After enthraling the residents of Hyderabad with their daredevil flying activities over Begumpet airport in 2020, the Indian Air Force (IAF) did the same over the skies of Dubai where the first international air show after the Hyderabad Air Show opened on November 14 at the DWC or Dubai World Central Airport.
The IAF aircraft flew to join planes from the aerobatics teams of Saudi Arabia (Hawks), Russia (Knights) and the United Arab Emirates (Al Fursan), among others. These and many other aircraft took part in the flying display on all four days of the air show. On Monday, the display began with IAF’s Surya Kiran aerobatics team and light combat aircraft Tejas followed by a host of others including the Airbus 350, the US Air Force’s F16, the Mirage 2000 of the UAE Air Force; and ended with the Russian Knights taking to the skies.
Wing Commander Ashish Sudhir Moghe, public relations officer and spokesperson, IAF, said that a 180-strong contingent of the IAF took part in the Dubai Air Show (DAS). The contingent included three teams—Surya Kiran, Tejas (indigenously developed by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd) and Sarang, the IAF’s helicopter display team, along with support staff.
The Sarang team participated in the Al Ain Grand Prix in the UAE in 2005 but the DAS was the first occasion for the Surya Kirans and the Tejas to show off their manoeuvres in Dubai.
Wing Commander Moghe added that while the Surya Kiran and Tejas flew directly, the support staff and the Sarang contingent along with the helicopters were flown in on IAF’s C-17 and C-130 aircraft.
According to Group Captain Manish Tolani, who flies the Tejas, the “vertical Charlie” —a manoeuvre where the plane climbs vertically and does a series of in before resuming normal flight—and flying the aircraft Tejas inverted were part of the IAF’s repertoire.
Tolani said all the groundwork and planning for the DAS was completed in India. “How we will fly, what we will see (on the ground), the dimensions of the box (the area on the ground that has to be kept in mind while flying so that people get a clear view of the aerobatics being done by the team) were all completed in India. In a manner we were ready to go the moment we landed in Dubai,” he said. The team, however, had to do two sorties in Dubai to meet the local flying norms.
“The aircraft systems and avionics play a major role in helping the pilot carry out the manoeuvres,” he added.
Moghe added that the manoeuvres were the same as in the Hyderabad Air Show but the setting was different. “In Hyderabad, there was construction, high-tension wires, bird and animal activity and airspace restrictions which were not there in Dubai. But there were challenges of flying in Dubai and doing the manoeuvres as they were being performed using a visual point on the ground. The desert is more or less featureless so it is a challenge to mark out points,” he said. The pilots who participated at DAS were part of a team chosen after a rigorous selection process and remain a part of the team for three to four years, he added.
“The induction began on November 3 with the Sarang team removing the blades of the helicopters to put them on board the transport aircraft to be flown to Dubai,” Moghe said, adding that assembly of the blades is done in a few hours. He added that after the helicopter is assembled it also has to be tested.
(Ashwini Phadnis was at the Dubai Air Show at the invitation of flydubai)
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