126 Helicopter Flight
Chandigarh Air Force Station in the north of Punjab is home to 12 Wing of the Indian Air Force. The units based at 12 Wing have several operational roles, prime amongst which is the air supply to the Ladakh region of India. 126HF has its home at Chandigarh and the flight is one of the air force’s most specialised formations. Raised at 12 Wing on 15th May 1986, the ‘Featherweights’, as they were christened, started operations with two heavy lifting Mil-26s, the largest operational helicopter in the world. The Mil-26 can carry 20 tons of freight, and is fully cleared to carry 82 fully armed troops, or 60 litters in its Medevac role.
In January 1986, a team of 16 officers and 39 airmen, led by Wing Commander BK Sharma, left for conversion training at Frunze in Russia. After the three-month course, the flight returned to Delhi in April 1986, to await the arrival of their steeds, which turned up at Bombay Docks on 25th April. After re-assembly, the first two helicopters made their maiden flights on 31st May and 1st June, 1986....
