,360 --> 00:26:44,240
the aircraft will depart from here,
and by middle marker, it'll get airborne.

438
00:26:46,720 --> 00:26:52,320
If I give you reasons
for flying 5,800 sorties on MiG-21,

439
00:26:52,400 --> 00:26:56,640
my first reason was that I had to be

440
00:26:56,720 --> 00:27:00,960
medically, physically and emotionally fit.

441
00:27:01,040 --> 00:27:04,800
I don't recall my being medically unfit

442
00:27:04,880 --> 00:27:09,680
for more than six to seven days
throughout my flying career.

443
00:27:09,760 --> 00:27:13,440
And for being emotionally stable, fit,

444
00:27:13,520 --> 00:27:15,440
I'll give the credit to my family

445
00:27:15,520 --> 00:27:19,760
because my wife single-handedly
managed the household affairs,

446
00:27:19,840 --> 00:27:23,360
the health, the education
and well-being of the children.

447
00:27:23,440 --> 00:27:26,400
And I did not have any worries
about my home,

448
00:27:26,480 --> 00:27:30,080
so I could focus my energies
only towards flying.

449
00:27:30,160 --> 00:27:32,800
[in Hindi] Our families get trained
from the very beginning.

450
00:27:32,880 --> 00:27:35,320
Or you could say, we end up training them.

451
00:27:35,400 --> 00:27:38,120
During Kargil, when I was in Chabua,
my family wasn't with me.

452
00:27:38,200 --> 00:27:41,880
Back then, there were no phones.
So my wife would send me letters,

453
00:27:41,960 --> 00:27:45,680
encouraging me to remain steadfast
and not back down from national service.

454
00:27:45,760 --> 00:27:47,000
They're also passionate.

455
00:27:47,080 --> 00:27:50,720
You will realise that as long as
the aircraft sound was there

456
00:27:50,800 --> 00:27:52,680
for them to hear,

457
00:27:52,760 --> 00:27:55,520
they were confident
that everything is okay.

458
00:27:55,600 --> 00:27:58,440
There were cases
once or twice when, suddenly,

459
00:27:58,520 --> 00:28:01,040
[in Hindi] they'd stop hearing
the sound of flying.

460
00:28:01,120 --> 00:28:04,520
[in English] And I was fairly senior
when my wife gave me a call,

461
00:28:04,600 --> 00:28:07,000
[in Hindi] "The sound of flying
has stopped. What happened?"

462
00:28:07,080 --> 00:28:09,080
[in English] So I just told her
something happened,

463
00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:10,840
so we had to stop flying for some time.

464
00:28:10,920 --> 00:28:13,520
Their relations
are directly with our emotions.

465
00:28:13,600 --> 00:28:16,720
The day I come back happy, she knows
he's got full three-four sorties.

466
00:28:16,800 --> 00:28:19,680
The day you find I'm not happy,
it means I've not flown that day.

467
00:28:19,760 --> 00:28:21,840
My family is--

468
00:28:22,520 --> 00:28:25,760
Yeah, they want a phone call from me
every day.

469
00:28:25,840 --> 00:28:28,080
I'm not able to promise that,

470
00:28:28,160 --> 00:28:30,360
but yeah, I try to call them up every day.

471
00:28:30,440 --> 00:28:33,960
They try not to discuss certain things
with me over the weekdays

472
00:28:34,040 --> 00:28:35,840
because they know I'll be flying

473
00:28:35,920 --> 00:28:40,240
and they silently,
you know, take care of me.

474
00:28:47,080 --> 00:28:51,040
[Jagrati Gupta] I remember a very
interesting incident from that time.

475
00:28:51,120 --> 00:28:54,880
My parents were not very eager for me
to get married to him.

476
00:28:54,960 --> 00:28:59,640
So they came to visit Kalaikunda
and he met the flight commander also.

477
00:28:59,720 --> 00:29:01,240
And the flight commander goes,

478
00:29:01,320 --> 00:29:03,680
[in Hindi]
"Sir, you daughter will be very happy

479
00:29:03,760 --> 00:29:05,480
[in English]
if she marries a fighter pilot.

480
00:29:05,560 --> 00:29:09,320
I'm telling you, [continues in Hindi]
he goes in the morning before sunrise.

481
00:29:09,400 --> 00:29:11,320
Breakfast, lunch, all in the squadron.

482
00:29:11,400 --> 00:29:12,640
By evening, he'll be so tired.

483
00:29:12,720 --> 00:29:16,000
[in English] He won't have the energy
to argue with your daughter.

484
00:29:16,080 --> 00:29:18,080
[in Hindi] So your daughter
will be very happy.

485
00:29:18,160 --> 00:29:21,320
If at all they end up fighting,
it will only be on weekends,

486
00:29:21,400 --> 00:29:22,640
and not before that."

487
00:29:22,720 --> 00:29:27,040
At times, I spend more time
with the aircraft than with my family

488
00:29:27,120 --> 00:29:31,120
and I have been able to sustain it
because of the support of my family.

489
00:29:31,200 --> 00:29:33,560
There is a saying in Indian Air Force,

490
00:29:33,640 --> 00:29:36,000
"If you think being
a fighter pilot's difficult,

491
00:29:36,080 --> 00:29:37,800
try being a fighter pilot's wife."

492
00:29:37,880 --> 00:29:40,360
[in English] Probably,
had I been a civilian wife,

493
00:29:40,440 --> 00:29:42,920
I would have thought
or made a big deal out of it.

494
00:29:43,000 --> 00:29:46,000
But being in the Air Force,
it's a job he is doing,

495
00:29:46,080 --> 00:29:48,760
and it's a job he loves doing.

496
00:29:48,840 --> 00:29:51,720
[Mohit Gupta] Frankly, when I'm flying,
I think only about

497
00:29:51,800 --> 00:29:54,280
what I'm supposed to do
sitting in the cockpit.

498
00:29:54,360 --> 00:29:56,840
I don't think about family,
friends, any of that.

499
00:29:56,920 --> 00:30:00,200
Thankfully, my better half,
Squadron Leader Neha Devi,

500
00:30:00,280 --> 00:30:02,920
is also a serving officer
in the Indian Air Force.

501
00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:05,760
So she has a better understanding
of my work life.

502
00:30:09,600 --> 00:30:14,520
[Neha Devi] As a wife, when he took over
command of 23 Squadron,

503
00:30:14,600 --> 00:30:18,800
I was very happy because
he was Squadron Leader when I saw him.

504
00:30:18,880 --> 00:30:22,480
So that time also,
he was in 23 squadron, MiG-21.

505
00:30:22,560 --> 00:30:27,560
So there's a lot of emotional attachment
with the squadron from last 11 years.

506
00:30:27,640 --> 00:30:32,400
So obviously I have a personal connect
with the squadron and the aircraft.

507
00:30:32,480 --> 00:30:34,120
Because had I not been in this aircraft,

508
00:30:34,200 --> 00:30:36,840
had I not been in the squadron
at that point of time,

509
00:30:36,920 --> 00:30:38,000
I'd have never met Neha.

510
00:30:38,080 --> 00:30:40,320
So just like
when you're talking on a mobile,

511
00:30:40,400 --> 00:30:43,760
you like to put a face to the voice
you're hearing. So when you know

512
00:30:43,840 --> 00:30:47,880
it's your wife who's on the other side,
giving the RT transmission,

513
00:30:47,960 --> 00:30:51,120
then of course, the feeling
is going to be a bit different.

514
00:30:51,200 --> 00:30:55,800
As a controller,
when you know that your spouse is flying,

515
00:30:55,880 --> 00:30:57,880
and you're sitting on RT,

516
00:30:57,960 --> 00:31:02,440
so there is a bit of joy
and also a little bit of cuteness.

517
00:31:02,520 --> 00:31:03,680
It's all professional.

518
00:31:03,760 --> 00:31:07,320
In the heart,
there is a little bit of anxiety also,

519
00:31:07,400 --> 00:31:08,880
but you know that

520
00:31:08,960 --> 00:31:12,800
your husband loves what he is doing,
so it gives you strength. So--

521
00:31:13,760 --> 00:31:17,480
There is always a silent prayer,
though I don't tell him.

522
00:31:17,560 --> 00:31:20,720
So there are days
when you don't feel like saying him,

523
00:31:20,800 --> 00:31:22,280
"Don't fly today."

524
00:31:22,360 --> 00:31:25,600
But as a controller,
you understand you cannot say that.

525
00:31:25,680 --> 00:31:29,400
It's not easy to say.
So those feelings remain buried, unspoken.

526
00:31:29,480 --> 00:31:32,120
We normally say it's the man
behind the machine. No.

527
00:31:32,200 --> 00:31:35,440
It is the family behind the man
who is behind the machine.

528
00:31:40,240 --> 00:31:43,440
If I give you a parlance,
if you are a Formula One fan,

529
00:31:43,520 --> 00:31:48,200
we go to max speeds of about 300, 350.

530
00:31:48,280 --> 00:31:51,760
For a MiG-21, when you roll for take-off,

531
00:31:51,840 --> 00:31:55,440
the airspeed indicator
or the speedometer in common parlance,

532
00:31:55,520 --> 00:31:58,680
starts registering only at 200 kmph.

533
00:31:58,760 --> 00:32:03,280
So that is the speeds
that we are looking at in MiG-21.

534
00:32:12,240 --> 00:32:16,160
You see, MiG-21 by design
was a high altitude interceptor.

535
00:32:16,240 --> 00:32:18,240
It is supposed to intercept the B-52

536
00:32:18,320 --> 00:32:22,480
or that Hound Dog missile or something.
That is what it was originally built for,

537
00:32:22,560 --> 00:32:23,920
that's why it's very fast.

538
00:32:24,000 --> 00:32:27,520
[SS Tyagi] See, when we engaged
afterburner and released brakes,

539
00:32:27,600 --> 00:32:29,120
I mean, it was like

540
00:32:29,200 --> 00:32:32,240
[in Hindi] Arjun's arrow
had been released from his bow.

541
00:32:32,320 --> 00:32:34,960
[in English] So we used to really get back
into the seat, stuck.

542
00:32:35,040 --> 00:32:37,960
And then, of course,
slowly we got used to it.

543
00:32:41,680 --> 00:32:43,800
I have flown all variants

544
00:32:43,880 --> 00:32:50,320
including Type 77, Type 75, Type 96,
Bison and Trainer Aircraft.

545
00:32:50,400 --> 00:32:53,280
The best variant was Type 77.

546
00:32:53,360 --> 00:32:56,920
If you ask any MiG-21 pilot,
he will vouch for its manoeuvring.

547
00:32:57,000 --> 00:32:59,000
We used to call it a flying Ferrari.

548
00:32:59,080 --> 00:33:02,920
It's the fastest landing aircraft.
No other aircraft has the speed Bison has.

549
00:33:14,640 --> 00:33:16,640
[PK Pandey in Hindi]
It lands at such a fast speed,

550
00:33:16,720 --> 00:33:18,480
sometimes you wonder,
"Will it stop or not?"

551
00:33:18,560 --> 00:33:23,160
But these are our pilots, our machines.
Aircraft comes back to us safe and sound.

552
00:33:23,240 --> 00:33:26,640
Again, I was in my training stage
in Bidar,

553
00:33:26,720 --> 00:33:30,160
and one of the pilots
announced an emergency,

554
00:33:30,240 --> 00:33:32,120
and that was a MiG-21 aircraft.

555
00:33:32,200 --> 00:33:35,400
I was sitting with my instructor
and I asked him what is this emergency.

556
00:33:35,480 --> 00:33:38,840
So he said, "It's a pneumatic emergency
and they don't have brakes."

557
00:33:39,560 --> 00:33:42,080
I was like,
"Why will they not have brakes?"

558
00:33:42,160 --> 00:33:46,840
And I saw that aircraft land
and that speed astonished me.

559
00:33:46,920 --> 00:33:48,800
I asked, "What is the landing speed?"

560
00:33:48,880 --> 00:33:50,160
He said, "It's 340 kmph."

561
00:33:50,240 --> 00:33:51,200
And I was shocked.

562
00:33:51,280 --> 00:33:55,720
I mean, it is a big thing
to land this aircraft at such a speed.

563
00:33:55,800 --> 00:33:59,120
[Neha Devi] After spacecraft,
MiG-21s are the fastest in the world.

564
00:33:59,200 --> 00:34:02,840
MiG-21 gets priority in landing
because of the speed it has,

565
00:34:02,920 --> 00:34:05,120
touchdown speed
somewhere around 300 to 320.

566
00:34:05,200 --> 00:34:08,960
So you have to take out other aircraft
which have comparatively lesser speed

567
00:34:09,040 --> 00:34:09,880
than MiG-21.

568
00:34:09,960 --> 00:34:13,719
So irrespective of the fact that aircraft
is on final approach track or not,

569
00:34:13,800 --> 00:34:15,440
MiG-21 is rejoining,

570
00:34:15,520 --> 00:34:17,199
you have to tell these,

571
00:34:17,280 --> 00:34:20,480
"Vacate the final approach track.
MiG-21 is on final."

572
00:34:20,560 --> 00:34:23,960
Right from the word take-off, if I am
immediately coming for landing,

573
00:34:24,040 --> 00:34:25,920
by then it takes around five minutes,

574
00:34:26,000 --> 00:34:29,320
and even in that five minutes,
I've travelled around 40 kilometres.

575
00:34:36,040 --> 00:34:40,000
The venue which has been chosen
has been aptly chosen as Chandigarh,

576
00:34:40,080 --> 00:34:42,120
because that's the place
where the first MiG-21s

577
00:34:42,199 --> 00:34:44,199
were inducted into the Indian Air Force.

578
00:34:44,280 --> 00:34:47,520
So, it is historically apt,
life comes a full circle.

579
00:34:47,600 --> 00:34:49,040
The last flight takes over there.

580
00:34:49,120 --> 00:34:53,760
Towards it, we are preparing by flying
different kinds of formations,

581
00:34:53,840 --> 00:34:55,800
working out how to go about it,

582
00:34:55,880 --> 00:35:00,440
and how to signify the changeover
of MiG-21 to the newer platforms.

583
00:35:02,120 --> 00:35:05,120
And seeing which will be the best way

584
00:35:05,200 --> 00:35:08,880
to give a befitting farewell
to the aircraft.

585
00:35:45,920 --> 00:35:49,440
Main motivation for a MiG-21 pilot
is it's a single cockpit.

586
00:35:49,520 --> 00:35:52,360
So today, if I sit in the cockpit,

587
00:35:52,440 --> 00:35:55,800
to me, there can be no other blessing.

588
00:35:55,880 --> 00:35:59,360
And anyone who makes that possible for me,

589
00:35:59,440 --> 00:36:01,880
would be as good as God, as far as I go.

590
00:36:01,960 --> 00:36:03,120
[laughs]

591
00:36:10,160 --> 00:36:14,600
Once you've strapped up inside the cockpit
and you've taken off, you're alone.

592
00:36:14,680 --> 00:36:16,240
You're the person flying the aircraft.

593
00:36:16,320 --> 00:36:19,640
Till the time you touch down,
it's your responsibility.

594
00:36:19,720 --> 00:36:21,720
So all your preparations, everything's--

595
00:36:21,800 --> 00:36:23,560
you have to put up a good show.

596
00:36:23,640 --> 00:36:27,200
So when I flew the MiG-21, it was 1:1.

597
00:36:27,280 --> 00:36:29,200
And there was no interruption.

598
00:36:29,280 --> 00:36:32,560
And subsequently, I went into civil flying

599
00:36:32,640 --> 00:36:34,400
and I started flying airliners.

600
00:36:34,480 --> 00:36:37,520
That's the time
when I was getting used to the fact

601
00:36:37,600 --> 00:36:40,320
that there's another guy in the cockpit,
another lady also maybe.

602
00:36:40,400 --> 00:36:42,560
And having the cabin crew come in,

603
00:36:42,640 --> 00:36:45,320
they want some tea,
they want some coffee, whatever.

604
00:36:45,400 --> 00:36:50,400
That was so different from what I was
used to flying in the Air Force.

605
00:36:54,120 --> 00:36:58,080
When you go and sit inside the aircraft,
you are not strapping yourself.

606
00:36:58,160 --> 00:37:00,360
You are strapping the aircraft
to your body.

607
00:37:00,440 --> 00:37:03,040
So once we sit inside
and we strap ourselves in,

608
00:37:03,120 --> 00:37:05,520
we feel that we and the aircraft
are the same.

609
00:37:05,600 --> 00:37:07,800
You become part of it.

610
00:37:07,880 --> 00:37:11,680
You live that aircraft
and the aircraft lives through you.

611
00:37:11,760 --> 00:37:15,640
It's very important for you to feel
that you and the aircraft are one, so that

612
00:37:15,720 --> 00:37:19,440
you understand each other and fly it
the way it is supposed to be flown.

613
00:37:22,280 --> 00:37:27,320
Whenever there are exercises over there,
we park the aircraft on the runway side,

614
00:37:27,400 --> 00:37:29,640
where we keep our canopy open.

615
00:37:29,720 --> 00:37:31,080
Moment the scramble comes,

616
00:37:31,160 --> 00:37:33,320
within two minutes,
we have to get airborne.

617
00:37:33,400 --> 00:37:36,840
You close the canopy. After closing
the canopy, you have to lock it.

618
00:37:36,920 --> 00:37:38,760
Then the pressurisation takes place.

619
00:37:38,840 --> 00:37:40,880
Now in a hurry, I lined up.

620
00:37:40,960 --> 00:37:43,320
Now when you were moving,
the canopy was closed.

621
00:37:43,400 --> 00:37:45,840
So, I didn't realise
that I have not locked it.

622
00:37:46,760 --> 00:37:49,360
As I got airborne,
put the undercarriage up,

623
00:37:49,440 --> 00:37:51,840
I found that some air started coming in,

624
00:37:51,920 --> 00:37:53,280
and canopy going up.

625
00:37:53,360 --> 00:37:55,560
I held on to it, pushed it down,

626
00:37:55,640 --> 00:37:57,960
pushed the lever, locked everything,

627
00:37:58,040 --> 00:38:00,480
landed back safely, all good.

628
00:38:00,560 --> 00:38:03,160
Basically, the MiG-21 cockpit
is quite cramped.

629
00:38:06,320 --> 00:38:09,440
There are so many switches
and instruments around.

630
00:38:09,520 --> 00:38:11,600
Analog ones, not digital.

631
00:38:11,680 --> 00:38:14,600
And you have to look at those instruments
in a glance.

632
00:38:14,680 --> 00:38:16,640
You don't have much time to look at it.

633
00:38:18,400 --> 00:38:21,480
[Neha Devi] They have so many checks
before they get airborne.

634
00:38:21,560 --> 00:38:24,800
So seeing them doing all those checks
within a span of time,

635
00:38:24,880 --> 00:38:27,040
you know, their hands are tuned.
I'm using my hands.

636
00:38:27,120 --> 00:38:30,080
Their hands are tuned,
their speech is tuned.

637
00:38:30,160 --> 00:38:33,600
Now, just imagine the workload
on the leader.

638
00:38:33,680 --> 00:38:38,200
He is looking at the map and looking at
his speed, looking at his direction.

639
00:38:38,280 --> 00:38:41,040
He is thereafter now looking outside
to check,

640
00:38:41,120 --> 00:38:44,240
oh, if that culvert has come,
the road is coming,

641
00:38:44,320 --> 00:38:47,120
what angle the road is crossing,
am I flying in the correct direction?

642
00:38:51,040 --> 00:38:53,920
[Uday Kolhatkar] When you are going into
a hostile environment, like say,

643
00:38:54,000 --> 00:38:55,760
you are going into enemy territory,

644
00:38:55,840 --> 00:38:59,040
you are looking for people
who are trying to track you down,

645
00:38:59,120 --> 00:39:00,680
to shoot you down.

646
00:39:00,760 --> 00:39:03,360
So you have to scan not only for yourself,

647
00:39:03,440 --> 00:39:06,000
but for the other guy
who's on your right side.

648
00:39:06,080 --> 00:39:08,880
And more than that,
I'm looking for my number two's tail,

649
00:39:08,960 --> 00:39:12,600
that no enemy
or simulated enemy is coming for attack.

650
00:39:12,680 --> 00:39:14,000
So then you have to react.

651
00:39:14,080 --> 00:39:17,280
If you'd miss an aircraft at that point,

652
00:39:17,360 --> 00:39:21,320
then he might be able to position
in such a way that he can shoot

653
00:39:21,400 --> 00:39:24,280
one of your aircraft down
and you don't want that.

654
00:39:29,240 --> 00:39:31,440
[Neha Devi]
The moment I sat in the aircraft,

655
00:39:31,520 --> 00:39:35,920
so there is no air-conditioning
in the aircraft when you sit down.

656
00:39:36,000 --> 00:39:38,400
So the air conditioning gets on
once you are airborne.

657
00:39:38,480 --> 00:39:41,840
And we were sitting in the cockpit
in Suratgarh,

658
00:39:41,920 --> 00:39:43,560
the extreme summer.

659
00:39:43,640 --> 00:39:46,160
So I was all drenched in sweat

660
00:39:46,240 --> 00:39:48,600
till the time aircraft asked for lineup,

661
00:39:48,680 --> 00:39:50,520
and I was like,

662
00:39:50,600 --> 00:39:55,600
"God, I don't know how they endure
this much sweat before they get airborne."

663
00:39:55,680 --> 00:39:58,480
MiG-21 is a Russian aircraft
which was designed

664
00:39:58,560 --> 00:40:01,880
as per their climate, which is--
Russia is a very cold country.

665
00:40:04,280 --> 00:40:05,920
Whatever is temperature outside,

666
00:40:06,000 --> 00:40:09,320
the temperature in the cockpit
is about seven to eight degrees higher.

667
00:40:09,400 --> 00:40:12,800
You can appreciate that when
the temperature is 40 degrees outside,

668
00:40:12,880 --> 00:40:17,040
the temperature in the cockpit
is about 47 to 48 degrees centigrade.

669
00:40:17,120 --> 00:40:19,560
And since it's all metal,
if you are not careful

670
00:40:19,640 --> 00:40:24,240
and you touch the skin of the aircraft,
you may burn your fingers.

671
00:40:26,960 --> 00:40:30,240
[Neha Devi] While we were making
good landing, sir kept asking me,

672
00:40:30,320 --> 00:40:32,000
"Neha, are you able to spot the runway?"

673
00:40:32,080 --> 00:40:35,600
I initially said I'm looking out.
Then I nodded, "Yes, sir, I can see,"

674
00:40:35,680 --> 00:40:36,920
although I saw nothing.

675
00:40:37,000 --> 00:40:39,960
So then I realised that in that cockpit,

676
00:40:40,040 --> 00:40:42,760
spotting the runway
is a challenge in itself.

677
00:40:42,840 --> 00:40:45,800
[Sudha Rani] The moment you finish
one sortie and come down,

678
00:40:45,880 --> 00:40:48,360
you are soaking wet in your sweat.

679
00:40:48,440 --> 00:40:51,200
It took me some time to, you know,

680
00:40:51,280 --> 00:40:53,960
there was that spinning
in the head when I went,

681
00:40:54,040 --> 00:40:58,920
and for me to just get my feet firmly
on the ground itself took some time.

682
00:40:59,000 --> 00:41:01,320
Whereas to imagine
that the pilot does that

683
00:41:01,400 --> 00:41:04,000
probably more than once in a day at times,

684
00:41:04,080 --> 00:41:05,480
it is amazing.

685
00:41:06,400 --> 00:41:09,680
When I gained about 500
to 700 hours on MiG-21

686
00:41:09,760 --> 00:41:13,400
and you felt very comfortable
in the cockpit, I started loving flying.

687
00:41:13,480 --> 00:41:19,640
And my love for flying ensured
that I preferred hot cockpit of MiG-21

688
00:41:19,720 --> 00:41:23,640
as compared to the cool environment
of my office or the crew room.

689
00:41:23,720 --> 00:41:26,520
When I sit in the cockpit, I feel at home.

690
00:41:26,600 --> 00:41:28,040
I feel very comfortable.

691
00:41:28,120 --> 00:41:30,760
It's not a good thing
to feel comfortable in the cockpit.

692
00:41:30,840 --> 00:41:33,720
You should always be,
you know, doing the job.

693
00:41:33,800 --> 00:41:36,600
But when I sit inside the cockpit,

694
00:41:36,680 --> 00:41:39,080
the comfort comes
from knowing the aircraft,

695
00:41:39,160 --> 00:41:42,280
from knowing the system,
from knowing how it will behave.

696
00:41:42,360 --> 00:41:46,080
[SS Tyagi] You are now sitting
as if you are sitting for a meditation.

697
00:41:46,160 --> 00:41:52,440
Even the saints who sit,
they take longer time to get into--

698
00:41:53,240 --> 00:41:55,240
[high-pitched whine]

699
00:41:57,040 --> 00:42:00,720
to get into that mood,

700
00:42:00,800 --> 00:42:05,280
or to build that environment where
they start thinking, connecting with God.

701
00:42:05,360 --> 00:42:08,960
We actually connect with God
moment the canopy goes down.

702
00:42:09,040 --> 00:42:11,400
Fighter pilots, particularly MiG guys,

703
00:42:11,480 --> 00:42:16,080
they never go and bow down
in the feet of any of these saints

704
00:42:16,160 --> 00:42:20,120
because they really don't find anything
more special in them

705
00:42:20,200 --> 00:42:23,040
than what one has achieved
in their own life.

706
00:42:23,120 --> 00:42:28,040
What I loved most
was when we were flying in J&K,

707
00:42:30,320 --> 00:42:33,320
and we were doing valley flying.
Total whiteout.

708
00:42:33,400 --> 00:42:36,840
There was nothing,
just white snow down there.

709
00:42:36,920 --> 00:42:39,400
So that was an amazing feeling actually.

710
00:42:39,480 --> 00:42:42,240
The varied experience of each place
is different.

711
00:42:42,320 --> 00:42:45,000
Feeling of flying over a desert
is different.

712
00:42:45,080 --> 00:42:47,960
Flying over Himalayas,
the feeling is different.

713
00:42:48,040 --> 00:42:51,840
And flying over, say, Brahmaputra,
the feeling is totally different.

714
00:42:52,920 --> 00:42:57,560
I did a sea flying once
and I think that was pretty intimidating.

715
00:42:57,640 --> 00:43:01,760
I think that's quite challenging.
There's nothing but water.

716
00:43:01,840 --> 00:43:05,440
Now, if the aircraft can go
twice the speed of sound, which it can,

717
00:43:05,520 --> 00:43:08,320
or it can fly up to 60,000 feet,

718
00:43:08,400 --> 00:43:11,560
you can see the curvature
of the Earth at that altitude.

719
00:43:11,640 --> 00:43:13,440
It's like you're halfway to space.

720
00:43:16,800 --> 00:43:21,200
I would say that it's a very demanding
aircraft because it is very unforgiving.

721
00:43:21,280 --> 00:43:25,400
The mistakes that you make in flying,
while flying this aircraft

722
00:43:25,480 --> 00:43:28,600
multiply, you know, and come back to you.

723
00:43:28,680 --> 00:43:31,800
Error is so small that at low levels,
you can't do any errors.

724
00:43:31,880 --> 00:43:36,000
Because the margin for error is so small,
within no time, the aircraft may go down.

725
00:43:36,080 --> 00:43:38,920
That is the reason why you are
on the edge of your seat

726
00:43:39,000 --> 00:43:42,360
looking out for terrain clearance,
any obstructions.

727
00:43:42,440 --> 00:43:46,040
So what generally our parents say is,
[in Hindi] "Fly low and fly slow."

728
00:43:46,120 --> 00:43:49,240
[in English] Which we shouldn't be doing,
especially in MiG-21.

729
00:43:49,320 --> 00:43:52,080
The day you decide
it is going to be a very easy sortie,

730
00:43:52,160 --> 00:43:54,640
is the day it shows you that,
you know, [chuckles]

731
00:43:54,720 --> 00:43:57,640
it will make sure
that you get a lesson in humility.

732
00:43:57,720 --> 00:44:00,960
It will not come down easy on you.

733
00:44:01,040 --> 00:44:03,960
You have to match up to the MiG-21.

734
00:44:04,040 --> 00:44:08,720
You cannot not be prepared
on a MiG-21 sortie.

735
00:44:08,800 --> 00:44:10,600
You have to be at your 100 percent.

736
00:44:10,680 --> 00:44:14,840
I was flying a MiG-21, leading a MiG-21,
leading other aircraft also.

737
00:44:14,920 --> 00:44:17,480
And that mission
was not an operational mission,

738
00:44:17,560 --> 00:44:20,480
but it was firepower demonstration

739
00:44:20,560 --> 00:44:24,200
which was being witnessed
by many senior dignitaries.

740
00:44:30,120 --> 00:44:33,600
Well, my friends on the other types on
that particular day may not agree with me,

741
00:44:33,680 --> 00:44:37,000
but we did it better than others.
There is one thing which goes with MiG-21,

742
00:44:37,080 --> 00:44:39,760
that she never says no.
It always delivers.

743
00:44:44,480 --> 00:44:47,520
I don't think
that an aircraft distinguishes

744
00:44:47,600 --> 00:44:50,840
whether it is a female
or a male sitting inside.

745
00:44:50,920 --> 00:44:53,000
I think it treats everybody equally.

746
00:44:53,080 --> 00:44:55,880
[BS Dhanoa] You see, this decision
to get women into the fighters

747
00:44:55,960 --> 00:44:58,280
was when I was the Vice Chief.
So when I became the Chief,

748
00:44:58,360 --> 00:45:01,120
they had finished their training
and they were in Hawks.

749
00:45:05,520 --> 00:45:09,320
I took a call that, okay,
all of them will go through MiGs.

750
00:45:09,400 --> 00:45:12,480
Because MiG is a very good discriminator.

751
00:45:12,560 --> 00:45:15,120
Either you fly it or you flunk it.

752
00:45:15,200 --> 00:45:16,960
You'll get thrown out.

753
00:45:17,040 --> 00:45:20,840
No, there can be no mollycoddling in MiGs.
Nobody can help you. [chuckles]

754
00:45:20,920 --> 00:45:22,600
You know, you are on your own.

755
00:45:22,680 --> 00:45:28,320
So it's a very, I would say, not a big
fraternity, but we are getting there.

756
00:45:28,400 --> 00:45:33,280
And I don't think anybody differentiates,
anybody will differentiate,

757
00:45:33,360 --> 00:45:35,720
as far as you are capable enough.

758
00:45:35,800 --> 00:45:39,560
See, we fight the enemy
through our machines.

759
00:45:39,640 --> 00:45:41,720
We don't physically fight through muscle.

760
00:45:41,800 --> 00:45:43,520
If you're fighting through muscle,

761
00:45:43,600 --> 00:45:45,880
then there is a differentiation
between man and woman.

762
00:45:45,960 --> 00:45:49,040
But you are fighting the enemy
through machines,

763
00:45:49,120 --> 00:45:51,600
then it is how well
you are operating the machine,

764
00:45:51,680 --> 00:45:54,840
how much is your skill
on operating the machine,

765
00:45:54,920 --> 00:45:58,360
how much residual capacity you have got
to fight with the machine.

766
00:45:58,440 --> 00:46:00,520
So, all that, that is all gender-neutral.

767
00:46:03,560 --> 00:46:05,760
[inaudible conversations]

768
00:46:05,840 --> 00:46:09,080
In terms of preparation,
we have been lucky enough

769
00:46:09,160 --> 00:46:13,880
that our present AOC
had also commanded a MiG-21 squadron.

770
00:46:13,960 --> 00:46:17,200
I can say it's a happy coincidence
that the final team

771
00:46:17,280 --> 00:46:20,920
which is making all the preparations
have all been associated with MiG-21

772
00:46:21,000 --> 00:46:23,160
and have been associated
with this squadron.

773
00:46:23,720 --> 00:46:25,640
In terms of pilots, yeah, of course,

774
00:46:25,720 --> 00:46:27,760
the number of pilots
are very less as of now.

775
00:46:27,840 --> 00:46:29,520
But in terms of experience,

776
00:46:29,600 --> 00:46:32,240
I couldn't have asked for
any better group of pilots.

777
00:46:32,320 --> 00:46:36,240
[Amit Budhwar] So the responsibility
of doing this ceremony

778
00:46:36,320 --> 00:46:38,920
and flying in this ceremony
rests with seven of us.

779
00:46:39,000 --> 00:46:43,000
Also, some senior officers from
Air Headquarters and Command Headquarters,

780
00:46:43,080 --> 00:46:45,440
they have been coming here,
occasionally flying.

781
00:46:45,520 --> 00:46:48,200
And you might see some of them
flying in the ceremony as well.

782
00:46:48,280 --> 00:46:51,200
So everyone's eyes
are going to be on the formation flying,

783
00:46:51,280 --> 00:46:54,440
as to how we are going to execute it.
Even the slightest flaw,

784
00:46:54,520 --> 00:46:58,080
they are going to pick it up,
because they have got loads of experience.

785
00:47:02,840 --> 00:47:08,040
I would say that as administrators,
our main contribution towards MiG-21s

786
00:47:08,120 --> 00:47:11,280
would be in terms of the runway,
the hangars

787
00:47:11,360 --> 00:47:12,880
and other operational infrastructure.

788
00:47:15,320 --> 00:47:18,040
[in Hindi] If one were to frame it
in terms of challenges, then…

789
00:47:18,120 --> 00:47:19,440
we all have families.

790
00:47:19,520 --> 00:47:21,600
There are people of all ages in a family.

791
00:47:21,680 --> 00:47:26,600
And obviously, one must take
special care of the elderly.

792
00:47:26,680 --> 00:47:28,800
[in English]
Because of the elderly issues,

793
00:47:28,880 --> 00:47:33,880
[in Hindi] knee pain, hip pain,
someone may have a slight heart issue.

794
00:47:33,960 --> 00:47:37,160
In taking care of those issues,
challenges arise and sometimes,

795
00:47:37,240 --> 00:47:41,040
things worsen, and you may have to go
to the hospital suddenly at night.

796
00:47:45,880 --> 00:47:49,040
Sometimes the hospital might tell you
that something is beyond their expertise.

797
00:47:49,120 --> 00:47:53,360
So you bring in super-specialist doctors,
which in our case is, experts from HAL.

798
00:47:56,800 --> 00:47:59,560
[in Hindi] A pilot takes the aircraft
into the air. After that,

799
00:47:59,640 --> 00:48:02,400
we stick very close
and keep an eye out the entire time,

800
00:48:02,480 --> 00:48:05,240
constantly checking when our aircraft
will re-enter the circuit.

801
00:48:05,320 --> 00:48:08,480
It is like when a mother
sends her child out to play,

802
00:48:08,560 --> 00:48:11,720
she is constantly worried
about her child's whereabouts,

803
00:48:11,800 --> 00:48:13,520
where he might be, what he might be doing.

804
00:48:15,080 --> 00:48:16,480
[tyres screech]

805
00:48:16,560 --> 00:48:20,880
Before you line up
for the take-off, the technical airman,

806
00:48:20,960 --> 00:48:24,680
what he does, he goes around the aircraft
and sees if there is any nail

807
00:48:24,760 --> 00:48:26,600
or nut has gone loose, or something.

808
00:48:26,680 --> 00:48:27,560
That's the last check.

809
00:48:27,640 --> 00:48:31,280
Then the tyre checker,
after he does last salute, he will do--

810
00:48:31,960 --> 00:48:35,160
Means, do a little higher
angle-of-attack take off.

811
00:48:35,240 --> 00:48:40,200
So I used to line up and do this,
and aircraft used to resonate like hell.

812
00:48:40,280 --> 00:48:42,200
[vocalising]

813
00:48:42,280 --> 00:48:47,760
And that resonance used to resonate
and vibrate the whole station.

814
00:48:47,840 --> 00:48:50,480
The houses, the windows, the hangars.

815
00:48:50,560 --> 00:48:53,120
And people who were wanting to rest,
particularly senior guys,

816
00:48:53,200 --> 00:48:57,080
they used to get very upset. Of course,
then I used to get my normal dose,

817
00:48:57,160 --> 00:48:59,800
"Can't you bloody behave
and do a normal thing?"

818
00:48:59,880 --> 00:49:03,720
"Yes, sir, I'll never repeat it,"
till next time you did it.

819
00:49:03,800 --> 00:49:08,680
So these are something which,
how you motivate your technical guys,

820
00:49:08,760 --> 00:49:11,520
you make them feel
that they are part of you.

821
00:49:11,600 --> 00:49:17,560
In the decades of '80s,
'90s and the first decade of 2000s,

822
00:49:17,640 --> 00:49:21,880
Indian Air Force had inducted
lot of new aircraft, starting from

823
00:49:21,960 --> 00:49:27,800
Jaguars to MiG-23, MiG-27,
MiG-29, Mirage 2000 and Su-30.

824
00:49:27,880 --> 00:49:29,440
So at that moment,

825
00:49:29,520 --> 00:49:33,520
more than 50% of the fighter squadrons
consisted of MiG-21.

826
00:49:33,600 --> 00:49:36,440
Because of this reason,

827
00:49:36,520 --> 00:49:39,560
all the pilots who had gone to fly
these aircraft

828
00:49:39,640 --> 00:49:42,240
had gone from MiG-21 squadron.

829
00:49:42,320 --> 00:49:44,080
[S Chetan Giridhar]
In terms of pure flying,

830
00:49:44,160 --> 00:49:47,040
no other platform in the Air Force
right now can beat MiG-21

831
00:49:47,120 --> 00:49:50,840
because most of the modern platforms,
they've got the avionics suite

832
00:49:50,920 --> 00:49:53,080
and indirectly or directly,
they assist the pilot.

833
00:49:53,160 --> 00:49:57,760
Spotting the enemy aircraft,
flying by feel, was a part of the art.

834
00:49:57,840 --> 00:50:01,560
However, today,
modern aircraft have lot of sensors.

835
00:50:01,640 --> 00:50:06,200
Therefore, we can say that flying today
is more of a science

836
00:50:06,280 --> 00:50:08,040
and less of an art.

837
00:50:08,120 --> 00:50:11,160
There is a saying amongst pilots
wherein you say

838
00:50:11,240 --> 00:50:14,640
that if you have not flown a MiG-21,
you have not flown at all.

839
00:50:15,200 --> 00:50:19,080
And we MiG-21 pilots,
we call ourselves the Thoroughbreds.

840
00:50:19,160 --> 00:50:22,480
And others, we address
as system managers. [laughs]

841
00:50:23,720 --> 00:50:25,840
I didn't want to use that word,
but since he's got it,

842
00:50:25,920 --> 00:50:27,880
the system management, so--

843
00:50:27,960 --> 00:50:30,160
[Jaideep Singh]
So there are Jaguars who come in,

844
00:50:30,240 --> 00:50:32,720
the pilots will call themselves
Jaguar pilots.

845
00:50:32,800 --> 00:50:34,560
Sukhoi-30 squadron will come in,

846
00:50:34,640 --> 00:50:36,840
they'll call themselves Su-30 pilots.

847
00:50:36,920 --> 00:50:40,800
But we, the MiG-21 pilots,
we call ourselves fighter pilots.

848
00:50:40,880 --> 00:50:43,760
[in Hindi] When my pilot engages
the reheat, turns on the afterburner,

849
00:50:43,840 --> 00:50:46,440
you hear a much louder boom.

850
00:50:46,520 --> 00:50:48,760
The Su-30 pilot says
that he has two engines.

851
00:50:48,840 --> 00:50:53,120
Then I say that even with two engines,
you can't match my single engine.

852
00:50:53,200 --> 00:50:55,320
There used to be a lot of banter
like this.

853
00:50:55,400 --> 00:50:58,960
And whenever we'd be losing,
we'd pull out the MiG-21's trump card,

854
00:50:59,040 --> 00:51:02,680
"My take off speed is the highest,
my landing speed is the highest."

855
00:51:02,760 --> 00:51:05,160
The people who have not flown in MiG-21,

856
00:51:05,240 --> 00:51:09,760
everybody wants to have a feel of what
it takes to sit in the cockpit and fly.

857
00:51:09,840 --> 00:51:12,840
But unfortunately for them,
they don't have this opportunity,

858
00:51:12,920 --> 00:51:14,560
and I think I am really blessed.

859
00:51:14,640 --> 00:51:18,840
The mere fact that after 1971 ops,
Indian Air Force has participated in

860
00:51:18,920 --> 00:51:23,800
Kargil ops, in Balakot ops,
and recently fought in Operation Sindoor,

861
00:51:23,880 --> 00:51:28,040
is a testimony to the anchor role
played by MiG-21.

862
00:51:28,120 --> 00:51:30,960
[in Hindi] No matter how old he is,
he always turns up to prove himself.

863
00:51:31,040 --> 00:51:33,800
Trust me, even if something
were to happen today,

864
00:51:33,880 --> 00:51:35,840
he will go prove himself and come back.

865
00:52:05,080 --> 00:52:07,040
[in English] Red means danger.

866
00:52:07,920 --> 00:52:09,760
[in Hindi] I'd like
to mention a special trade,

867
00:52:09,840 --> 00:52:12,840
our weapon fitters, weapon tradesmen…

868
00:52:18,200 --> 00:52:20,680
When an armament is being fitted
before a sortie, be it a bomb,

869
00:52:20,760 --> 00:52:22,200
or a rocket, or a missile,

870
00:52:22,280 --> 00:52:24,560
that is completely handled
by these tradesmen.

871
00:52:24,640 --> 00:52:27,440
Which is why the badge
that weapon fitters wear,

872
00:52:27,520 --> 00:52:29,400
even that is red in colour,

873
00:52:29,480 --> 00:52:31,520
because they are always engaged
in dangerous work.

874
00:52:32,640 --> 00:52:36,600
The aircraft will tell you beforehand,
you know, something is going to happen.

875
00:52:36,680 --> 00:52:40,000
I still can remember the date,
15th October, 1986.

876
00:52:43,160 --> 00:52:46,960
Like, in MiG-21, you cannot see anything
in front when the nose wheel is up.

877
00:52:47,040 --> 00:52:49,920
I just heard a noise,
a churning noise, from the engine.

878
00:52:50,000 --> 00:52:52,000
[churning noise]

879
00:52:52,080 --> 00:52:55,320
Something has gone inside, which I have
not seen it. Aircraft is accelerating,

880
00:52:55,400 --> 00:52:59,200
I have gone to almost about 300 feet.
Thought comes to my mind,

881
00:52:59,280 --> 00:53:02,240
"Now you are on the ground.
Why don't you stay in the ground

882
00:53:02,320 --> 00:53:05,000
instead of go up and then come back,
taking a chance?"

883
00:53:05,080 --> 00:53:09,400
So I discontinued with the take-off,
put the nose wheel down, applied brakes.

884
00:53:09,480 --> 00:53:12,200
As speed came below 280,
applied tail chute.

885
00:53:12,280 --> 00:53:14,880
The tail chute cable snapped.

886
00:53:19,400 --> 00:53:21,960
This is the time the whole of my life,

887
00:53:22,040 --> 00:53:24,880
film has gone through to me
from childhood to this thing.

888
00:53:24,960 --> 00:53:26,760
I thought today is my last day.

889
00:53:30,360 --> 00:53:31,880
I went into the barrier,

890
00:53:31,960 --> 00:53:35,200
it took me just ten metres
and stopped me there,

891
00:53:35,280 --> 00:53:36,360
pushed it back…

892
00:53:37,560 --> 00:53:41,520
opened canopy,
disconnected all the things, jumped out.

893
00:53:41,600 --> 00:53:44,400
First thing I did was pinch myself.

894
00:53:44,480 --> 00:53:46,640
Is it paining or not?

895
00:53:46,720 --> 00:53:50,200
Like in the cartoon they show it,
when a crash takes place over there,

896
00:53:50,280 --> 00:53:53,080
the aircraft is there
and the soul was gone up.

897
00:53:53,160 --> 00:53:57,000
So then I realised
the soul is still there, it's not gone up.

898
00:53:57,080 --> 00:53:59,560
Followed by, CO came,
he went around the aircraft,

899
00:53:59,640 --> 00:54:03,360
then he told me there's a vulture
which has gone inside and it has got

900
00:54:03,440 --> 00:54:06,400
two kilograms of meat
lying in the jet pipe.

901
00:54:06,480 --> 00:54:10,440
And these kind of incidents
which take place are never told at home.

902
00:54:10,520 --> 00:54:12,160
My friends told my wife.

903
00:54:12,240 --> 00:54:16,440
Thereafter, there was a court of inquiry
on me. I was blamed, not informing her.

904
00:54:16,520 --> 00:54:18,640
But that she was told before the marriage.

905
00:54:18,720 --> 00:54:21,560
That this is a part of life,
sometimes tyre bursts.

906
00:54:21,640 --> 00:54:25,360
Luckily, never ejected over there,
and I am here in front of you,

907
00:54:25,440 --> 00:54:27,120
73, going strong.

908
00:54:27,200 --> 00:54:31,600
I had a ejection in 2008
in MiG-21 trainer aircraft.

909
00:54:35,440 --> 00:54:38,240
I ejected with now
Group Captain Supandeep Singh.

910
00:54:38,320 --> 00:54:40,880
[Neha Devi] After their ejection,
sir could not fly,

911
00:54:40,960 --> 00:54:44,400
but they have become family to us.
They're not even friends.

912
00:54:44,480 --> 00:54:48,040
I can ask them anything
or everything, I think.

913
00:54:48,120 --> 00:54:51,560
As an outsider, you feel that
once you have an accident,

914
00:54:51,640 --> 00:54:53,800
then people will hesitate
to go back to the aircraft.

915
00:54:53,880 --> 00:54:57,720
But as I've heard, within the forces,
it's always the opposite.

916
00:54:57,800 --> 00:55:01,160
Once you have an accident,
you have more confidence on the aircraft.

917
00:55:01,840 --> 00:55:04,200
I was back in cockpit
within next two months.

918
00:55:04,280 --> 00:55:07,480
I myself flew 1,000 hours
on a MiG, which is hell of a lot.

919
00:55:07,560 --> 00:55:09,800
It was accident-free.

920
00:55:09,880 --> 00:55:13,920
Now the squadron that was under me,
we had only two accidents.

921
00:55:14,000 --> 00:55:15,880
Both accidents over range bird hit.

922
00:55:15,960 --> 00:55:19,240
In a single engine aircraft,
you have a bird hit, what can you do?

923
00:55:27,880 --> 00:55:29,600
But the best part of the story is,

924
00:55:29,680 --> 00:55:32,240
when the bird hits took place,
both the pilots ejected in time,

925
00:55:32,320 --> 00:55:36,240
okay, ejection was safe,
and they came back to flying.

926
00:55:36,320 --> 00:55:41,000
You must consider yourself
being a pessimistic optimist.

927
00:55:41,080 --> 00:55:44,680
Pessimistic that you will be faced with
a serious emergency

928
00:55:44,760 --> 00:55:47,000
at a critical stage of flying.

929
00:55:47,080 --> 00:55:52,120
An optimist that you have good amount of
knowledge, that you've prepared yourself,

930
00:55:52,200 --> 00:55:55,680
you'll be able to take the right action
and handle the emergency

931
00:55:55,760 --> 00:55:57,400
in a desired manner.

932
00:56:02,720 --> 00:56:05,240
[BS Dhanoa] See this is a, you can say,
incorrect statement

933
00:56:05,320 --> 00:56:08,320
to say that the MiG-21
had a very bad safety record.

934
00:56:08,400 --> 00:56:13,440
If you talk of statistics, I think
2.95 or something per 100,000 hours

935
00:56:13,520 --> 00:56:18,720
is the safety record of the MiG-21,
which is same as the MiG-23BN.

936
00:56:18,800 --> 00:56:21,480
And it is lower than that of a MiG-27,

937
00:56:21,560 --> 00:56:24,920
and lower than that of a Hunter
and much lower,

938
00:56:25,000 --> 00:56:28,560
it is close to six or something
is the accident record of a Gnat.

939
00:56:28,640 --> 00:56:31,840
So, MiG-21, comparatively,
was a more reliable aircraft.

940
00:56:31,920 --> 00:56:36,280
I think it will be unfair to the MiG-21,
to the Indian Air Force,

941
00:56:36,360 --> 00:56:40,760
and thousands of pilots
who have flown MiG-21,

942
00:56:40,840 --> 00:56:44,800
if we do not contest the image

943
00:56:44,880 --> 00:56:47,920
which the media has projected
about MiG-21,

944
00:56:48,000 --> 00:56:52,960
calling MiG-21 as a flying coffin,
calling MiG-21 as a widow maker.

945
00:56:53,040 --> 00:56:57,360
[in Hindi] I just want to ask them
that when a car crashes on the highway,

946
00:56:57,440 --> 00:57:01,040
even there, unfortunately people die.

947
00:57:01,120 --> 00:57:07,040
But how many times do our
TV channels criticise the car company?

948
00:57:07,120 --> 00:57:08,520
So, this should not be said.

949
00:57:08,600 --> 00:57:10,760
[in English] It becomes
very demoralising for people.

950
00:57:10,840 --> 00:57:13,560
It hurts when people
make comments like that,

951
00:57:13,640 --> 00:57:16,600
or when they say
that it should be stopped.

952
00:57:16,680 --> 00:57:20,560
In fact, two of my youngsters,
they got the Chief's commendation

953
00:57:20,640 --> 00:57:24,120
for landing the MiG-21 with
hydraulic failure, main hydraulic failure.

954
00:57:24,200 --> 00:57:29,760
So that is the kind of skills we used to
develop and the time we used to devote.

955
00:57:29,840 --> 00:57:31,600
To say that the aircraft
was accident-prone,

956
00:57:31,680 --> 00:57:33,240
no, it was not accident-prone.

957
00:57:33,320 --> 00:57:36,040
I mean, you have to deeply understand
an aircraft,

958
00:57:36,120 --> 00:57:39,080
understand a machine
before you make a statement.

959
00:57:39,160 --> 00:57:42,120
As a MiG-21 pilot, I think that, you know,

960
00:57:42,200 --> 00:57:46,200
you should take your chances
of flying this aircraft.

961
00:57:46,280 --> 00:57:47,720
The fact of the matter is,

962
00:57:47,800 --> 00:57:52,000
if media was partially true
in its projection of MiG-21,

963
00:57:52,080 --> 00:57:56,680
then the Indian Air Force would have
retired this aircraft long time back,

964
00:57:56,760 --> 00:58:00,840
and would not have used
this aircraft for more than six decades.

965
00:58:00,920 --> 00:58:03,280
Indian Air Force,
the first name is Indian,

966
00:58:04,360 --> 00:58:06,800
and the tricolour stands out.

967
00:58:06,880 --> 00:58:09,200
It is there in everybody's heart.

968
00:58:09,280 --> 00:58:12,000
And that is how we want to show

969
00:58:12,080 --> 00:58:15,800
that the MiG-21,
with the tricolour on its airframe,

970
00:58:15,880 --> 00:58:19,440
represents India
for a long period of time.

971
00:58:19,520 --> 00:58:23,360
Right from the top, the Chief of Air Staff
has been personally involved in this.

972
00:58:23,440 --> 00:58:28,200
He's been flying the MiG-21
so that he can bid the proper adieu

973
00:58:28,280 --> 00:58:31,640
to this legend of the aircraft.

974
00:58:47,600 --> 00:58:51,080
The very runway from which
the first MiG-21 took off

975
00:58:51,160 --> 00:58:53,760
is again where it will make
its last landing.

976
00:58:53,840 --> 00:58:56,680
So I will say that
emotions are running high,

977
00:58:56,760 --> 00:59:01,000
and we are bubbling with fervour,
and my team is ready to host

978
00:59:01,080 --> 00:59:04,960
all the veterans and officers who've been
associated with this great machine.

979
00:59:14,480 --> 00:59:17,680
[Jaideep Singh] All of the pilots
including serving, veterans,

980
00:59:17,760 --> 00:59:20,160
they all will be here

981
00:59:20,240 --> 00:59:24,960
to bid goodbye to this beloved fighter
of Indian Air Force,

982
00:59:25,040 --> 00:59:30,760
and maybe for a fraction of a time
in their life, relive those moments

983
00:59:30,840 --> 00:59:32,600
where they were part of the squad.

984
00:59:44,160 --> 00:59:46,520
It's a part of who we are.

985
00:59:46,600 --> 00:59:48,840
It's just like a family member

986
00:59:48,920 --> 00:59:52,320
[in Hindi] that you meet daily,
fly daily, see daily.

987
00:59:52,400 --> 00:59:55,240
[in English] So it's just a part of us.

988
00:59:59,840 --> 01:00:04,080
[ceremony host in Hindi] We warmly welcome
our chief guest, India's Defence Minister,

989
01:00:04,160 --> 01:00:10,680
Shri Rajnath Singh,
on this historic occasion.

990
01:00:14,000 --> 01:00:16,040
[in Hindi]
Ladies and gentlemen, good morning.

991
01:00:16,120 --> 01:00:18,960
Here at Air Force Station Chandigarh,

992
01:00:19,040 --> 01:00:23,440
a warm welcome to all the distinguished
guests and their families

993
01:00:23,520 --> 01:00:26,320
gathered here on this historic occasion.

994
01:00:26,400 --> 01:00:32,240
Today, our MiG-21 fighter aircraft
will be given a valorous farewell.

995
01:00:43,920 --> 01:00:46,880
Displaying their unmatched skill
in synchronisation, precise footwork

996
01:00:46,960 --> 01:00:51,800
and weapon handling,

997
01:00:51,880 --> 01:00:55,680
is the Indian Air Force's
Air Warrior Drill Team.

998
01:01:32,480 --> 01:01:36,280
[in Hindi] Ladies and gentlemen,
turn your attention to the skies.

999
01:01:38,520 --> 01:01:41,800
May your applause be so thunderous

1000
01:01:41,880 --> 01:01:48,240
that it reaches those who are about to
descend from the sky to meet you.

1001
01:01:50,000 --> 01:01:53,840
Right in front of your eyes,
seven daredevil skydivers

1002
01:01:53,920 --> 01:01:58,720
of the Paratrooper Training School
have jumped from 8,000 feet.

1003
01:01:58,800 --> 01:02:02,760
Squadron Leader
Rajendra Singh Randhawa

1004
01:02:02,840 --> 01:02:05,520
has descended at a speed of
150 miles per hour!

1005
01:02:27,880 --> 01:02:29,160
[all] Jai Hind!

1006
01:02:29,240 --> 01:02:33,600
So it's a very, very nostalgic moment
for all of us.

1007
01:02:33,680 --> 01:02:37,360
We've never had an aircraft
lasting this long till now.

1008
01:02:37,440 --> 01:02:39,560
First of all,
it's a matter of pride for me

1009
01:02:39,640 --> 01:02:43,040
for being the last commanding officer
of a MiG-21 unit.

1010
01:02:43,120 --> 01:02:48,160
So obviously, my last sortie
in MiG-21 is going to be memorable.

1011
01:02:49,400 --> 01:02:52,560
There is an emotional quotient
attached to it, where you think,

1012
01:02:52,640 --> 01:02:56,200
"I wish this aircraft would have been
flying for some more time."

1013
01:02:56,280 --> 01:03:00,520
But of course, 62 years of service,
she deserves a respectable farewell.

1014
01:03:00,600 --> 01:03:05,920
It'll be like saying goodbye to somebody
I've been constantly seeing every day

1015
01:03:06,000 --> 01:03:07,640
for the past six years.

1016
01:03:07,720 --> 01:03:10,760
And I've seen this aircraft
more than I've seen my parents.

1017
01:03:11,880 --> 01:03:14,240
I'll say my reaction will be bittersweet.

1018
01:03:14,320 --> 01:03:16,120
Bitter because
I'll be missing the platform.

1019
01:03:16,200 --> 01:03:18,120
It's one of the best platforms to fly.

1020
01:03:18,200 --> 01:03:21,800
See, it is always difficult
to say goodbye to your girlfriend.

1021
01:03:22,720 --> 01:03:25,280
And in these times, if you ask us,

1022
01:03:25,360 --> 01:03:27,800
we would love to continue
flying this aircraft.

1023
01:03:27,880 --> 01:03:30,080
It is like clipping somebody's wings.

1024
01:03:31,000 --> 01:03:36,040
So yes, it is very sad to say goodbye

1025
01:03:36,120 --> 01:03:39,600
and we don't want to say goodbye,

1026
01:03:39,680 --> 01:03:40,760
but we have to.

1027
01:03:42,560 --> 01:03:48,080
It is indeed a privilege and it's
a great feeling to be fortunate enough

1028
01:03:48,160 --> 01:03:50,880
to be the flight commander
of the last MiG-21 squadron.

1029
01:03:50,960 --> 01:03:54,680
As I said earlier, not only in Indian
Air Force but perhaps the world over.

1030
01:03:54,760 --> 01:03:56,840
So, flying it for the last time,

1031
01:03:56,920 --> 01:04:02,320
yes, it will have a certain baggage
of emotions associated with it.

1032
01:04:02,400 --> 01:04:04,560
But yes, of course,
during that last sortie,

1033
01:04:04,640 --> 01:04:07,480
we can't let those emotions
come in the way.

1034
01:04:07,560 --> 01:04:11,000
We will do, we will fly that sortie
the way it is to be flown.

1035
01:04:11,080 --> 01:04:12,760
And yes, after the landing,

1036
01:04:12,840 --> 01:04:15,760
we'll see and think about
the emotions that come through.

1037
01:04:15,840 --> 01:04:18,280
It is going to be emotional ride,
yes, of course.

1038
01:04:18,360 --> 01:04:20,920
[Aparna Sharma] Ladies and gentlemen,
the moment has arrived.

1039
01:04:21,000 --> 01:04:24,600
Three-aircraft Badal formation
and four-aircraft Panther formation

1040
01:04:24,680 --> 01:04:28,280
are about to thunder
into the sky for one last time,

1041
01:04:28,360 --> 01:04:29,960
yet for all time to remember.

1042
01:04:30,040 --> 01:04:31,720
Wind, variable.

1043
01:04:31,800 --> 01:04:33,440
Runway in use, two-nine.

1044
01:04:33,520 --> 01:04:35,280
Visibility, clear.

1045
01:04:35,360 --> 01:04:39,760
[in Hindi] Please enjoy
the approaching roar of our lion.

1046
01:04:39,840 --> 01:04:45,040
Badal and Panther formations
now taking off in front of your eyes.

1047
01:05:02,400 --> 01:05:07,080
[in English] From the very runway ahead,
seven proud Bisons will surge forward,

1048
01:05:07,160 --> 01:05:10,560
a symbol of a legacy that refuses to fade.

1049
01:05:33,520 --> 01:05:36,560
Ladies and gentlemen,
shift your gaze towards your left

1050
01:05:36,640 --> 01:05:40,280
as MiG-21 approaches dais
in classic Vic formation.

1051
01:05:45,640 --> 01:05:50,240
[in Hindi] Leading this formation,
moving at a cheetah's speed,

1052
01:05:50,320 --> 01:05:51,800
is Group Captain Mohit Gupta.

1053
01:05:51,880 --> 01:05:55,280
On his right and left are
Air Commodore Amit Kumar Budhwar,

1054
01:05:55,360 --> 01:05:57,720
[in English]
and Chief of the Air Staff himself.

1055
01:06:16,240 --> 01:06:19,520
[in Hindi] Here is that thrilling sight,
straight from the cockpit

1056
01:06:19,600 --> 01:06:23,000
of the Surya Kiran Aerobatic Team.

1057
01:07:14,240 --> 01:07:16,000
And now, the final formation,

1058
01:07:16,080 --> 01:07:20,040
exhibiting the history
and bright future of the Indian Air Force.

1059
01:07:25,080 --> 01:07:27,760
Three-aircraft MiG-21 formation,
flanked on both sides

1060
01:07:27,840 --> 01:07:31,000
by the indigenously-built
Tejas fighter aircraft.

1061
01:07:34,960 --> 01:07:39,040
After more than six decades
of serving and protecting the nation,

1062
01:07:39,120 --> 01:07:45,000
it is now time for this legendary aircraft
to hand over its duty to its successor.

1063
01:07:50,160 --> 01:07:55,920
And that is the message
this flypast will convey to you all today.

1064
01:07:58,280 --> 01:08:00,600
Roaring through the sky,

1065
01:08:00,680 --> 01:08:05,720
the MiG-21 passes over the dais
for the final time.

1066
01:08:15,640 --> 01:08:18,120
[in English] Ladies and gents,
keep your eyes and ears glued

1067
01:08:18,200 --> 01:08:22,520
as you are about to hear
the last ever RT call from our Panther 1

1068
01:08:22,600 --> 01:08:25,040
as it returns to the homeland.

1069
01:08:25,120 --> 01:08:27,120
[Nanda Rajender Logana over radio]
Panther 1, final three greens,

1070
01:08:27,200 --> 01:08:29,040
full flaps, full stop.

1071
01:09:21,920 --> 01:09:25,160
[Aparna Sharma in Hindi]
With the traditional water cannon salute,

1072
01:09:25,240 --> 01:09:26,880
we bid farewell to the MiG-21.

1073
01:09:26,960 --> 01:09:33,399
[in English] Ladies and gentlemen,
brace up as this is our last salute.

1074
01:10:14,800 --> 01:10:17,520
[Priya Sharma] When I touch down,
maybe I'll just thank this aircraft

1075
01:10:17,600 --> 01:10:21,840
for, you know, keeping me safe
for all these years that I've flown it.

1076
01:10:21,920 --> 01:10:22,920
Yeah.

1077
01:10:24,480 --> 01:10:26,640
[Rahul] And there they step out,

1078
01:10:26,720 --> 01:10:31,040
not just from a cockpit,
but from a chapter of history.

1079
01:10:31,120 --> 01:10:34,760
These proud pilots
carry with them the echoes

1080
01:10:34,840 --> 01:10:40,840
of every sortie, every mission
and every heartbeat of the MiG-21.

1081
01:10:44,400 --> 01:10:45,840
The engines may be silent,

1082
01:10:45,920 --> 01:10:50,960
but the footsteps of these pilots
resound louder than ever.

1083
01:10:51,040 --> 01:10:54,280
[in Hindi]
It is now time to formally hand over

1084
01:10:54,360 --> 01:10:57,400
to the Chief of the Air Staff,
that document of the MiG-21

1085
01:10:57,480 --> 01:11:02,240
which has been filled in and signed
by countless Indian Air Force warriors,

1086
01:11:02,320 --> 01:11:08,240
its very pages inscribed with the saga
of their courage and valour.

1087
01:11:08,320 --> 01:11:12,000
[in English] Group Captain Amit Ranjan,
Group Captain Nanda Rajender,

1088
01:11:12,080 --> 01:11:15,280
Senior Engineering Officer
Wing Commander Banti Kumar Jha

1089
01:11:15,360 --> 01:11:20,560
and Warrant Officer Amit Kumar Arya
will now hand over the Form 700.

1090
01:11:21,600 --> 01:11:25,600
[in Hindi] With the handing over
of this document, known as the Form 700,

1091
01:11:25,680 --> 01:11:28,560
the MiG-21 now passes
out of active service

1092
01:11:28,640 --> 01:11:30,800
and joins the ranks
of the Heritage Flight.

1093
01:11:30,880 --> 01:11:35,760
And with this, a glorious chapter
of six decades comes to a close.

1094
01:11:36,720 --> 01:11:39,680
Our chief guest today
and India's Defence Minister,

1095
01:11:39,760 --> 01:11:44,280
the honourable Shri Rajnath Singh,
will now address the gathering.

1096
01:11:44,360 --> 01:11:48,240
[in Hindi]
Friends, we have all gathered today

1097
01:11:48,320 --> 01:11:52,040
for the MiG-21's final operational sortie.

1098
01:11:52,120 --> 01:11:54,600
Friends, on every historic mission,

1099
01:11:54,680 --> 01:11:58,520
the MiG-21 has always elevated
the honour of the tricolour

1100
01:11:58,600 --> 01:12:02,440
Therefore, this is also a farewell
to our collective memories,

1101
01:12:02,520 --> 01:12:07,120
to our national pride,
and to this journey,

1102
01:12:07,200 --> 01:12:12,360
in which a story of courage,
sacrifice and excellence has been written.

1103
01:12:12,440 --> 01:12:17,040
In closing, to all the pilots,
technicians, ground staff,

1104
01:12:17,120 --> 01:12:20,640
and to all the engineers
and other staff at HAL,

1105
01:12:20,720 --> 01:12:22,360
I extend my heartfelt salute.

1106
01:12:22,440 --> 01:12:26,080
Their hard work, dedication and courage

1107
01:12:26,160 --> 01:12:30,360
have made the MiG-21 a part
of the Indian Air Force's very soul.

1108
01:12:39,560 --> 01:12:43,480
[ceremony host in Hindi] And here,
the stroke of a historic signature.

1109
01:12:43,560 --> 01:12:48,040
A special postage stamp will be presented
to India's Defence Minister,

1110
01:12:48,120 --> 01:12:50,400
Shri Rajnath Singh.

1111
01:13:17,080 --> 01:13:20,640
It is a hard feeling,
but a new thing had to come in over there.

1112
01:13:20,720 --> 01:13:23,360
MiG-21, bye, till we meet.

1113
01:13:28,240 --> 01:13:30,800
[Paramjit Singh] It's part of me.
It may physically not be here,

1114
01:13:30,880 --> 01:13:33,600
but then, it'll always be
in some corner of my heart.

1115
01:13:38,360 --> 01:13:42,760
I would just tell MiG-21,
till whenever we are breathing,

1116
01:13:42,840 --> 01:13:47,080
MiG-21, you will be part of our life.

1117
01:13:51,680 --> 01:13:54,120
[AP Singh] The aircraft fades out
but it lives in our hearts.

1118
01:13:54,200 --> 01:13:56,880
I'm sure there are enough memories,
enough books will be written,

1119
01:13:56,960 --> 01:13:59,880
continue to be written
on this aircraft and its exploits.

1120
01:13:59,960 --> 01:14:03,480
All I can say is this aircraft will live
in our hearts forever.

1121
01:14:03,560 --> 01:14:04,960
Thank you. Jai Hind.

1122
01:14:16,720 --> 01:14:20,400
[Priya Sharma] I would say MiG-21
is one aircraft which changes your soul.

1123
01:14:26,560 --> 01:14:31,120
It's a very emotional aircraft
and I loved flying it.

1124
01:14:34,800 --> 01:14:37,000
[Prashant]
I don't think so we are bidding farewell.

1125
01:14:37,080 --> 01:14:39,800
This particular entity is a giant.

1126
01:14:39,880 --> 01:14:42,640
Yes, it is symbolic.
We have done whatever we have done.

1127
01:14:42,720 --> 01:14:45,200
But this aircraft brought with it
a culture,

1128
01:14:45,280 --> 01:14:47,680
which we call as a fighter pilot attitude.

1129
01:14:47,760 --> 01:14:50,360
You don't just give up, you never give up.

1130
01:14:52,440 --> 01:14:56,480
That's a beautiful bird there. You know,
they say silence speaks a million words.

1131
01:14:56,560 --> 01:15:00,480
For once, I'm actually at a loss of words
when standing in front of

1132
01:15:00,560 --> 01:15:03,800
this beauty and the beast
both rolled into one.

1133
01:15:24,560 --> 01:15:27,240
[Parth Vikram in Hindi] I can handle
the most difficult situations.

1134
01:15:27,320 --> 01:15:28,920
That's what I learnt from this plane.

1135
01:15:29,000 --> 01:15:31,520
If it was a human,
I would hug him and say,

1136
01:15:31,600 --> 01:15:36,520
[in English] "Thanks for teaching me this,
thanks for letting me be what I am today."

1137
01:15:41,240 --> 01:15:43,720
[SS Tyagi] To sit in cockpit of MiG-21

1138
01:15:43,800 --> 01:15:48,120
once again after nearly 26, 27 years,

1139
01:15:48,200 --> 01:15:53,000
my God, I still find each switch
as if it's part of my dream

1140
01:15:53,080 --> 01:15:55,400
which I am doing every day, every night.

1141
01:15:55,480 --> 01:16:00,600
Thanks to the Air Force once again
for making this possible for me.

1142
01:16:00,680 --> 01:16:01,960
Thank you. Jai Hind.