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


07 Nov 66 - 31 Mar 68
Group Captain
Krishan Lal Suri
2907 GD(P)
Cmdt
Bidar

01 Apr 68 - 13 Jun 71
Group Captain
Kottavathukal Thomas Abraham
3600 GD(P)
Cmdt
Bidar

14 Jun 71 - 16 Sep 73
Group Captain
William Macdonald Goodman
3571 GD(P)
Cmdt
Bidar

08 Oct 73 - 31 May 75
Group Captain
Rathnaker Sarvotham Sanadi
3849 GD(P)
Cmdt
Bidar

01 Jul 75 - 24 Jul 77
Group Captain
Manish Kumar Rudra
4358 GD(P)
Cmdt
Bidar

25 Jul 77 - 15 Nov 80
Group Captain
Dushyant Singh
5048 GD(P)
Cmdt
Bidar

22 Dec 80 - 29 Sep 83
Group Captain
Rama Nand Gautam
5275 GD(P)
Cmdt
Bidar
Unit continued existence as 406 AFS Bidar

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