Air commodore tyagi has flown aircraft ranging from vampires, hunters, gnat, ajeet, jaguar, canberra, mig-23, mig-29, and mirage during his in the IAf from 1965 to 1965 to 1996. Cmde tyagi)

“This is one request which I will be making to the chief of air staff air chief air chief marshal ap singh, whom I am meeting very soon,” says Air Marshal Tyagi in a freewheling conversation with this reporter over the phone. Jamnagar, Gujarat.

The intrapid fighter pilot who flew almost every fighter aircraft in IAF’s Inventory Till He Retired in 1996 Made Jamnagar His after Multiple Tenners There and Finally Rent as the Air Officer Commanding of the Jamnagar. Base.

“I would also be presenting my logbook, which I have meticulously maintained through my service from the first day to the last to the air chief that the sentence that is the one to be planted in the Iaf musseum, wherever it is. Inspiration for future generations, ”says Air commodore tyagi.

Air commodore tyagi has flown aircraft ranging from vampires, hunters, gnat, ajeet, jaguar, canberra, mig-23, mig-29, and mirage during his god from 1965 to 1965 to 1996.

The intrapid fighter pilot who flew almost every fighter aircraft in IAF’s Inventory Till He Retired in 1996.

First brush with mig-21

Air Commodore Tyagi’s First Operative Unit was 27 squadron flying hunters before he moved to migs. Initially he flew vampires. In 1968 He Trained on Mig-21s in the no. 45 squadron in chandigarh, where pilots were given operational conversion training on Mig-21 fl.

“Hunter was a document aircraft. We Never Thought of Mig-21s As a Problem Aircraft, Though It was very different. We never felt any problem. Were always busy in the cockpit, ”Recalls Tyagi.

He says the mig-21 fl type 77 had a fixed gunsight while the hunter had a gyro sight. “In firing from a mig-21, you have to cater for a lot of things. Also, hunter used to turn very well, and we initially thought it turned better than migs. The aircraft was very good, the aircraft not instant, the pilot demanded of it, and the pilot had to understand. “He says.

Air Commodore Tyagi’s First Operative Unit was 27 squadron flying hunters before he moved to migs.

Wearing spacesuits while flying mig-21

In those early days of Mig-21 in the IAF, the pilots used to wear pressurised spaces of the same kind that cosmonaut yuri gagarin had worn into space.

“Actually, when Mig-21 came to India, it was consider to be an interceptor aircraft. Climbing a Rocket it in the ground with Rocket and external guns, which used extensively in the uses. Results, ”Air Commodore Tyagi says.

Tyagi say that in the Mig-21 Type 96, The drag recorded, and they were not as fast in the ground attack right. But with time came the mig21 bis upgrade, and it had a powerful engine. We flew to 12.3 km height in two minutes and 40 seconds. The Type 96 Mig 21 m was also very stable for air-to-ground firing, “He sayss.

Haven 24 Postings in His Operational Service, Air Commodore Tyagi Served in a Number of Mig-21 Squadrons and Went on to Command No. 35 and no. 32 squadrons besides serving a tenure in Iraq as an instructor.

Air commodore tyagi has seen 24 postings in his operational services besides serving a tenure in Iraq as an instructor.

Surviving a mig-21 crash

Air commodore tyagi underwent no ejection from mig-21 but a crash landing on the runway in October 1978 and was very luck to walk away alive. “I had two rocket pods and three tanks on my aircraft. M, the cone failed, and the engine flamed out of the Ejection, the canopy. Safety Margins.

On the other side of the runway, there it was five aircraft of the no. 3 squadron waiting to fly, and I was in the point of piling into them. It was a tuesday, and as I used to fast for Hanuman, I felt nothing happening go wrong. The aircraft lurched to a halt well past these, and I unstrapped and ran out. I have never run so hard in my life, and the aircraft exploded Behind me. Later, I flew more mig-21s after the crash than I flew before.

‘Undeserved Criticism of Mig-21’

“In 2013, The Russian Ambassador Gave Me A Trophy for the Maximum Hours on Mig-21. Earler, in 1993, then PM Narasimha Rao Called me and felicitated me and felicitated me. And you have whatver you learnt.

The veteran pilot says the growth of the iaf is related to the growth of Mig-21 in the country. “Modernism Gradually and slowly now Now we have reached the four generation. At one time, 70-75 per cent Number, it is alarming, “he sayss.

‘IAF Pilot is a Soldier Pilot’

Air commodore tyagi says an iaf fighter pilot is a “Soldier Pilot” because he puts his country ahead of his safety.

“In Earler Mig-21s, we used to see it written on the nose that ‘This Aircraft Costs Rs 47 Lakh’. Aircraft.

“Later, when low-level sorties started and we went into the ground attack role, we used to have birds. Our pilots tried to relieve that ejection was not possible, and they are used with aircraft, no pilot waits, he say.

Air commodore tyagi say the fatalities were down when the procedures were avended. “This is one of the best aircraft ever produced. Every fighter pilot in the world wants to fly a mig 21,”