Elementary Flying School


Date Raised : 1966-11-07 Disbanded : 1983-09-29 Location : Bidar
Bidar airfield was built by the Nizam of Hyderabad during the unsettled conditions of 1943 -1947. It remained in disuse till activated by the Air Force with the location of No 2 Jet Training Wing in 1963. This was disbanded in 1965 and the airfield remained inactive till 1966. The Elementary Flying School, i.e. EFS was located at Bidar thereafter. This FTE was formed at Allahabad in 1963 to cater for the increased induction of pilots under the expansion programme of Air Force. While at Allahabad this FTE was known as Pilots Training establishment and was providing ab-initio training on HT-2 aircraft. In 1966, the establishment, after relocation at Bidar was renamed Elementary Flying School (EFS). However, the training pattern remained unchanged. In 1983, the role of EFS changed with the introduction of "All Through Jet Training" scheme for pilots (except those from Army). The Station was then tasked to undertake Stage-II (Advanced) phase of training on Kiran Mk-I A aircraft. Ab-initio training was shifted to AFA. In June 1988, Kiran Mk-II aircraft was inducted for Stage-II (advanced) phase of flying training as an additional squadron along with Mk-I As. In 1996, the Surya Kiran aerobatics team was also formed at AF Stn Bidar and in Sep 1999, the 955 sqn , a T-GCA sqn equipped with the RSP-10 Radar moved from Chandigarh to Bidar. Since January 2006 the Station has changed over to Stage Ill (F) Flying training on Kiran.

Aircraft Types operated over the years:
Unit previously existed as PTE

Commanding Officers

View in Grid

DatesRank & NameNumberRemarksLocationPhoto
07 Nov 66 to 31 Mar 68Group Captain Krishan Lal Suri2907 GD(P)CmdtBidar
01 Apr 68 to 13 Jun 71Group Captain Kottavathukal Thomas Abraham3600 GD(P)CmdtBidar
14 Jun 71 to 16 Sep 73Group Captain William Macdonald Goodman3571 GD(P)CmdtBidar
08 Oct 73 to 31 May 75Group Captain Rathnaker Sarvotham Sanadi3849 GD(P)CmdtBidar
01 Jul 75 to 24 Jul 77Group Captain Manish Kumar Rudra4358 GD(P)CmdtBidar
25 Jul 77 to 15 Nov 80Group Captain Dushyant Singh5048 GD(P)CmdtBidar
22 Dec 80 to 29 Sep 83Group Captain Rama Nand Gautam5275 GD(P)CmdtBidar
Unit continued existence as 406 AFS Bidar

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