Bam, Bam: brothers fly together for the first time Published Aug. 6, 2024 47th Flying Training Wing Public Affairs LAUGHLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- For the Bam brothers, 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, 71st Flying Training Wing, at Vance Air Force Base, Okla., 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 U.S. Air Force pilots in training fly thousands of sorties each year. Most of those flights are routine, but many are memorable occasions such as the “dollar ride” or their first solo flight. Very few are unique enough to involve two pilots from two different undergraduate pilot training wings. “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 some familiar feelings bubbled to the surface as they chatted over the radio a few feet from each other’s wingtips. 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. This feeling, of course, was a healthy dose of sibling rivalry. “We definitely had a rivalry growing up,” said Danesh. “We loved to compete with each other for everything. Whether it was to see who could circle the block the fastest on a bike or climb higher in the tree, we always would egg the other on and try to outdo each other. “Over the years, that morphed into a really nice and supportive relationship where we can still make fun of each other and give each other a hard time, and still help each other out at a moment’s notice,” said Danesh. The brothers grew up around air shows and both dreamt of becoming pilots. “One of my earliest memories is going to the Alliance Air Show 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, said Danesh. He rarely asks for help and never takes shortcuts. Danesh is a First Assignment Instructor Pilot, better known as a FAIP. In Air Force UPT, FAIPs often fly more sorties than any other instructor, so when Danesh found himself in their two-ship formation, it felt like just another student solo, he said. “But every now and then, I caught myself looking over, and instead of seeing a student pilot, I was looking at the kid I watched cartoons with on Saturday mornings or the kid who hogged the couch or the best man at my wedding!” Danesh said. In the busy world of Air Force pilot training, where student pilots fly more than 100 hours, at an average of 1.5 hours at a time, to earn their wings, most training sorties become part of the grind. But for these 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.” “I am grateful to have had this experience,” said Rayomand. “I know that this is something we both will remember for a very long time.”