hmm......now this is what fascinates human beings...... the feel and the imagination of flying like birds ... makes you feel "Ghoshh !!! Life is beautiful" !! wish i was also one of them .
It was at farnborough not very far off from bristol where i live ..(1.5 hrs approx by train)...and i won't say it was one hell of an experience after having witnessed wimbledon from guess pretty close quarters , though was unique in its own way to put it straight.Personally , i feel the show back home had more excitement and fun , not being a critic though , but each one has its own pros's and con's !!!
The tickets too weren't expensive either(26 Gbp) as i thought initially would be, this being the world's biggest airshow and so on. We kicked off with the stalls set up by a few of the manufacturers (ofcourse not to forget all those are the connoiseeurs in this field) like Bell, Boeing etc.. to name a few.(wish there was a big Lockheed Martin hanger too !).Bell had a few of the choppers at their store. However , the most beautiful among them was the Boeing stall which rightly had a few people lined up in the queue. Boeing i suppose made it more eventful , with a few simulators of (Boeing - 777 ) and an artistic design of the new "Boeing-747-8 Intercontinnental"(called the "shape of the future") that is planned for release which was nothing less than magnificient and one of its kind where in her nose opens to place some cargo's and stuff.
After a few short visits to the stalls we head for "the" aircraft display which was quite brilliant i should say . the list goes on and the "who's who of the aircrafts " were on for a show like beautiful damsels on the Miss Universe paegant ramp!, with "AIRBUS A-380" stealing the show.
Here goes the list of air crafts on display which also included a couple of our very own HAL's ALH Dhruv and IJTTrainers.
RAFAT - Hawk T1A x 9 (Red Arrows) ,Airbus - A340-600 ,Airbus - A380-800 ,US DoD - B-1B Lancer ,Boeing - F/A-18F ,Bell/Boeing - V-22 Osprey ,Boeing - AH-64D Apache Longbow ,Hindustan Aeronautics Limited - ALH DHRUV ,Hindustan Aeronautics Limited - IJT 36 Trainer ,Babcock Defence Services - Slingsby T67 ,RAF - Tucano T Mk 1 ,RAF - Typhoon ,SAAB - Gripen ,RAF - Harrier GR7 ,RAF - Tornado GR4 ,RAF - C130J ,Plane Sailing - Catalina ,Lockheed Martin - F-16 Fighting Falcon ,RAF - Chinook ,RAF - Merlin ,MiG Corporation - MIG 29 OVT ,BAE Systems - Nimrod MRA4 ,FR Aviation - Dassault Falcon 20 ,Alenia Aeronautica - Aermacchi M346 ,Alenia Aeronautica - C27J Spartan ,Alenia Aeronautica - Tornado ,Unique Events - Ultimate High - EXTRA 300 Glider ,GuyWestgate - Fox Glider ,Blue Eagles - Gazelle AM1 (4) ,Blue Eagles - Lynx Mk 7 ,BBMF - Lancaster ,BBMF - Hurricane ,BBMF - Spitfire ,Rolls-Royce - Spitfire ,Carolyn Grace - Grace Spitfire ,RAF - Falcons Parachute Display Team ,RAF - C130J .
Amongst these the one's which are noteworthy of getting a mention are the beautiful APPACHE choppers by the US and their C-17 which cannot be ignored . The C-17(the bully beef express) infact holds as number as 30 world records for an transport aircraft.The design of the aircraft allows it to operate through small, austere airfields. The C-17 can take off and land on runways as short as 3,500 feet (1,064 meters) and only 90 feet wide (27.4 meters). Even on such narrow runways, the C-17 can turn around using a three-point star turn and its backing capability. It would be worthwhile to call this a "beast" , which can carry virtually all of the army's air transportable equipment. The US armyM-1 main battle tank can be carried along with 102 troops/partroops , 48 litter and 170,900 pounds i.e ,77,519 Kg of cargo!!. Thats some food for thought for us . That apart there were this unique aircraft which was used to trace a few hideouts etc in baghdad called the " Global Hawk High Altitude Endurance Unmanned Aerial Vehicle system" ,AARGM(advanced anti radiation Guided missile), the falcon 20's designed by Marcel Dassault,France.
The airdisplay started off with the the red arrows starting off , but not quite in comparison with our SURYAKIRANS i thought who were better and then the blue whales of the sky , the AIRBUS A-340/380 soaring high (not quite) and the way they were manouvered beautifully within the short distance was impeccable. With weather being cloudy the landing of these massive creatures with the lights on made the show even more worthy , much to the disappointment of my friend "mal" back home who was envious of me for having made it to farnborough also ! Then followed the world's most advanced chopper the "APPACHE" and the harriers, the F-15's /16's .
All in all an experience though and the pics get a spot in my snapfish album.
Cheers,
Kate
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