this edition is a special bonus for all of you aircraft lovers in the family-- from hemudaju, pradeepdaji, daji, sandaji to ujwal... missed all of you at the farnborough air show... i tried to see it through your eyes and tried to capture as much as the camera could!!!
there was no way that one could do justice to the show in a day.. looking at all the stalls and learning about what's up in the future etc.. so we were mainly content looking at the displays and of course, the show it self.
the most fascinating part of the show for us was the airbus 380.. (considering we had gone to the end of the runway in heathrow mainly to watch the airbus 380 land and take off!!) and the number of pictures put up here will prove the point
we actually went to see the show on saturday.. but we set out a bit late... and got caught in a terrible jam on the motorway... where it took more than half an hour to cross one quarter of a mile.. and it would get worse as other traffic from other highways merged in ...
one way traffic clog towards the air show venue... almost empty on the other side...
so we decided to skip farnborough for the day, looked out at the sun and the blue skis, and had kripa drive us south instead... (her first experience of driving on the motorway)
... to brighton.. but that's another story..(and another blog!)
on sunday morning we left early. and luckily the highways were clear...
... the huge fields meant for parking were largely empty when we reached (it would be filled up in a couple of hours)
the first thing we did upon entry was to get into a flight simulator for the eurofighter typhoon
we were taken on an okayish aerobatic simulation
as we headed towards the display site we were drawn by the airbus 380 ads...
and thar she was!
we examined her closely..
quite closely...
extremely closely! pangra ko andra bhoondi dekhunjel...
bau chhori glad that they've been up close and personal with the big one...
from the front she looks like a whale.. in fact her movements when she flew, was like a whale frolicking gracefully in the sea (more of that at the end of the blog!)
moving on to other displays there were little planes like the pilatus...
and helicopters...
...gunships and other military aircraft, old and new...
.. there were stealth unmanned aircraft too.. this one looking more like a whale than the airbus 380!!
... there were amphibians...
and small and big biz aircraft
we were quite preoccupied with finding a good spot to view the airshow that would begin after noon ... we found a space where most ground-based activities like take offs and touch downs happened right in front of us!!!
there were many attractions for the kids in the showsite
as expected long lines in front of the toilets...
... for the thousands who turned up for the show...
there were food stalls in many places
and stalls selling amongst other things, books, magazines, model aircrafts and the works... thuk thuk (not thook!)hundai herein
at five minutes before show time nine aircraft of the red arrows make their way to the end of the runway...
... and on the dot of 1230 they take off...
for the next half hour they enticed us with their aerobatics.... a sampling of their various formations...
passenngers in the ba 747 must have had a great view of the red arrows too!!
two of the aircraft then started air drawing a heart...
... and another one drew an arrow through it!
heart stopping near misses
... and the final flypast...
later in the show it was the turn of the 4-plane 'the blades' to show their stunts...
this is a difficult crazy formation...
towards the end of the show it was the turn of the single aerobatic performance
aside from the aerobatic performers.. other aircraft on show also tried to match the twists and turns of the smaller aircraft... like this c130J.. and the other military aircraft following that
this aricraft, the f-16??,went two-legged way past the grandstand before bringing its nose wheel down!
towards the evening the crowd puller was the euro fighter typhoon, and its amazing flicking movement
there were a string of vintage war aircraft...
even the chinook seemed to say 'balkrishna sum ma matra ke kum!'
in between the red devils had their amazing para jumping stunt
the second item on the show (but i kept best for last!) was the airbus 380
it took off after an incredibly short run (as if were a stol runway) kicking up a lot of dust and grass in its wake, (but no noise)
and no sooner was it airborne, it took a tight turn and steep climb to the right (notice the straw flying about)
... and still flying...
what a beauty!
... and what graceful manouvres...
here it cruises by in near stall speed
she comes in to land...
after the show got over at 17:30, the 380 prepares for take off.. engines revved up...
once again the straw and grass blowing take off...
... and then a bye bye gesture.. the dip of the wings to the left...
... and then to the right... before heading off
we too headed for home
queuing for the buses to take us to the car park...
... past signs that want to welcome us back next july!
there was no way that one could do justice to the show in a day.. looking at all the stalls and learning about what's up in the future etc.. so we were mainly content looking at the displays and of course, the show it self.
the most fascinating part of the show for us was the airbus 380.. (considering we had gone to the end of the runway in heathrow mainly to watch the airbus 380 land and take off!!) and the number of pictures put up here will prove the point
we actually went to see the show on saturday.. but we set out a bit late... and got caught in a terrible jam on the motorway... where it took more than half an hour to cross one quarter of a mile.. and it would get worse as other traffic from other highways merged in ...
one way traffic clog towards the air show venue... almost empty on the other side...
so we decided to skip farnborough for the day, looked out at the sun and the blue skis, and had kripa drive us south instead... (her first experience of driving on the motorway)
... to brighton.. but that's another story..(and another blog!)
on sunday morning we left early. and luckily the highways were clear...
... the huge fields meant for parking were largely empty when we reached (it would be filled up in a couple of hours)
the first thing we did upon entry was to get into a flight simulator for the eurofighter typhoon
we were taken on an okayish aerobatic simulation
as we headed towards the display site we were drawn by the airbus 380 ads...
and thar she was!
we examined her closely..
quite closely...
extremely closely! pangra ko andra bhoondi dekhunjel...
bau chhori glad that they've been up close and personal with the big one...
from the front she looks like a whale.. in fact her movements when she flew, was like a whale frolicking gracefully in the sea (more of that at the end of the blog!)
moving on to other displays there were little planes like the pilatus...
and helicopters...
...gunships and other military aircraft, old and new...
.. there were stealth unmanned aircraft too.. this one looking more like a whale than the airbus 380!!
... there were amphibians...
and small and big biz aircraft
we were quite preoccupied with finding a good spot to view the airshow that would begin after noon ... we found a space where most ground-based activities like take offs and touch downs happened right in front of us!!!
there were many attractions for the kids in the showsite
as expected long lines in front of the toilets...
... for the thousands who turned up for the show...
there were food stalls in many places
and stalls selling amongst other things, books, magazines, model aircrafts and the works... thuk thuk (not thook!)hundai herein
at five minutes before show time nine aircraft of the red arrows make their way to the end of the runway...
... and on the dot of 1230 they take off...
for the next half hour they enticed us with their aerobatics.... a sampling of their various formations...
passenngers in the ba 747 must have had a great view of the red arrows too!!
two of the aircraft then started air drawing a heart...
... and another one drew an arrow through it!
heart stopping near misses
... and the final flypast...
later in the show it was the turn of the 4-plane 'the blades' to show their stunts...
this is a difficult crazy formation...
towards the end of the show it was the turn of the single aerobatic performance
aside from the aerobatic performers.. other aircraft on show also tried to match the twists and turns of the smaller aircraft... like this c130J.. and the other military aircraft following that
this aricraft, the f-16??,went two-legged way past the grandstand before bringing its nose wheel down!
towards the evening the crowd puller was the euro fighter typhoon, and its amazing flicking movement
there were a string of vintage war aircraft...
even the chinook seemed to say 'balkrishna sum ma matra ke kum!'
in between the red devils had their amazing para jumping stunt
the second item on the show (but i kept best for last!) was the airbus 380
it took off after an incredibly short run (as if were a stol runway) kicking up a lot of dust and grass in its wake, (but no noise)
and no sooner was it airborne, it took a tight turn and steep climb to the right (notice the straw flying about)
... and still flying...
what a beauty!
... and what graceful manouvres...
here it cruises by in near stall speed
she comes in to land...
after the show got over at 17:30, the 380 prepares for take off.. engines revved up...
once again the straw and grass blowing take off...
... and then a bye bye gesture.. the dip of the wings to the left...
... and then to the right... before heading off
we too headed for home
queuing for the buses to take us to the car park...
... past signs that want to welcome us back next july!
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