Travel Tips

There was an amazing fly past of military and civilian aircraft along with a grand display of aerobatics by aircraft of the Indian Air Force and Air India held on the 17th of October 2004 at the city's Marine Drive promenade where the whole city seemed to have descended to see the spectacular event!!! The trains were so packed with people as if it was the last train going!!! There was a stampede at many stations along the route to the venue as many men, women and children eager to see the air show wanted to be there in time for the one hour event that would enthrall the viewers with so many different stunts and displays that no one wanted to miss being there!!! There were just people and more people on the road starting from the Land's End near the Hilton Hotel all the way upto the Chowpatty beach at the other end of the Queen's Necklace!!!

The Display started with a trio of Alouette-III (Chetak) helicopters that had the Indian tricolour along with the IAF's flag and the Air India flag with a showering of rose petals on the crowds!!! Then came the two Air India civilian aircraft Airbus 310-300 flanked by the Sukhoi SU30 MKI on either side followed by the Boeing 747-400 in similar fashion flanked by the Sukhois. There was a thunderous round of applause from the enthralled crowd below as they saw the airplanes so low down as never seen before, come in above them and disappear above the buildings behind them!!! There was almost a sonic boom as two Sepecat Jaguars flew past with little warning in almost no time followed by the Mikoyan Gurevich MiG-27 bombers!!! Then came the Mikoyan Gurevich MiG-29 fighters along with the Sukhoi SU-30 MKI fighters which put on a mock battle with the Sukhois driving out the attacking MiG-29's!!! Then there were a couple of Sukhoi SU-30 MKI's being refuelled mid air by the Ilyushin Il-78 tanker aircraft that showed the process in a few seconds over the crowds below!!! There were a few other smaller aircraft like the Dorniers and the Antonov An-32 that also flew past and then there was the only helicopter aerobatics team in the world with a trio of the Sarang team of the new Advanced Light Helicopter ALH1 from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) which was followed by the Surya Kiran team of basic jet trainer aircraft giving a scintillating display of the flying skills and breathtaking aerobatics that can only be seen to be believed!!! The oohs and the aahs never drowned out in the full one hour of the airshow!!! The grande finale was the Akash Ganga team of sky divers who descended over the crowds to land precisely into the hallowed cricket grounds of the Brabourne Stadium nearby!!! There were many heartbeats that fluttered as they came down over the ecstatic crowds and the parachutes in the tricolours of the nation were seen to be heralding a new dawn of an era as many young minds were impressed to join the Indian Air Force as pilots or ground crew!!! A grand display of aviation's latest aircraft as well as the designs in the sky as the contrails made colourful patterns in the sky were a real treat to watch and all credit due to the valiant men in their flying machines for putting on a great show in the skies above Mumbai!!!!! A rare treat for all to see and remember for a long time to come!!! May we see you soon again!!!

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Mirage 2000 No Show!!!

Mumbai Air Show Poster!!!

This is one of the posters which was displayed on the Air India building near which the air show was held!!! Unfortunately the Mirage 2000 aircraft as shown here in the poster did not show up in the air show!!!

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Two Sukhois being refuelled in mid air!!!

Mid Air Refuelling by the Ilyushin Il-78 Tanker.

Two Sukhoi Su-30 MKI aircraft displayed mid air refuelling by the Ilyushin Il-78 tanker aircraft at just the right time above the crowds. Perfect timing and fuelling too!!!

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They keep 'em flying!!!

Those Magnificent Men and their Flying Machines!!!

This a picture of the magnificent men and their flying machines!!! The men who keep 'em flying (that is the maintenance crew) some of whom were very nice to show me around their magnificent aircraft and explain all the minute details as I was very interested in the details for making my scale models and as an aviation enthusiast too!!! It was a great experience for me and something that I will remember for a long time to come!!!

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Largest (9) member aerobatic team in the world!!!

The Aerobatics Team of Nine Surya Kirans.

The nine member aerobatics team of the Surya Kiran (Sun's light rays) aircraft gave one of the most spellbinding performances with an assortment of tricks up their sleeves as the basic jet trainer aircraft put together some excellent formation flying over the sea with the crowds going into the water to keep themselves cool from the summer heat!!! HAHAHA!!!

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All nine in one close up shot!!!

Nine Surya Kirans again!!!

Unlike the nine bowling pins you can't knock 'em down!!! A fine display of aerobatics by this nine member team was one of the highlights of the evening and appreciated with an unending thunderous applause throughout this amazing flying event!!!

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An aerobatic helicopter in action!!!

The Sarang Team of Helicopters!!!

A member of Sarang - the team of three Light Advanced Helicopters (ALH) that gave another fascinating display of aerobatics!!!

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The best fighter in the air!!!

The Sukhoi Su-30 MKI fighter!!!

Recently the Sukhoi Su-30 MKI was proven to be better than the General Dynamics F-16 in combat with the USAF and Singapore Air Force pilots during training!!!