In a personal tribute to the daring shown by Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman in shooting down a Pakistan Air Force (PAF) F-16 and for displaying moral courage while in Pakistani captivity, IAF Chief BS Dhanoa on September 2 flew a sortie in a MiG-21 fighter with Abhinandan in the tandem cockpit.

This was Air Chief Marshal Dhanoa's last fighter sortie ahead of his retirement on September 30. Dhanoa and Varthaman took off in a MiG-21 Type 69 fighter from the Pathankot airbase for a 30-minute sortie.

"Both of us have two things in common. First, both of us ejected. Second, both of us fought the Pakistanis. I fought in Kargil and he after Balakot. Third, I have flown with his father (Air Marshal S Varthaman (Retired)). We were together in Adampur. He in 1 Squadron and I in 101. It is an honour to fly my last sortie in a fighter with his son," Chief Dhanoa said after the sortie

"Both of us have two things in common. First, both of us ejected. Second, both of us fought the Pakistanis. I fought in Kargil and he after Balakot. Third, I have flown with his father (Air Marshal S Varthaman (Retired)). We were together in Adampur. He in 1 Squadron and I in 101. It is an honour to fly my last sortie in a fighter with his son," Chief Dhanoa said after the sortie.

Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who turned up for the sortie with his signature gunslinger moustache trimmed, is the only MiG-21 pilot to have shot down an F-16 in combat

Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was also named for a war-time gallantry award, Vir Chakra, in the Independence Day awards list announced two weeks ago.

Varthaman turned up for his sortie with Dhanoa without his signature 'gunslinger' moustache which became a rage after his heroics in the air battle over Rajouri on February 27 a day after India's cross-border air attack on the Jaish-e-Mohammad terror training camp at Balakot in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The famous moustache was trimmed to a handlebar

Dhanoa expressed happiness that Abhinandan had "got his flying category back" six months after being shot down in combat while recollecting that it took him (Dhanoa) nine months to resume fighter flying after his ejection in 1988. Wing Commander Varthaman is back to being a MiG-21 fighter trainer.

Varthaman turned up for his sortie with Dhanoa without his signature 'gunslinger' moustache which became a rage after his heroics in the air battle over Rajouri on February 27 a day after India's cross-border air attack on the Jaish-e-Mohammad terror training camp at Balakot in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The famous moustache was trimmed to a handlebar.

The Wing Commander created history by becoming the first MiG-21 pilot to shoot down an F-16 in combat. He was hit by a missile fired by another Pakistan Air Force F-16, leading to his leading to his ejection and capture by Pakistani forces. He was released from custody on March 1.

The aircraft flown by Air Chief Marshal Dhanoa and Wing Commander Varthaman on September 2 is from the last squadron of the legacy MiG-21 Type 69 Soviet-origin fighters, which are due for decommissioning later this year. Once the mainstay of the IAF, there are only five remaining MiG-21 squadrons in service.