Love Is In The Air

It was a bright sunny day on 9th of Feb’07 and the six-lane Bellary Road from the Hebbal flyover till the Yelahanka Air Base in Bangalore was packed with vehicles carrying the city's aviation buffs, young and old who started early to reach the Air Base on time. The onward stretch leading to the "Aero-India 2007" air show seemed like it had all the vehicles in Bangalore, while the opposite plank was empty. I traveled there on a weekday assuming the heavy crowd that would pour packed in cars, SUVs, special BMTC buses and motorcycles over the weekend.

Leaving aside some glitches, the public was enthralled with aerial displays, manoeuvres by Sukhoi-30MKI, MiG-29K and Gripen Fighter Aircrafts team, and a vast array of aerial gymnastics by foreign aircraft like F-18, F-16. The Surya Kiran Aerobatics Team (SKAT) did its trademark display. The Surya Kirans turned up in full strength charging up the sky with the characteristic aerial loops, rising sun manoeuvres and majestic cross runs high up there.

Ratan Tata, chairman of the Tata Group after having acquired Corus, touched down at the show to celebrate his win, flying the F-16 of Lockheed Martin. This was one day before my visit and I missed it. There is news that Lockheed Martin is in race to sell 126 multi-role combat aircraft to the Indian Air Force. In all there were a total of 500 participating companies, including 275 foreign companies from Britain, Germany, France, Israel, Russia, Sweden, the US, etc, forty-five foreign delegations, 28 air force chiefs and visitors and tourists from various parts of the globe.

The show was organized well and there were neat arrangements for car parking, food stalls, souvenir stalls, etc. For lesser mortals, who were not as fortunate as Tata was, there was always a simulator of various aircrafts in the exhibition stalls, with a serpentine queue waiting for the chance to try his/her hand at it. Let me not extend my post; hope the pics of the exhilarating moments that I tried to capture will speak for the missing words.


[The entrance gate.]


[Few of the participating countries.]


[C-130 Hercules,the famous American heavy lift strategic transporter.]


[Falcon 1.]


[C-17 Aircraft.]


[SU-30 MKI,one of the deadliest of them all.]


[F-16 Fighting Falcon.]


[The pilot acknowledging the crowd for its support.]


[Jas 39 Gripen.]


[Intermediate Jet Trainer (IJT) from HAL.]


[Pride of US Air Force from Raytheon.]


[Speed Check by the parachute.]


[Man and Machine.]


[The Surya Kirans, India's Pride.]


[Preparing for the aerial loops by (SKAT).]


[Mera Bharat Mahan.]

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The manoeuvres, displays and exercises made me realize that human beings were playing music in the air. It was true to the term "love is in the air". The most remarkable aerial performance was the itching of the Cupid’s heart in the air with the fumes reeking from the Surya Kiran flights. That reminds me, that today is Valentine's Day but what’s that? A symbol of commercialization/flamboyance or true love?

Well, reading the title of my blog, you would have been in a different world. Now that you have read my post, would be thinking, "Yaar, yeh hamhain topi pahnadeeya[I tricked you]". But didn't you like my love ride at mach velocity amidst clouds though sans "The Very Best of Chris de Burgh's Lady in Red", Red Roses,Heart shaped chocolates and the list continues. Hmmmm may be fooder for my next blog. Hehehe....

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