Aero India 2011

I’ve always had an interest in defense related topics and issues. Be it the latest technology used in warfare, Indian defense contracts, fighter planes etc. And Air Force is probably the most glamorous of the three main defense forces of any country (Army, Navy & Air force). Fighter jets are some of the most advanced innovations of mankind and they’re a thing of beauty. Symmetrical, long flowing lines and curves to provide aerodynamics and stealth in some cases to those majestic wingspans carrying a frightening amount of arsenal underneath them, amazes and fascinates me. And of course, there is that unmistakable sound of a jet and the sonic boom when it screams across the sky leaving a trail of smoke.

So with all this fascination towards aircrafts and weapons, when the Aero India 2011 came around, I wasn’t going to miss it, specially since this time I had a DSLR with me to capture some of these beauties in mid-air. I’ve been to the Aero India show in 2003, 2005 and 2007. But in all those shows, I either had a point & shoot or an old handy cam. So this was my first attempt at aviation photography with a digital SLR.

I decided to read up on a couple of articles on aviation photography to be better prepared for the air show. Here are a couple of articles I found useful: Art1 Art2

Gear: Canon 400D, 70-200mm F2.8IS coupled with 1.4x Teleconverter, Tokina 11-17mm, Spare battery, and an additional memory card. (The latter two came in very handy)

Weather conditions: The air show began at around 10am. It was a clear day with absolutely no clouds. Hot and dry. This made shooting planes on static display during the day difficult. And also sky looked dull gray almost when photographing planes in the air.

Suryakirans

The Indian Air Force’s aerobatic team called the Suryakirans, who fly the Kiran MkII, took to the sky first. I’ve seen them perform before in previous editions, and they did not disappoint. It would be the last time that they flew in these planes, as they are going to be using a new jet in the future, the BAE Hawk. So we may not get to see them at the next edition.

IJT (Intermediate Jet Trainer) – BAE Hawk, purchased from BAE systems a few years ago, after decades of delay, to train the IAF pilots, was up next.

LCA Tejas
Light Combat Aircraft, touted to be the lightest fighter jet in the world, has been source of pride and equal embarrassment. It was conceived almost two decades ago, and it received operational clearance only recently and is yet to be inducted in to the air force. But nevertheless, it is the first indigenous effort to build a fighter jet. It is expected to replace the aging Mig-21s in the IAF.

F/A 18 Super Hornet

F/A 18 is manufactured by Boeing, and is one of the contenders for the MMRCA (currently the largest defense tender in the world, worth $12 Billion) competition. It was the only fighter jet to fly with fully armed live missiles and ammunition during the air show.

F-16 IN Viper
Prerhaps the most known name among fighter jets, manufactured by Lockheed Martin, it has the most combat experience among all the fighter jets in the world. F-16s have flown during the Gulf war, War in Afghanistan and the Iraq War. It is also in contention for the MMRCA contract.

Dassault Rafale
French Air force flew this fighter in at the last minute for Aero India 2011. Rafale is also one of the contenders for the MMRCA contract.

Red Bull Aerobatics team

Sukhoi MKI
My favorite fighter jet among all of them, the Russian Sukhoi 30 MKI, is jointly designed and customized for the IAF by Sukhoi and HAL. Widely regarded as one of the best fighter jets in the world for performance, maneuverability and capability. When parked next to other fighter jets, it dwarfs them, and has a massive presence about it.

Eurofighter Typhoon
Eurofighter Typhoon is manufactured by a consortium supported by European countries, and is in contention for the MMRCA contract. They had a jet on static display, and allowed the public to experience sitting in the cockpit. Companies competing for the MMRCA have been using all possible marketing gimmicks to gain advantage over the other, and this was one of them.

Saab Gripen
Swedish company Saab’s single engine lightweight fighter, Gripen, is another MMRCA contender. They claim the aircraft is designed for easy maintenance and can land and take off from small stretches of road too.As part of their marketing strategy, they ran a contest, and the winner was flown as a co-pilot on the fighter jet.

Sarang Dhruv ALH team
One of the few helicopter aerobatics teams in the world. Sarang flies the colorfully painted advanced light helicopters called Dhruv manufactured by HAL.

Static display & Exhibition Halls
Static display was poorly done this time with fighter jets parked haphazardly and so couldn’t get too many good shots of the planes. But the exhibition halls were much larger in number compared to previous editions of Aero India. They had display models of fighter jets, jet turbines, missiles and some other cool military gadgetry.

Lot more pictures uploaded on my Facebook page here