The air show scheduled to be held over the Sangam area of the city on October 8 to commemorate the 91st anniversary of the Indian Air Force (IAF) will bid adieu to the ace fighter of the country — the MiG 21 Bison.
The IAF too has made suitable arrangements to make the farewell of MiG 21 a memorable moment. “The MiG 21 Bison will be flying for the last time in any air show and as such this ace fighter has played a pivotal role in several battles, right from its induction in 1963. As such, this will be a memorable and emotional moment for IAF and we will make sure that this fighter is given an extraordinary farewell which will be remembered in years to come”, said Defence PRO, Gp Capt Samir Gangakhedkar.
The blue horizon over the holy Sangam of Prayagraj echoed with the thundering sound of fighters and choppers of the IAF.
The IAF carried out an impressive practice session from the vast Sangam area to the Parade ground and all the roads leading to Sangam amid a large number of onlookers. The session was nothing short of the actual air show scheduled to be held on October 8 to commemorate the IAF’s 91st anniversary.
As a number of fighters, aircraft and choppers flew past the President Viewpoint of the fort, a large number of onlookers, including those who had arrived to perform rituals during Pitra Paksha or those who had gathered at the Parade ground for different purposes, all eyes were in the sky applauding the might of the IAF as its fighters and aircraft flew past.
As it was practice for the air show, quite a number of locals had already arrived at the vast Sangam area.
The practice started with the paratroopers of the Akash Ganga team of the IAF which landed precisely at the marked area just in front of the President Viewpoint of the fort.
The onlookers clapped and took videos of the paratroopers as they landed one after another, especially the last formation wherein three paratroopers sailed down intact as one, only to separate barely a few feet from the touch down. The practice started with the formation of Chetak and Dhruv choppers followed by the two variants of Mi-17 choppers and the Apache.
This was followed by manoeuvres by the fighters of IAF, including Tejas, SU-30, C-130 aircraft, Mirage 2000 and Rafale. Vintage aircraft including the Harvard trainer aircraft and Tiger Moth too entertained the onlookers.
To conclude the practice session, the team of Saarang choppers and Surya Kiran presented scintillating manoeuvres. “These fighters and choppers will continue to do their practice sessions everyday which will give local populace an idea of might of IAF”, said Gangakhedkar.