Sherdils (Urdu: ﺸﻴر دﻝ English: Lion Hearts) is the formation aerobatics display team of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) & Royal Pakistan Air Scouts (RPAS). The Sherdil Team is based at the Pakistan Air Force Academy, Risalpur, Pakistan (Renamed as PAF Academy Asghar Khan) and at present, it consists of nine Karakoram K-8P aircraft.

Pilots of the Sherdils are not dedicated aerobatics pilots like other famous aerobatics teams. Sherdils draw their pilots from jet flying instructors at the PAF Academy's Advanced Jet Training Squadron having primary responsibility of imparting Basic and Advanced Jet training to cadets & young fighter pilots. These instructor pilots prepare and conduct formation aerobatics at various National and International events in addition to their primary role of regularly training young pilots.

History 

1972 (The Beginning) - The team was officially formed on 17 August 1972 on T-37 aircraft as a result of efforts by an academy instructor, Sqn Ldr Bahar-ul-haq. The team was formed on the lines of 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 on graduation parades as a demonstration of the professional skills of academy instructors. After several trials of candidate instructors, a team was formed under the command of 1965 War hero, Wg Cdr Imtiaz Bhatti. He was the Officer Commanding of the BFT wing at that time.  Other formation members included Flt Lt Aamer Ali Sharieff, Flt Lt A Rahim Yusufzai and Flt Lt Niaz Nabi, the latter becoming a most durable master of the ‘slot’ position. 

1974 - 2004 (Four-Ship T-37 aircraft) - The initial performances of the team were 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 19 September 1974. Since the team's inception, type of Sherdil Formation Aerobatics Display essentially remained the same (even with K-8Ps till 2017)  – line astern to the diamond formation during a loop, then clover-leaf, steep turn, barrel roll and finally, the breath-taking bomb-burst. Attempts were made to increase the number of aircraft in the team, but engine thrust demands were excessive for the outer formation members to cope with. A four aircraft diamond has thus remained the basic formation of the ‘Sherdils’for almost three decades.

2004 (6-Ship T-37 aircraft) - In 2004, the number of aircraft in the main formation were increased to six under the leadership of Wg Cdr Tariq Chaudhary, OC BFT Wing, performing loops in delta formation, barrel roll and steep turn in double arrow-head formation. The outclass skill, precision and smooth handling remained the hallmark of this formation throughout its history. 

2004 (9-Ship T-37 aircraft) - The team was further increased to 9-ship for the first time on 2 October 2004 under the pioneer 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 big formation especially the outer wings was a daunting task. The problem was catered by anticipation and flawless professionalism by the instructors of Basic Flying Training Wing flying in the team. 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).
The only unfortunate accident which T-37 Sherdils team ever met in their illustrious performance was in October 1978 and lost 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).

2009 (4-Ship K-8P aircraft) - In 2009, Sherdils transitioned from old and slow T-37s to a more modern, fast and agile 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. Pioneer members of Sherdils on 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 Springs of 2010, Sherdils transitioned from 4-ship to 7-ship and perform 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.

2010 (9-Ship K-8P aircraft) / Zhuhai AirShow - In October 2010, led by Squadron Leader Khalid Matin, 9-Ship Sherdils performed air display on a Graduation ceremony at Risalpur again, before leaving for its first ever International Participation at Zhuhai Air-Show, China from 16 to 21 November that year. In 2011, team prepared for Turkish Air Show at Izmir but the plan was cancelled at the time of departure from Risalpur. Since then, 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, various 14th August Pakistan's Independence Day Celebrations at Sea-View Karachi and regularly participates in National and International events.

2017 till date (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. Overall appearance of Sherdil Air Displays was enhanced by adding amalgamation of commentary and music for the audience. To improve the aesthetics of Sherdil Aerobatics Display sequence, a newly choreographed and designed Aerobatics display sequence was adopted with addition of more thrilling maneuvers and sequential smoke management techniques.

The New sequence of Sherdil Aerobatics Display is as follows:-
 A sky-filling widespread 9-ship fly-by in "Spirit Formation". 
 Initial run-in by 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.
 After completing loop, 7-ship conducts a Linear Bomb-Burst and spread out in multitudes of directions while crossing over audience.
 7g steep-turn by No.9 followed by a continuous Aileron Rolls pass by No.8.
 6-Ship Barrel-Roll in Arrow-Head Formation.
 Tail-Slide by No.7
 Twister Pass by 5-Ship with 6th aircraft performing Twisters around rest 5.
 3-Ship "Shaheen Break" by No.7, 8 & 9.
 Air Display ends by a 6-Ship Formation Loop followed by vertically downwards Bomb-Burst vertically downwards to exit the venue in 6-different directions.

Sherdils Aircraft Paint Scheme - Appreciating the important quality affecting display aircraft i.e., appearance, the T-37s were painted all red. However, maintenance of the red-painted aircraft without the costly polyurethane coating became a problem. The team reverted to the all-metal finish, with only the nose, wing tips and tail painted day-glow orange. In 1980, with the induction of six ex-USAF T-37s, which were polyurethane-coated all white, ‘Sherdils’ became a logical choice for a new titillating appearance. The dramatic ‘sunburst’ paint scheme was adopted, red rays on an all-white background. Later, the aircraft were again painted red, but with the rays in white. Like T-37s, K-8P jets were also painted in the overall white color scheme with red and blue stripes.  

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

New Livery for Sherdil Jets - Subsequently, the livery of upper side of Sherdil's jets was retained as previous (having white, blue & red stripes) while the new pattern was applied only on under-side of jets. This livery continues till-date.

See also 
Pakistan Air Force Academy
Aerobatics

References

External links

Aerobatic teams
Pakistan Air Force squadrons