Aero India 2025: Patient pilots talk call signs, patches, nicknames and more

Bengaluru: Aero India 2025, the biennial aerial display that concluded on Friday, transcended majestic aircraft and their manoeuvers and quenched the inquisitiveness of the spectators about the Air Force as the pilots, who donned their uniforms, calmly answered thousands of questions.

The visitors, especially kids, had a barrage of questions to the pilots including their uniforms, velcro patches worn on their chests, torsos and arms, their nicknames, among many others. Despite repeated questions, the pilots happily answered them all as this was the only such extensive event where they met large crowds.

“These patches are part of our identity and symbols of our service. For the Indian Air Force, each patch screams out a message,” said a pilot, ‘Chatty,’ serving with the Raiding Raptors squadron. 

According to another pilot, wearing these patches is an unspoken protocol among them. On the left, closer to the heart, the pilots wear a patch that indicates their current squadron. On the left, they wear their previous squadron’s patch.     

“On the right arm (tricep area), we wear the Indian flag, symbolising our country is our strength. Below the flag, we wear anything related to us,” said the pilot. 

While for the Indian Air Force these patches are part of their emotion, pilots of different countries attach different meanings to them. For example, a pilot attached with the United States’s KC-135 aircraft showed off a colourful blue and orange patch with an adorned elephant and the US and India flags, symbolising US-India relations. They trade extra patches with pilots of other countries as a symbol of mutual respect and appreciation.

“Our unit is called the Young Tigers. We are stationed down in Japan. We have our names in Japanese as well. We completed a fly-over on Tuesday,” said Morrison, one of the team members.