Chennai, Apr 26 (Reporter) A batch of 54 officers from the Defence Forces graduated as 'Qualified Flying Instructors,' from the Indian Air Force Station, Tambaram. on Friday. A defence release here on Saturday said besides the IAF, the batch also had officers from the Indian Army, the Indian Navy and the Indian Coast Guard and two officers from friendly foreign countries. They belong to the 158th Qualified Flying Instructors' Course (QFIC), who had successfully completed a challenging 24-weeks curriculum comprising of rigorous academic and flying training interspersed with tests at regular intervals. The valedictory function of the course was held at the Flying Instructors' School (FIS). Air Marshal Tejbir Singh, Senior Air Staff Officer, Indian Air Force Training Command presided over the function as the Chief Guest. Group Captain KP Singh, Commanding Officer of FIS summed up the achievements of the course. Addressing the gathering, the Chief Guest congratulated the graduating officers and complemented team FIS for their pivotal role in flying training. The Air Marshal extended his best wishes to the graduating officers in their future endeavours, emphasising their role and responsibility in shaping the future of the IAF. Trophies were awarded by the Chief Guest to the pilots who achieved distinction in flying and ground subjects. The prestigious 'Majithia Trophy' for standing first in 'Overall Order of Merit’ was awarded to Sqn Ldr Shubham Bhandari, 'The Chief of Air Staff's Trophy’ for ‘Best in Fixed Wing Flying’ to Sqn Ldr Vikrant Beniwal, 'The Chief of Air Staff's Trophy’ for ‘Best in Rotary Wing Flying’ to Sqn Ldr Akash, ‘The Commodore Commandant's Trophy' for standing first in Aerobatics was awarded to Sqn Ldr Deepak Gurjar, ‘The Dibagh Trophy’ for standing first in Instructional Technique to Sqn Ldr Apoorva Yadav, 'Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief's Trophy’ for standing first in ‘Ground Subjects' to Sqn Ldr Shubham Bhandari, and the 'Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief's Trophy' for standing second in 'Overall Order of Merit’ was awarded to Lt Cdr Aarambh Sharma. The FIS, based at Air Force Station Tambaram, is a unique institution with more than 75 years of rich experience in aviation training. At the international level, several professional pilots from militaries of friendly foreign countries have also been graduated from this school...////...