Sherdils

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Sherdils
Sherdils Aerobatics display team patch
Active	1972–present
Country	Pakistan
Branch	Pakistan Air Force & PAF Academy Asghar Khan
Role	Aerobatics display team
Size	9 aircraft
Garrison/HQ	PAF Academy, Risalpur
Nickname(s)	Lion Hearts
Colors	Green, Red, White and Blue (2017–present) Red, White, and Blue (1972–2017)
Aircraft	K-8P Karakorum (2009–Present) Cessna T-37 Tweet (1972–2009)
Website	Sherdils

Sherdils (Urdu: ﺸﻴر دﻝ; English: Lion Hearts) is the formation aerobatics display team of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF). The Sherdils team is based at the Pakistan Air Force Academy Asghar Khan, Risalpur, Pakistan. At present, it consists of nine Karakoram K-8P aircraft.

The Sherdils' pilots are not dedicated aerobatics pilots. They are drawn from jet flying instructors at the PAF Academy's Advanced Jet Training Squadron, which has the primary responsibility of imparting basic and advanced jet training to cadets and young fighter pilots. The Sherdils prepare and conduct formation aerobatics at various national and international events.

The team was officially formed on August 17, 1972, on T-37 aircraft due to efforts by an academy instructor, Sqn Ldr Bahar-ul-Haq^[1]. The team was inspired by the Red Pelicans, the aerobatics team of RAF College, Cranwell, where Bahar had been on an exchange tour. It was decided to put up a brief show during graduation to demonstrate the professional skills of academy instructors. After several trials of candidate instructors, a team was formed under Wg Cdr Imtiaz Bhatti, the Officer Commanding of the BFT wing at the time. Other formation members included Flt Lt Aamer Ali Sharieff, Flt Lt A Rahim Yusufzai, and Flt Lt Niaz Nabi.

1974 – 2004 (Four-Ship T-37 aircraft) – The initial performance of the team was highly successful. The "Tweety birds" performed at air shows for foreign dignitaries, including heads of state and military officers. Initially, the team had no name. The personal call sign of the leaders also denoted the team; it flew as ‘Sherdils’ for the first time on September 19, 1974. Since the team's inception, the type of Sherdil Formation Aerobatics Display essentially remained the same (even with K-8Ps until 2017) – line astern to the diamond formation during a loop, then clover-leaf, steep turn, barrel roll, and finally, the bomb-burst. Attempts were made to increase the number of aircraft in the team, but engine thrust demands were too excessive for the outer formation members. A four-aircraft diamond has thus remained the basic formation of the Sherdils for almost three decades.

In October of 1978, the T-37 Sherdils team experienced an accident during their performance, resulting in the loss of one aircraft and its leader, Flt Lt Alamdar. Other formation members at the time were Flt Lt Shahid Nisar (No. 2 & Deputy Lead), Flt Lt Irfan Masum (No. 3), and Flt Lt Tasneem (No. 4 slot).

2004 (6-Ship T-37 aircraft) – In 2004, the number of aircraft in the main formation was increased to six under the leadership of Wg Cdr Tariq Chaudhary, OC BFT Wing.

2004 (9-Ship T-37 aircraft): The team was further increased to 9-ship on October 2, 2004, under the leadership of Wg Cdr Vaqar Ali Qureshi, OC No. 1 BFT Sqn. This was a historical milestone for PAF as it brought international fame and respect among the community of nations. Despite the limited power of T-37 aircraft engines to handle such a significant formation, especially the outer wings, it was a daunting task. The instructor of the Basic Flying Training Wing, who was flying in the team, catered to the problem. The pioneer 9 Ship Sherdils team members were Wg Cdr Vaqar (Ldr), Flt Lt Armughan (No. 2), Flt Lt Nusrat (No. 3), Sqn Ldr Tariq Azeem (No. 4 slot/deputy ldr), Sqn Ldr Nasir (No. 5), Sqn Ldr Sohail (No. 6), Sqn Ldr Zahid (No. 7), Flt Lt Hammad (No. 8), and Sqn Ldr Tanveer (No. 9).

2009 (4-Ship K-8P aircraft) – In 2009, Sherdils transitioned from the T-37s to the K-8P aircraft (jointly developed by Pakistan and China). A four-ship K-8P aircraft performed for the first time in November 2009 at PAF Academy Risalpur. The members of Sherdils on the K-8P aircraft were Squadron Leader Amir Misbah (Leader), No.2 Squadron Leader Nasir Zia (Right Wing), No.3 Squadron Leader Wajahat Syed (Left Wing), and No.4 Squadron Leader Khalid Matin (Slot Member).

2010 (9-Ship K-8P aircraft) – By the Spring of 2010, Sherdils transitioned from 4-ship to 7-ship and performed an Air Display at the closing ceremony of Exercise High-Mark 2010 at Thal under the leadership of Wing Commander Syed Ali Zaidi. Soon after, the number of aircraft increased to 9, and the team performed at the Graduation ceremony in May 2010. In October 2010, led by Squadron Leader Khalid Matin, 9-ship Sherdils performed an air display at a Graduation ceremony at Risalpur again.

On November 16, 2010, the Sherdils team performed at the 8th China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai, Guangdong, China^[2].

In 2011, the team prepared for the Turkish Air Show at Izmir, but the plan was canceled at the time of departure from Risalpur. Since then, the Sherdil Aerobatics Team (using K-8P Jets) has been performing Air Displays at every Graduation Ceremony of PAF Academy Risalpur, 23rd March Pakistan Day Parades^[3], various 14th August Pakistan's Independence Day celebrations at Sea-View Karachi, and regularly participates in national and international events.

2017 onwards (New Livery and Aerobatics Sequence) – In 2017, under Wing Commander Khalid Matin (Officer Commanding AJTS) a new livery of Sherdils aircraft was introduced while some significant improvements in smoke appearance and persistence were also made. The overall appearance of Sherdil Air Displays was enhanced by adding an amalgamation of commentary and music for the audience. To improve the aesthetics of the Sherdil Aerobatics Display sequence, a newly choreographed and designed Aerobatics display sequence was adopted with the addition of more thrilling maneuvers and sequential smoke management techniques.

The New sequence of Sherdil Aerobatics Display is as follows:-

1. A 9-ship fly-by in "Spirit Formation."
2. The initial run-in was by a 9-ship approaching from the front of the audience, followed by a 7-ship Loop and a 2-ship "Shaheen Break" by No.8 & 9.
3. After completing the loop, the 7-ship conducts a linear Bomb Blast and spreads out in multitudes of directions while crossing over the audience.
4. 7g steep-turn by No.9 followed by a continuous Aileron Rolls pass by No.8.
5. 6-Ship Barrel-Roll in Arrow-Head Formation.
6. Tail-Slide by No.7
7. Twister Pass by 5-Ship with 6th aircraft performing Twisters around rest 5.
8. 3-Ship "Shaheen Break" by No.7, 8 & 9.
9. Air Display ends with a 6-Ship Formation Loop followed by a vertically downwards Bomb-Burst vertically downwards to exit the venue in 6 different directions.

Sherdils Aircraft Paint Scheme – To improve the appearance of display aircraft, the T-37s were initially painted entirely red. However, maintaining these red-painted aircraft without the expensive polyurethane coating became challenging. As a result, the team switched back to an all-metal finish, with only the nose, wing tips, and tail painted in day-glow orange. In 1980, six ex-USAF T-37s, which were coated in all-white polyurethane, were added to the fleet. A 'sunburst' paint scheme was implemented, featuring red rays on a white background. Later, the aircraft were repainted red, with the rays in white. Similarly, the K-8P jets were also given an overall white color scheme adorned with red and blue stripes.

Experimental Livery – On August 14, 2017, the team publicly revealed a new livery of Sherdil jets (designed by Wg Cdr Khalid Matin) at an Air Display held in Islamabad on the country's 70th Independence Day celebrations of Pakistan. It was an all-white fuselage with a green stripe on the upper fuselage running from nose to tail, culminating into an all-green vertical stabilizer with a large crescent and star on the tail. Owing to the aerobatics nature and often rolling maneuvers / inverted passes, a large crescent and star were painted on the underside of the aircraft as well.

New Livery for Sherdil Jets – The upper side of Sherdil's jets retained its livery (white, blue, and red stripes), while the new pattern was applied only to the underside. This livery continues to the present.

• Pakistan Air Force Academy
• Aerobatics

Media related to Sherdils at Wikimedia Commons