Monday, January 30, 2012

Meet the high-flying team members: Royal Malaysian Air Force - Ready for combat anytime

From left) Maj Nasruddin Khalid, Maj Azri Ahmad, Maj Razali Ahmad Jumali, Capt Mohd Azizi Musa and Lt Col Mior Nor Badrishah Mohamad.


Lt Col Mior Nor Badrishah 'GHOST' Mohamad, Commanding Officer -- Smokey 1 (Leader)

Mior, 41, is in his second tour in the MiG-29N aerobatic team. He currently flies the Blue Tail Jet as Smokey 1. Mior joined the air force in June 1988, graduating from RMAF Cadet School in Kuala Lumpur. He has logged more than 2,500 hours so far with over 600 jet instructional hours.

Capt Mohd Azizi 'SKINNER' Musa, head of training -- Smokey 2 (Right Wing)

Azizi, 34, is in his second season in the MiG-29N aerobatic team and flies as No. 2 on the right wing in the formation as Smokey 2. Azizi joined the air force in June 1999, graduating from the Air Force College in Alor Star.

Before being selected to the team, he flew the Aermacchi MB 339A as an operational pilot and has logged more than 1,200 hours so far, with more than 500 hours on the MiG-29N.

Maj Razali 'VENDOR' Ahmad Jumali, executive officer -- Smokey 3 (Left Wing)

Razali, 35, is in his second season in the MiG-29N aerobatic team flying as Smokey 3 (Deputy Lead) on the left wing. Razali joined the air force in June 1995, graduating from RMAF Cadet School in Kuala Lumpur. Before his assignment to the team, he served as a qualified flying instructor at the Basic Flying School in Alor Star.

He has logged more than 2,000 hours so far with over 400 instructional hours.

Maj Nasruddin 'DIGI' Khalid, squadron safety officer -- Smokey 4 (Slot)

Nasruddin, 32, is in his second season in team flying in the No. 4 position as slot pilot (Smokey 4).

Nasruddin joined the air force in June 1998, graduating from the Air Force College in Alor Star with a diploma in mechanical engineering (aeronautics). In the team, he is also responsible for all preparations for the demo especially prior to flying into new sites for air displays. He has logged more than 1,300 hours so far with over 500 hours on the MiG-29N.

Maj Azri 'ADIQ' Ahmad, standards officer -- Smokey 5 (Solo)

Azri, 34, is in his fourth season in the team flying in the No. 5 position (Solo) as Smokey 5. He was previously positioned on the left wing during the Petronas F1 Sepang Air Show in 2010 and was already performing as a solo during the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition (Lima) 2009 and Lima 2011.

Azri joined the air force in May 1995, graduating from the Air Force College with a diploma in aeronautical engineering. He is a seasoned MiG-29N driver with six years of experience in the jet since 2006.

He is serving as an instructor pilot in the squadron as well as the Standard, Safety and Readiness officer. He has logged more than 2,000 hours so far with over 200 jet instructional hours.

Maj Balvinder 'JACK' Singh Bajwa, senior engineering officer (SENGO)/Commentator

Balvinder, 35, is in his fifth season with the team and is the team's senior engineer. He oversees nearly 170 maintainers staff and is responsible for keeping the squadron's fleet of MiG-29Ns combat and mission ready.

Balvinder joined the air force in June 1995, graduating from the Malaysian Armed Forces Academy in the first batch of officers in 1999 with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. He is the longest serving and most experienced engineer in the RMAF for the MiG-29N.

Capt Tan 'MUMBO' Wei Han, ground safety/engineering officer

Tan, 26, is in his second year with the team after joining in 2010. He has a bachelor's degree in aeronautical engineering (first class honours). He assists in managing the Smokey Bandits' technical crew and takes care of the ground safety aspects at display sites.

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