Bharat Rakshak

Well,my Aero India 2003 report after months in the making is done,

Introduction

Part 1 : Outdoor statics I

Part 2 : Outdoor Statics II

Part 3 : Indian exhibitors I

Part 3.1 : Indian exhibitors II

Part 3.3 : Indian exhibitors III

Part 4 : Outdoor statics III

Russian exhibitors I

Russian exhibitors II

Part 7 : American exhibitors

Part 8 : Israeli exhibitors

Part 9.1 : European exhibitors I

Part 9.2 : European exhibitors II

Note: Please use only the above menu for navigation as the ACIG menu still needs some fixing.

[eyewash] Aero India 2003 was easily the greatest experience for BR'ites since the new millenium.Anyone have any particular stories to tell?[/eyewash]

uoOH! La La!!

Awesome!!

Nice work, Harry!

Is the L159 nick-named Pinocchio or Cyrano de Bergerac? Wouldn't that long nose obscure the runway while landing? I have no idea if it is important, but man, that nose cannot be ignored. It demands a comment!

Great work! Definitely a reference manual for any current BRite and future BRite.

Harry,
Great work.

SAPSAN is really a relvation for me.
Can you shed some light on compatible payloads and especially current/future customers??

Excellent work Harry!

Not AFAIK and the nose does'nt really obscure the runway.

The pod is yet to reach proper operational status. There are some reports indicating that china will use it on the Su-30MKK. The pod was designed for use on MiG-29s,Su-27s and Su-32s. Sukhoi expressed interest in the pod and wanted to use it on the Su-27 and Su-32.It's compatible with all russian LGPGMs.

Harry: Great stuff.
This pictures seems to have been taken when two suns were in the sky http://www.acig.org/artman/uploads/os_flc2.jpg

Harry boss aapke charan dikhao

As always - awesome stuff!!!

PS: Some pictures are quite underexposed. You might also want to think about using warmup filters.

Been waiting for this for quite some time now. A magnificent effort Harry. Many thanks!

If you're talking wrt the sun in other pics,Good observation. But the sun does'nt stay in one place all day.

Otherwise,you've mistaken a lens flare for a second sun.

It seems that way because some pics of the same a/c were taken with a digicam and others are really developed bright to match quality. Otherwise, the lighting is quite balanced in the digital shots.

Harry,

Great shots.

Any MKI canard and landing gear specific pics by any chance? Besides those out there?

Cool job, Harry .

<I>>>Anyone have any particular stories to tell?</I>

I have one from the human interest angle

My wife is crazy about dogs. She saw one gorgeous black dog (don't know which breed) on a leash. Its handlers were from the NSG. She went towards it to pet it. Lots of petting happened. Dog didn't bat an eyelid or move a muscle although it must have enjoyed the petting! It so well trained. But the handlers were amused.

Harry, superb photographs and excellent write up.

It's a welcome addition to the ACIG website.

BTW - has anyone figured out how the FLIR on the LCH looks downwards effectively ? Isn't the nose gun in the way ?

Amazing stuff.

What is not apparent from Harry's article is the amount of walking and the number hours that he must have spent phographing AND documenting (put away camera, pull out notepad, write, pick up leaflets, talk, put leaflets in bag, put bag away. pick up camera, make sure you have not left camera cover/lens cap behind, oh where's my pen? etc etc) And the heart wrenching desire to drop everything, run out and watch when the lung-vibrating, ear splitting, crackling, Diwali is peanuts roar of a rambha or MiG 29 is heard. Thirst. Aching neck, aching feet at the end of the day.

The job requires endurance and dedication.

Good job Harry. How come I didn't meet you. Or did I?

http://www.acig.org/artman/uploads/os_flc2.jpg

mmmm - delicious.

Photoshopped, but delicious nevertheless. The sun belongs in the RIGHT half of the sky. judging from the shadow.

& Harry was trying to shake me off.

Thats lens flare I'd think. Probably combined with a wide aperture setting. Nice photo though.

Harry great work, the photos r excellent

Harry, I just wanted to add something:

Your photographs and captions are better than anything I've seen in any aviation magazine.

It is truly superb.

Just one thing: the AA gun being upgraded by BEL is called the Bofors L-70/40.

We dumped the L-60/40s off to the Coast Guard and the navy Sukanyas.

nice photos Harry.....

hey can some one pls help as to Y the private forum in ACIG cant be accessed..?

Important question - Has anyone been to or have pictures of Aero India / Bangalore AirShow in 1993?

The fact is that there was a full scale mockup of the HAL HTT-35 (tucano clone) painted in red, not to mention a fully explorable ALH mockup and a fo'd fuselage+cockpit mockup of a MiG-21, probably the upgrade.

Nice pics Harry ! Shahbash

I think that was the first airshow in Bangalore and I think it was actually "Avia India" - by a pvt organization (not the GoI's Aero India) I was there - and I will have to go through my photo collection - I cannot even recall if I took photos or not and it was in the days before BR and before I acquired a scanner.

Shiv,you are spot on.I think that I have photos/video recordings of that show,the very first.The most impressive aircraft at that show were the IN's Sea Harriers,according to a US exhibitor.I must dig them out sometime from my "archives".One US participant was heard to remark,"not much of a show,isn't it?".Well,it was a small start but during those early shows,the public got to sit in the cockpits of the actual aircraft that were flying!It was also an exhilirating experience to be able to walk under the fuselage of the SU-27/30,when it was first displayed in a later show.How times have changed.

Can someone tell me that where the money for this Aero India VCD would be going. I bought 'Aakash Yodha' and 'SOTE' last week and saw them. They were really good. I was more than happy to order it as the money went to IAF...where would the money for 'Kargil', 'NDA', 'Aero India' go.

Will it go to Bharat-Rakshak, or part of the cost of VCD to IAF, Indian Army, National defence academy...etc.

Regards

I came across an Indian Navy VCD with footage better than Akash Yoddha et al with SHARs, IAI Searchers, Alizes, Tu-142s etc etc, for internal distribution only. Perhaps Kapil can get that for sale eventually?

I want I want!

Internal distribution? Why on earth would navy people want to see more of same? They should let go.

Me want to. Me want to. Now where is Kapil when you need him? :whine:

Hi SVerma,
Thanks for ordering the videos.
As regards your queries about the proceeds of the videos-Since Akash Yodha and Salt of the Earth are IAF Copyrighted ,a significant amount from the price goes to them.The same is the case with 'The Standard Bearers' -The NDA Film as its owned by the NDA.
Kargil funds don't go the Kargil Fund anymore as the money on it has been recovered or something.
And as for the Aero India VCD,the principal amount goes to Bharat Rakshak with the overheads going to the volunteer in charge of bringing that cd to you.It pays for his costs of a blank cd,burning and shipping.

Harry-The navy has too many of such films.Lets see if they can release some to the market.
Merlin-Mujhe bhi!


You guys should check out the Standard Bearers,its a documentary on life in the Natioanl Defence Academy

Cheers
Kapil

Kapil - do you think we should have priced it higher :