Name: Flight Cadet Bhawana Kanth

Hails from: Darbhanga, Bihar

Why she joined the Indian Air Force

According to Bhawana it was her dream to fly like a free bird since her childhood which inspired her to join IAF.

"After clearing my Stage I training, I got the golden opportunity to opt for fighter stream -- the best and the biggest thing that has happened to me -- and the best part is, it is just the beginning. It is my aim to become a good fighter pilot and fight for the nation and make my parents proud," says Bhawana.

Training Experience

"Before opting for the fighter stream, many people used to tell us that challenges will keep on increasing and so will the gradient, but it used to sound cliched.

During our syllabus we were about to be introduced to spin in Kiran trainer, which I thought would be a piece of cake, as we had already done spin solos in the previous stage on Pilatus.

But the day we were introduced to spin in Kiran, we realised it was not the same.

But time and again we were briefed that if we take prompt and correct recovery actions, each and every time the aircraft will recover from spin. So the recovery actions became a part of my muscle memory.

Having cleared my spin solo check in Kiran now it was time for me to enter the aircraft into spin and recover it all by myself. At 20,000 feet, the doubt started creeping in that what if the aircraft does not recover. Then I told myself that if I do not do it now, I will always be afraid of it. I spun the aircraft and to my surprise, the spin was more vicious or so it seemed.

But the fighter pilot in me took over and I told myself come what may I will recover. And all the recovery actions grilled in us during the training came out correctly and promptly and the aircraft recovered from spin and so did my confidence."