Aerobatic Fiesta !!!!

I had been to Aero India 2007 on Saturday with Raveesh. This was second time I was going to the show(last time in 2005) hoping that I will get pass to the exhibition. Unfortunately I didn’t, therefore we had buy Rs.300 tickets (entry only to Aerial Display Area).

The major reason for going this time was to capture the moments with my S2 IS. Few minuets before leaving home, all my enthusiasm went down when I read on backside of the ticket that cameras and electronic items are prohibited. (cameras were allowed in 2005 show). To avoid all headaches I decided not to carry my cam.

Our plan was to meet at KBS. I reached there around 9.15 am and Raveesh was still on the way. When I went to platform 23, I was delighted to see Volvo Bus#284 (direct to Air show) parked there. By the time Raveesh came, the Volvo had departed. So we had to take ordinary special bus. Raveesh found out positive in this, that we are saving Rs. 30 per head because his lateness. On the way to Air Force Station I did handwriting analysis of Raveesh, it was pending for many months.

We reached to air show venue at 11 am. The 11am-1pm show had already started. Then came the major shock ... I saw authorities allowing people inside with cameras. I was disappointed like anything. What is all this? Are the rules on the backside of ticket written for formality?

I left all these things behind and decided to carry on and enjoy the show. First there was aerobatic display by Sarang helicopters. This team had reduced to 3 copters because of an unfortunate crash during the rehersal(2-3 days before the event). Hats off to the team as they performed by saying 'the show must go on'. After Sarang the show was taken over one after another by many fighter and passenger planes such as Tejas, Sukhoi, F-16, F-18, MIG-35, Gripen, Falcon-9000, Sarus and some chota mota planes of HAL. The morning session concluded with Boeing’s monster cargo plane C 17.

Of all the planes, the aerobatics of F-16 were too good. Especially fly past in front of audience with speed of 800 miles/hr and also vertical ascent from 500ft to 15000ft in a few seconds.

In the break we had lunch at food court in the venue. The prices were almost double. The vendors were taking advantage of another rule of organizer’s “outside eatables not allowed”.

The evening show started at 3 pm. In the beginning the session was bit boring as there was repeat of aerobatics by Sukhoi and Gripen. Later in the show Mig 29 brought the crowd on their feet by perfoming the cobra head maneuver, it was has one of the highlight of the show. Then came the moment for which everyone was awaiting for … the aerobatics by IAF’s Suryakiran team (led by Wg Cdr Sandeep Bansal), without them the Aero India show is incomplete. Their aerobatics make our money worth.

After Suryakiran we decided to leave the place and get into the bus 10 mintues before 5pm as there was some junk stuff in the ending. The bus left the place at 5:15 pm. Unlike last time there wasn’t much traffic jam around Hebbal. We were in KBS by 6:10 pm. It was end of an eventful day, it would have more eventful if I had carried my digicam ignoring the stuffs mentioned on the backside of ticket.