An insipid display on last day

That there was no customary signing off by the Surya Kiran aerobatic team was not the only disappointment of the crowd.

 The much-hyped Russian Knights failed to live up to the expectations, despite flying in a formation of five on Sunday, unlike the four-aircraft formation they displayed the previous day.

The ‘Barrel Rolls’, ‘Loops’, the ‘eye lug’, the ‘tail dive’, even the ‘vertical climb’, all of which they had showcased on Saturday were as unexciting as on the previous day. The Knights not using the flares, which was the highlight of their performance on Saturday, left the crowd upset.

The Indian Air Force’s helicopter aerobatic team, ‘Sarang,’ continued to attract the attention like the Czech Flying Bulls, who had the crowd’s pulse and played to the gallery within the restricted manoeuvres they were allowed to perform, owing to safety concerns.

But the other performances were largely ordinary. The indigenous weaponised version of the advanced light helicopter (ALH), Rudra, caught more than a few eyeballs and so did Rafale and Lockheed F-16. Yet, they were nothing like the Surya Kiran team, which has been grounded so that the IAF avails more training aircraft.

Last air show, the contenders for the Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) deal, Saab Gripen, F-18 and Eurofighter were all there. This time, even the number of business jets had reduced. There were no celebrities either unlike last time when Shahid Kapoor, Rata Tata and Naveen Jindal, all of whom flew planes, came calling. The next edition is scheduled for February 18, 2015.