Soaring metal birds leave a trail of memories

BANGALORE: On Sunday evening, crew members of Russian Knights were busy packing up. The rear doors of the gigantic IL-72 plane accompanying the team were opened and the heavy equipment was loaded into the belly of the beast.
The last day of Aero India 2013 had dawned with the Russian Knights setting the skies ablaze with their amazing aerobatics. The team had some good and bad surprises in store for the crowd.Unlike Saturday when they debuted at the event with four SU-27 planes, the crew flew five aircraft on Sunday. But the flare display of the first day was missing.
Flying buffs who were enamoured of the flare display of Russian Knights on YouTube videos were a disappointed lot. "Ever since the arrival of the Russian Knights was announced I was watching the YouTube videos and reading up on them. Their best move is the release of flares. But on Sunday there was nothing. Anyway, seeing them in action was still a dream come true," said Parthiban Iyengar, a freelance photographer said.
The day's honours were also shared by the Flying Bulls from the Czech Republic, IAF's Sarang aerobatics teams, Dassault Rafale and HAL's light combat aircraft.
Flying Bulls especially gave the audience something to cheer about. "I am not tired of seeing them perform on-air stunts and acrobatics, though I saw them yesterday too. They are just too spontaneous and always have some fancy tricks up their sleeves," said Meneka Roy, who works as a marketing analyst with an MNC.
Many visitors, who caught their first glimpse of the flying beasts on the final day of the show, were left dazzled.
"I have seen fighter planes only in the movies. This is quite an experience to watch them up close and performing breathtaking stunts," said Vishal Kumar Shrestha, a techie, who was visiting the air show for the first time on Sunday.
"This is amazing. I want to become a pilot when I grow up," quipped his seven-year-old son Praval.
As dusk approached, much of the crowd cleared and headed for the exit to avoid the mad rush back to the city. But there were some who kept coming back to the display area to catch a glimpse of the fighter planes parked on the tarmac.
"There are few occasions when we get a chance to see a fighter plane, up close. One has to wait for two more years for this opportunity and we will be waiting for it," said Sujatha Mohan, a government employee.