Helicopters flying flags rehearse to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Dien Bien Phu Victory

(Dan Tri) - At the upcoming 70th anniversary of Dien Bien Phu Victory, 9 helicopters of Air Force Regiment 916 (Air Defense Force - Ministry of National Defense ) will perform the task of flying to raise the national flag and the Party flag.

On the afternoon of April 11, at Air Force Regiment 916 (Air Force Division 371 - Air Defense - Air Defense Service, Ministry of National Defense), officers and soldiers performed a demonstration flight to raise the national flag and the Party flag. According to the plan to organize forces to participate in the parade and march in the 70th anniversary of Dien Bien Phu Victory (May 7, 1954 - May 7, 2024), there will be a welcoming Air Force force consisting of 12 helicopters (9 official, 2 reserve, 1 search and rescue) performing over the stands of Dien Bien Phu City Stadium (Photo: Manh Quan).

After receiving instructions and guidance, Air Force Regiment 916 organized a review and developed a plan to select pilots and crew members, ensuring qualifications and technical capacity to fly in formations of 3, 6 and 9 aircraft (Photo: Thanh Dong).

Air Force Regiment 916 has proposed to the higher levels to supplement the forces of other Regiments because the mission requires a large force of both aircraft and pilots. To develop the plan, Regiment 916 has added pilots and teachers from Regiment 917 (Division 370), Regiment 930 (Division 372) to train pilots and fly in formation (Photo: Thanh Dong).

Regiment 916 has researched and developed flight lessons on its own, especially training on formation spacing and plans to handle unexpected situations during the flight (Photo: Thanh Dong).

On the morning of April 11, the helicopter performing a weather inspection flight returned to the training area to report the weather conditions to the flight crew for the training flight (Photo: Thanh Dong).

Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Dac Quang (Deputy Head of the Aircraft Engine Research Department, Air Force Technical Institute) is the person directly involved in designing the flag-hanging equipment on helicopters. Lieutenant Colonel Quang said: "The flags have the same size of nearly 20 square meters, 5.4 meters long, 3.6 meters wide, made of polyester, a fabric with tough, durable and breathable properties, ensuring good performance during the march" (Photo: Thanh Dong).

The process of hoisting a flag onto a helicopter includes the steps of collecting the flag and hanging the cable.

The 8m long cable will be fixed to the helicopter's external hook along with a 120kg counterweight. This ensures that the flag rope is tight and the flag flies beautifully when performing at a speed of 80 - 120km/h. According to the plan, the helicopter will fly over the stage at a speed of 120km/h and the angle of deviation will not exceed 10 degrees (Photo: Thanh Dong).

After preparation and strict inspection by all levels (team leader, squad and battalion), the flight organization began training the squadron of 9 helicopters (Photo: Manh Quan).

The flight crew maintained an altitude of 300m or less. When passing the stands, the altitude dropped to 100m and the flight speed was 120km/h (Photo: Thanh Dong).

Party flags and national flags flutter in the sky in the suburbs of Hanoi (Photo: Thanh Dong).

Up to now, the officers, pilots, and flight crew have practiced smoothly with the determination to bring a special performance to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Dien Bien Phu Victory on May 7 (Photo: Manh Quan).