To become a QFI (Qualified Flying Instructor) is a dream for pilots. The world of QFI’s has been categorized into ratings. The IAF’s rating system till the early 2000s had a pinnacle QFI rating of A1. This thread is about the 38 A1’s in IAF’s 90-year history.
Ratings were C (probationary), B2 (makings of a good instructor), B1 (capable instructor), A2 (very capable, skillful instructor with considerable exp) & A1 (instructor of exceptional ability, skill, & experience). Only A1 Instructors could categorize another to A1.
The rating was modelled on CFS (Central Flying School) of UK where the initial 70 odd instructors of IAF were trained before formation of Flying Instructors School. The first two IAF A1 instructors were categorized by CFS in 1949 and 1951.
AVM Jaspal Singh was the first A1 QFI. He served with 1 Sqn during WWII. He pioneered the takeover of flying trg from RAF, was the first to be appointed Instrument Rating Examiner on all ac types & was responsible for evolving the categorisation & instrument rating scheme.
ACM Dilbagh Singh attended the 96th QFI course at CFS in 1947. Posted to Ambala as an instructor, he got his Cat B by end of 1947 and A2 on 7th Feb 1949. Posted to FIS as an instructor, on 7th Nov 1951, he was examined and cleared for A1 by the Examining Wing of CFS.
Air Cmde SK Majumdar is likely the first IAF officer to be categorized A1 by an IAF officer – Jaspal Singh in 1953 at just 25 years of age. Majumdar would end up pioneering the Helicopter fleet in IAF.
Mid 50s saw EL Birch, RJM Upot, GE Mckenzie, HL Ford & RS Sinha become A1 instructors. Birch and Upot would go on to command FIS and three of them retired as Air Commodores. The need for instructors was growing & 60s would see an explosion of A1s.
In 1959, Air Mshl Pirthi Singh was categorized as an A1 instructor by RJM Upot. Pirthi Singh in 1961 went to ETPS, UK and became a Test Pilot. He was the first of the only two (VP Kala being the other) who holds the unique record of being A1 and a TP.
Two Bengali coursemates of Pirthi Singh would follow suit and be A1s in1960 – TK “Tikko” Sen & KK “Koko” Sen. Both made Air ranks & held posts in Trg, Flight Safety and Inspection. Koko Sen ended up spending 5 years in Dte of Inspection and retired as SASO, Training Command.
Apart from Dilbagh Singh, NC Suri was the other Chief of Air Staff to also be A1. He was categorized in 1960. He was deputed to Iraq Air Force as Chief instructor and spent considerable time in AEB furthering the cause of flying trg in IAF.
AVM BK Bishnoi got his A1 categorized in mid 1961 by HL Ford. While he would command AEB, later in his career, he would go down in IAF History as one of the only 5 to get VrC and Bar for his role in 1965 and 71 wars and the most decorated A1!
Also in 1961, AVM NW “Charlie” Tilak was categorised as A1. Charlie Tilak was a pilot & an engineer. He was offered a scholarship by Princenton Univ for a M.Tech which he completed & returned to serve the IAF for another 11 years, retiring as ACAS (Plans).
By the 60s, IAF had become the nursery for instructors to other countries – Eqypt, Iraq, Nigeria, Singapore. Iraq would take 10+ instructors each year for 2+ decades. These postings were lucrative & incentivized pilots to excel as Instructors (A2 was cut-off for Iraq).
65 and 66 Pilot course would see six A1s. AVM Madhav Banerji, GP Capt RB Kothawalla, Gp Capt NN Ubgade, Wg Cdr HC Singhal, Wg Cdr Ak Thakur and Air Cmde Mohan Chandra would together spend long years in various trg establishments of IAF during the 70s and 80s.
Late 60s would see a maverick pilot – Amarjit Singh Kuller, VrC, VM make an A1 Instructor – the youngest to achieve this feat ever. At the peak of the foreign instructor postings, early 1970s would see a spate of officers qualify as A1 instructors. AVM VP Kala, a transport and a test pilot would make an A1 at the end of his instructional tenure at FIS in early 1970. He rtd as SASO, SAC.
In 1972 & 73, Vijay Mayadev & PS Pingale (VrC) would make A1s – both blooded in the 65 war and both categorized by RB Kothawalla. While Mayadev moved to Air-India soon after, PS Pingale retired as an Air Mshl after many years in trg/ Inspection roles.
1974 saw the peak of the A1 program – 5 pilots – RN Kharbanada, OK Chabbra, RK Malhotra, YP Sharma and MK Chandrasekhar (First one as a Wg Cdr). RK Malhotra and MK Chandrasekhar would retire in air ranks after commanding FIS, Hakimpet, AEB amongst them.
Air Cmde Bobby Johnson Berry made A1 in 1975 as a Wg Cdr, then commanding 30 Wing – Sarsawa, a record in itself. At 45 years young, he also is the oldest A1!. He was amongst the earliest pioneers of Heptr fleet in IAF had commanded 104 and 119 HU earlier.
Rounding up the A1s in the 70s was SS Tate in 1976 (soon after released to Air India) and RK Poonia from the 103 PC. BSS Deo, Heptr Pilot was the first A1 of the 80s. He was a PTP & chose to be A1 over doing an ETP course. His story.
By now the A1 category had become less exciting, the foreign instructor tenures were winding down and officers were finding themselves earmarked for trg postings as “dyed-in-the-wool” through the remaining career, frustratingly less time in operational appointments.
Four pilots, mostly as Chief instructors of trg establishments would make to A1s in rest of the 80s – Air Mshl Bhojwani, Wg Cdr Shintre, Wg Cdr Gahlawat & Wg Cdr CN Bal. AVM Sundaram would become the last A1 in IAF in 1990. Attempts for A1 continued till early 2000s.
In early 2000s, IAF simplified the system to have only C,B and A categories. The count of A1s would never go beyond these 38 stalwarts. A rare occasion, 5 A-1 QFIs were together at a Tikriti Reunion party in Pune 4 Dec 2010.
Caveat Emptor – IAF has not published a list of A1s ever. AFAIK, such a list does not exist. This list has been compiled by speaking to veterans and A1s themselves over the years. Any errors are regretted and corrections are welcome.
Originally published on Twitter
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