THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The grey, twin-finned aircraft climbed vertically into the sky, and did something unthinkable - it ‘braked’ to a stop. It hung there for a lengthy second, as if nailed to the clouds, and then, accompanied by gasps from the crowd below, fell; tail first. As a collective ‘’Ooooh!’’ rose from the gallery, the plane neatly levelled itself and streaked off into the horizon.
‘’Have you ever seen a plane in reverse gear? If not, you just saw it now. That’s what’s called a ‘tailslide’,’’ came the commentator’s ecstatic explanation over the loudspeaker.
It’s not often you get to see a Sukhoi Su-30 MKI, the pride of the Indian Air Force (IAF), in Thiruvananthapuram, and on Tuesday, city residents were treated to several minutes of scintillating aerobatics by the Russian-design frontline fighter. The occasion was an air show over Shangumugham beach staged in connection with the 30th anniversary of the Southern Air Command (SAC).
The low-level display by the Su-30s began with a tight fly-past by three aircraft from the north-west. The lead plane, flown by Wing Commander C U V Rao, returned to perform a full vertical followed by a stunning loop-and-tumble, which began with the pilot tying what looked like an imaginary knot in the air with his plane. Then, after a series of spectacular rolls, he offered the audience below a closer look at his aircraft, coming in at a slower pace.
‘’The Su-30s participating in the show belong to the No: 30 Squadron which call themselves ‘The Rhinos.’ Few other fighters in the world can perform some of these manoeuvres,’’ an Air Force officer said. Hailing from the Sukhoi stable, the Su-30s are licence-produced by the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) and form the frontline attack force of the IAF. The No: 30 Squadron is based at Lohegaon, Pune, and flew in for Tuesday’s show. The aircraft did not land here, though.
On Tuesday, the Su-30 wound up its act with a stunt designed to display manoeuvrability to the full; a viciously tight circle with the noise of the engines thundering over the beach. By then the applause had begun in earnest. The Su-30s will put in a second appearance at Wednesday’s show, Air Force officials said.