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Vance student flies formation solo under watchful eye of his brother

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Christian Soto
  • 71st Flying Training Wing Public Affairs

VANCE AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. – Team Vance instructor and student pilots fly more than 55,000 training sorties a year. Most are routine. Many are memorable, especially for students on their first solo flight. Very few include brothers from two different undergraduate pilot training wings.

For 2nd Lt. Rayomand Bam and his brother, Capt. Danesh Bam, a sortie on the afternoon of July 10 became a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Rayomand, flying his formation solo in a T-6A Texan II, soared through clear Oklahoma skies as his brother’s wingman. 

Rayomand is a student pilot with the 71st Student Squadron at Vance and his brother is a T-6A Texan II instructor pilot from the 85th Flying Training Squadron, 47th Flying Training Wing at Laughlin Air Force Base in Texas.

“This was definitely one of the coolest things I have ever done,” said Rayomand. “Hearing my brother's voice over the radio was a surreal experience and I am really glad I got to do it.”

During the flight, Danesh and Rayomand said familiar feelings bubbled to the surface as they chatted over the radio during the formation flight. Almost a de-ja-vu feeling of being kids and chasing each other around the block on two spoked wheels instead of nestled in the cockpits of turbo-prop Air Force trainers. 

There was also a healthy dose of sibling rivalry. 

“We loved to compete with each other for everything,” said Danesh. “Whether it was to see who could circle the block the fastest on a bike or climb higher in the tree, we always egged the other on and tried to out-do each other.

“Over the years, it morphed into a really nice and supportive relationship where we can give each other a hard time but still help each other out at a moment’s notice,” said Danesh. 

The brothers grew up around air shows and both said they dreamed of becoming pilots. 

“One my earliest memories is going to the Alliance Air Show with Ray and watching the planes fly, and crawling inside and around them on the flightline,” said Danesh. 

Rayomand said watching his brother graduate UPT first, validated his desire to become a pilot. “I learned about the challenges of UPT, and the opportunities my brother had in the Air Force,” he said. 

Although he is following in his older brother’s footsteps, Rayomand walks his own path. “He rarely asks for help, and never takes shortcuts,” said Danesh.

During the formation solo, Danesh said he caught himself looking over, and instead of seeing a student pilot, he saw the kid brother he watched cartoons with on Saturday mornings. 

In the busy world of Air Force pilot training, where student pilots fly more than 100 hours to earn their wings, most training sorties become part of the grind that is UPT. But for two brothers, on a sunny afternoon over Northwest Oklahoma, a typical training flight morphed into something special. 

“I was really proud of the way he flew,” said Danesh. “It’s a once in a lifetime thing to be able to fly your brother’s formation solo sortie, and I was glad we could make it happen.”

For Rayomand, it is something they both will remember it for a very long time.