AeroIndia 2k7, a review by the lay-man for the lay-man

Aero India 2007 just concluded. I was there on Saturday. The hotties in the fighter category this time around were the MiG35, F-16, FA-18 super hornet(first time the US is participating!) and Saab Gripen, and in the commercial / cargo sector, it was the C17. For the enormous hulk that the C17 is, the climb rate is impressive. Even the C5 looks so slim next to it. This year saw very few attractions on the helicopter front. Apart from the static display of the Chinook, there was nothing else, as probably technology proving with the ALH was not needed anymore. The Sarang display team finished their performance (with 3 copters) just before I entered the airfield. The older favorites were all there too from last time, the Su29, Su30 MK-I, Mirage 2000, MiG27 etc. The jaded Mig21 (I still respect this plane) and the Jaguar were conspicuous by their absence (and thankfully). The BAe Hawk was also on static display, but curiously, outside the Air display area. According to me, the Gripen stole the show with its impressive maneuverability and agility for a plane that small, light, cheap and low on ground support requirements. Truly a winning combination for developing countries with many semi-developed airstrips and lack of proper ground support. I don't know if it is my inherent prejudice for all things American, but for some reason, the F-16 and F-18 failed to impress me beyond 'Such monstrous power!'. In the regional jet / business jet / VIP carrier category there were around 4 or 5 planes on flying display, including the Saras and a Bombardier Canadair CRJ something. I was most impressed by the Saras as I watched it do some technology proving demonstration flights. Saw it take some mean bank angles that were impressive for a non-conventional propeller. I found it to be a bit noisier than the others (I am comparing with other turbo-props like the older ATR32 not present in this show) though this is just an opinion and very relative. Even the noise seemed to be tinny, like a 4 seater biplane. There were a couple of small planes in the GA / Personal aviation category, neither of which I remember now.

The Suryakirans did their usual stuff. While I admire the pilots and their skills, one must admit that if you've seen it once or twice, the third show gets pretty boring. For example, this time's performance was an almost exact replica of last time's show. I could even predict which item was next on the list and what the commentator would be saying over his PA with a fake accent and fake interest in his voice, repeating phrases like 'stunning display of speed' and 'impressive demonstration of its maneuverability' over and over again.

But the best thing on display at Aero India 2007 was not on a tricycle landing gear. It stood on 4 humongous rubber tires. It was part of a stall put up by the AMGeneral (Transports). Yes, the HUMVEE (HMMWV - High Mobility Multi-purpose Wheeled Vehicle). It was the first time I saw the beast in the flesh. I must admit, for the kind of image I had carried in my head about the Humvee, it didn't seem all that mean. So i was slightly disappointed there.
We hardly had any time for visiting the stalls. There were 9 stalls (hangars) this time, that's 3 more than last time, I think. And we had no time to even enter 7 of those stalls.
So far, all good experiences. Now let me start the gripes.
In one sentence, crowd management was pathetic. In many points and way too many sentences:

I. We spent 1 hr 15 min in getting from JP Nagar 6th Phase to AFSY (that's AirForce Station, Yelahanka). And 1 hour 45 minutes in parking the car. Traffic congestion was terrible. Long queues, unexplained delays and holdups, Unclear directions and indications. Lack of a clear communication. Specifically the problems were these. Vehicles on the highway coming to the airshow were asked to form a line on the left most lane and to follow that until turning into the correct gate. Now this arrangement had 3 problems.
1. There was no way to identify which cars were coming to the arishow and which were not, so most people ended up joining the queue as there was neither windshield stickers on the air show cars, nor a sign board to say that only airshow vehicles were to take the left lane.
2. There were not enough number of traffic marshals to ensure that communication regarding the parking availability was communicated till the end of the queue. (For eg. we stayed in the queue for 45 minutes before realizing that the gates were closed as our designated parking area was full)
3. The typical Indian mentality caused people to form 3 lines instead of 1, thus causing more mayhem.

II. There was a bus facility to transport visitors from the car park area to the air show. These buses were irregular and no control system existed to ensure that people boarded and alighted from them in an orderly manner. Result: It looked like refugees fighting for bread behind a United Nations truck in Somalia. So we ended up walking that distance from the parking to the airfield.

III. Area given for food stalls was entirely insufficient and this problem was worsened by people who sat right in the middle of all the queues to eat.

IV. I believe the whole crowd management issue could have been lessened if the date of entry was printed on the tickets and the number of tickets available for a given day was limited. This way, the crowd could have been distributed over 5 days. The other advantage of this would be that it would be easy to plan for the number of visitors for each day, depending on the number of tickets sold for that day.

Of course, these are just my ideas, and there maybe no sense or logic in them.

PS: Please leave comments on any factual / other inaccuracies that I may have made in this review. Also do share your opinions, impressions and experiences of the airshow.