Metal Birds - Aero India 2009

Welcome to Aero India 2009. It is one of the best air shows in the whole of Asia! I had an opportunity to see this amazing aerobatic fiesta and yes...I was extremely excited. On the morning of the show, we were standing in the rather long and spirit-dampening, security-check queue. While waiting, I had my first spotting of the Black-winged Kite. It is truly a beautiful bird and it's eyes were captivating. 

We were afraid, we'd be late for the take off of the first plane. We did miss it. From above, the SARAS flew into our view, doing what I thought was it's best, going around in circles. Now, we felt the urge to see the next plane take off. The queue now seemed to be growing thinner and shorter. Just when we thought we would be in time for the next take off, a Light Combat Aircraft Tejas(LCA) took to the skies. It started performing some neat tricks. Sorties, a few roaring fly-pasts and it was all the LCA Tejas had to offer. We were just in time for the F16. This plane might well have been the star of the show. Flying in at no.3, this was one of my favourite fighters, at the show. Standing under the Air Traffic Control tower, we had a great view of the take off. The F16 is manufactured by Lockheed Martin, an American company. This was the first time this plane had participated in the show. It's arrow head-like body and sleek design was what captured my attention. It was exciting to see this plane fly. Even though I wasn't moving, adrenaline was in my blood. It was a desire to fly this amazing piece of technology. The way it thundered past us, was enough for my heart to beat faster.

Lockheed Martin F16 Super Viper

Next up was the MiG 35, all the way from Russia. Considered as an aerobatic monster, it did not fail to satisfy the 'hungry' audience. Out of all it's amazing, eye-opening moves, the best was the Cobra. The MiG 35 began to fly, nose pointing upwards and suddenly it's engines were dead! Someone whose never seen this before might think the plane is going to crash, but no...the plane now started falling towards the ground, and suddenly with a burst of it's twin engines, flew back into forward motion. It was a heart-throbbing move.

Mikoyan MiG-35

Then came the IAF Jaguar. It did some stunts and was followed by the Eurofighter Typhoon, another first-timer at the air show, from Germany. It also had a big bag of tricks and it managed to end every one, with a loud roar.

Eurofighter Typhoon

The Boeing F\A-18F Super Hornet was next. This amazing fighter is from America and apart from the regular moves, it had a special feature, it had the ability to fold it's wings when not in flight. This indicates that it is a plane from the seas, I mean it is used in the navy.

Boeing F\A-18F

Leaving the runway behind, the Sukhoi Su-30 MKI took off. This was the loudest engine I had heard that day and was truly great watching the plane do it's thing. Being a cousin of the MiG-35, even the Su-30 MKI showed off it's cobra move albeit, I feel, the MiG was better at it.

Sukhoi Su-30 MKI

Just when I was used to seeing so many different planes, there came the helicopters. The ALH Sarang team, an aerobatic team consisting of four helicopters, decided to show us that helicopters were as good as the planes. Thier moves were complimented by loud cheers and applauses.

ALH Sarang

The next machine to take off was the largest plane that I had ever seen. It was the Boeing C-17, from America. This gigantic plane, lifted it's whale-like body into the air and everyone's eyes were glued on it, till it crossed their part of the sky. It was spectacular, it was humongous and it was unbelievable. Watching this colossus perform challenging maneuvers was exciting. It was nothing like the other fighter planes. When you looked at the fighters, they would quickly disappear into the blue of the sky.When you looked at the C-17, your vision was completely filled by the 'awesomeness' of this giant, wherever it flew.

Boeing C-17

The sun was now inching towards the horizon and faces showed faint signs of fatigue. Just when everybody thought it was time to pack their bags, came the show-stoppers. These planes were different from the multi-role fighters, they weren't as sophisticated and didn't even posses guns or missiles. The Suryakirans were here and loud cheers could be heard from every corner. Their amazing flexibility in flight and cool maneuvers, attracted the applause and whistles. A trail of coloured smoke followed their every move. Their formation was the stimulus for cameras to point upwards.

The Suryakirans

The show had finally landed to an end. The planes were back inside and the two and four-wheelers started. People were pouring out of the Air Base like ants from a hole. This was an experience very different, one not to be forgotton. It touched the long forgotten dream of becoming a pilot. I am waiting for the next...