Red Arrows to set the sky afire over Hindon

Red Arrows, world-renowned air display team of the Royal Air Force, will perform at the Hindon airbase on November...

Red Arrows, world-renowned air display team of the Royal Air Force (RAF), will perform at the Hindon airbase on November 23 as part of their overseas tour in the region. The aerobatic team — one of the oldest in the business–is embarking on a six-week tour and is performing in 13 countries, including Pakistan.

While the team has performed several times in India, it will be sporting a new aircraft paint scheme for the first time since it was equipped with the Hawk aircraft in 1979. The air display has been planned to coordinate with the arrival of the Hawk trainers for the Indian Air Force that were ordered in 2004.

The first two BAE Hawk trainers to be based at the IAF Flying School at Bidar airbase will be arriving this month after a 12-day ferry flight from UK. India had ordered 66 trainers from BAE out of which 24 will come in a ready to fly configuration while the rest will be manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) at Bangalore.

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The IAF is eventually planning to replace the Kiran aircraft used by the Suryakiran display team with the Hawks. At a recent press interaction, Air Chief FH Major had said that while a firm proposal has not been formulated, the IAF would eventually graduate to the Hawks for its air display team.

The Red Arrows, which are leaving the UK on Sunday, will embark on a six-week tour of the Middle and Far East. They will be visiting 13 countries–Jordan, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Malaysia, India and Pakistan–during their 15,000 mile trip.