THE SKY BEAUTIES...

Well, finally got a break to start writing blogs again and the opportunity presented itself in the form of "The Aero India Show 2007". Boy, am i glad i went to that air show!... Bizzare as it may seem calling these planes as "beauties" but again i just couldnt help myself drooling and watching dazed, the agility and 'charming - ness' of these aircrafts..

Friday morning and i was all set to watch the air show . The show was to start at 10.30 and we were a bit late. The line for security check in was loooooooooong and we could hear the roar of LCA Tejas(the indigenously built Light Combat Aircraft from HAL) taking off. Dint have much expectations from this aircraft. But i was to be proved wrong!!!. The awesome grace and ability which this aircraft showed from its maneuvers left me totally stunned. Me and my friend stood awestruck when the plane did a reverse flight 100 feet in the air. Again the flips and turns were a pleasure to watch. We cursed ourselves for being late to the airshow.

The security check in was done and by that time the LCA had landed. sheh!!.. The commentary was on and the announcement was done that the next in line for the show was the Sukhoi -30 MKI. Wooow!!.. I was very much eager to see this plane after reading its specs and the other reason being that our President flew this plane breaking the sound barrier. As soon as i heard the announcement i made a dash to the viewing area as i dint want to miss the take off. I went to the far left of the viewing area where the planes take off. The sight of the Sukhoi just took my breath away. I just stood there gazing at that amazing beauty as she was set to entertain the crowd with her acrobatic maneuvers. And that she did with such agility and smoothness that it got the crowd to its feet and left a smile on my face, feeling proud to witness such an exhilarating event.

After the 40 million dollar baby touched down it was the turn of the more humble indian aircraft - the SARAS. This aircraft is primarily designed to penetrate the remote indian lanscape providing relief measures and the like. Again it showed the tenacity and skilled workmanship of Indian aeronautical engineers.

The next was the American military multi-role fighter the F-16 manufactured by Lockheed Martin. I should say this plane was highlighted a lot and performed more stunts and exercises than the other aircrafts. Probably this was done advertise the plane and bagging the deal from IAF which is planning to acquire 129 more combat aircrafts in the near future. As a matter of fact, most of the planes showcased were in view of the IAF deal to acquire planes. The F-16 Falcon is a single engine unlike the Su-30 MKI. It took off from the extreme right and we could hear the roar and the tail of fire as it zipped past us at great speed. This is the aircraft on which Ratan Tata flew the previous day. It performed a series of stunts and exercises just parallel to the runway. The commentary was provided by an US air marshall who clearly informed us about the capabilities and ruggedness of this "American Beauty".

The other military aircrafts which performed were the Mig-35(Russian), F/A-18 Hornet(US-Navy), and the JAS-39 Gripen ( manufactured by Saab from Sweden). The Mig-35 performed a series of heart stopping maneuvers where it flew vertically down and changed course at the last moment keeping the spectators guessing all the time. The F-18 was really huge and the jet blast from its twin rocket engines and the sound from them made you shudder ,just imaging the raw power that the plane had. The Gripen had smokers attached to its wing tips which allowed you to trace out the trajectory taken by the plane during its tortuous flight.
Almost all the planes performed high speed turns during which the pilots experience upto 9-G forces, free falls, low speed approach parallel to the run-way, multiple flips, and high angle of attack flights.

In between there was a show from the SARANG Advanced light Helicopters. This show too caught the attention of spectators as it involved 3 choppers in close formation performing exercises like reverse flight (unique only to helicopters), cross overs and many such things. Finally it was the turn of the Giant C-17 (manufactured by Boeing) reconnaissance plane from the US Air force. The sheer size of the plane made everyone wonder whether the plane would take off from such a small runway. But after the takeoff everyone was amazed to find out that it required a very short runway to perform both take off and landing!!. Also the jet blast from its 4 Rolls Royce engine left everyone blinded.

The show ended and i was really not in a mood to turn back considering the technical prowess and skills of the planes i just witnessed. I cursed myself for not getting my camera as i could have had close range shots of all these beauties capturing the details of their exterior design. I left the venue promising myself to attend any air show which may come in my way to appreciate the amazing technicalties of engineering applied in these aircrafts.

The final verdict from the airshow was that i found the LCA the most attractive and sexy to watch and who would have thought that considering the competition it had. Of course the others had their own strengths but it made me feel proud to see and Indian plane being the limelight of the show!

Cheers!!...