1. The official kick off is on the wednesday. Around 10 am three Mi-8 fly-by carrying flags. Then the flypast should be there, however this year...there was no flypast!
2. Wednesday 2 pm the show was open for the general public. Security was tight, at least four I.D. checks before entering the show grounds. However once on base many things were possible. This year there were almost no foreign (military) aircraft present, leaving many more Indian AF aircraft to be seen. This is one of three Indian Hawks:
3. Good old Lama:
4. For me the star of the show - bad luck it did not do a display:
5. New for me as well, an Indian MiG-29:
6. At the show I could not identify the air force this Dornier belonged to..."SAF"...would it be Sri Lanka Air Force? No. Surinam Air Force? Impossible this side of the world. Turned out to be Seychelles Air Force. So that was a new Air Force for me!
7. Then it was time for the flying display. Most of the time it was the same routine between 10 and 12 and between 2 and 4. The show opened with a Historic Flight Tiger Moth:
8. In total four Su-30MKI's were present:
9. Always nice to see drag chutes:
10. The show was often hindered by large flocks of birds of prey! Starting at noon dozens of these big birds were circling around. This is the "vogelman" Indian style (you have to respect them, they were out in the fields for hours in tropical conditions):
11. New asset for India is this AEW aircraft:
12. Twice a day it did a flying display, although limited to two simple fly pasts:
13. Many Dhruvs (around 15) were around:
14. Armed version of the Dhruv:
15. Still under development, this nice delta Tejas, three were present this year:
16. This display was also ended with a drag chute landing:
17. This "thing" is named Long Easy. Given its registration I suspect it is flying tests for the Indian government/military (?):
18. Lockheed still had their hopes for the fighter competition, two WW F-16's were present:
19. However, the Rafale remains the favorite to win this competition (so I've read), three were present - including two two-seaters that often made flights with Indian VIPs in the back seat:
20. Some of the nicer aircraft prior to 10 am or after 4 pm, bringing in the VIPs:
21. Several Avro's were present, both local one and visitors:
22. Looking nice in the late afternoon sun, an An-32:
23. Various Do-228's could be logged as well:
24. Local Alouette III's for VIP-flights:
25. And last but not least this VVIP Mi-8S:
Well, that's all folks - enjoy!
Eric
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