Graduation ceremony at ASTE held

BANGALORE: Marshal of the Indian Air Force Arjan Singh, presided over the graduation ceremony of the 34th Flight Test Course at the Aircraft Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE) in Bangalore on Friday. He presented graduation certificates to nine test pilots and six test engineers. The prestigious ‘Suranjan Das Trophy’ for the best allround student test pilot was awarded to Squadron Leader K U Rao, while the ‘Chief of Air Staff Trophy’ for the best student test pilot in flight evaluation was awarded to Squadron Leader D Gupta. The ‘Hanumanth Singhji Sword’ for the best all-round student flight test engineer was awarded to Wing Commander Gulshan Kumar and the ‘Dunlop Trophy’ for the best student in flight evaluation was awarded to Wing Commander Karthikeyan. Congratulating the officers, the Marshal said India was on the verge of achieving indigenisation in the field of aircraft manufacturing, and urged all test pilots to contribute, for taking the country to greater heights. On arrival at the ASTE, the 93-year-old Marshal was accorded a ceremonial Guard of Honour by the air warriors. The Marshal also interacted with ASTE personnel and visited the Flight Test Memorial.