Shillong, Oct 05: The people of Shillong were enthralled at the Air festival organised by the, Head Quarters Eastern Air Command (HQ EAC), Upper Shillong. this was part of the 81st anniversary of the Indian Air Force (IAF).The chief guest on the occasion was Air Chief Marshal R K Sharma AVSM, VM Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief EAC IAF and Mrs Chitralekha Sharma .The highlight of the show was fly past and air display by Sukhoi Su-30MKI, Skydiving by the Akashganga India’s first sky diving team, Slithering operations by The Garud Commando Force , Fly past by Micro light aircraft , Aero modelling free flight by the air wing of National Cadet Corps(NCC)and Air Force Band Display.
The people of Shillong gathered in huge numbers and enjoyed every moment of the performance by Su-30MKI. The aircraft has a range of 3000Kms ensuring a 3 hrs 45 minutes endurance, extending to 10 hrs covering a range of 8000 Km. Its max speed is over 2000Kms/hr. All mobiles and cameras were up and ready to get a picture of the Su-30 but only a few could get it in their frames. It was the most exciting moment for the children present at the Air Fest. One of the two Su-30MKI was from Tezpur ,Piloted by Air Commodore Rathour AOC Air Force Station (AFS)Tezpur having more than 3000hrs of flying co pilot Wing Commander (Wg Cdr) Ohri. The other Su-30 was from AFS Chabua pilot Wg Cdr Waghmare having more than 2700hrs of flying.
The Garud Commando Force personnel performed slithering operations from Mi-17V5 hovering over the ground. Later they also performed some unarmed combat, and show of strength. The team was led by Wg Cdr Ravindranath and 14 elite Air Force commandos. The Akashganga team gave a breathtaking display of skydiving to the applause of the entire audience. Wg Cdr Baig was the team leader plus 11 skydivers. The event started with Air Force band display and Fly Past by Micro light aircraft pilot was Wg Cdr Chopra Commanding officer Air NCC Guwahati. The entire Air fest programme was threatened by bad weather but held back just enough for the entire event to go through flawlessly. Helicopters, micro light aircraft were on display for people look at close range, other equipment were Night Vision Glasses and many other gadgets used by the Air Force.
Those who came for the air fest included children from schools, families. A large number of Civil and Armed forces dignitaries were present on the occasion. DC Shillong, DG Assam Rifles, GOC 101 Area and many more enjoyed every moment of their stay at the venue which was Advance Landing Ground Upper Shillong.(SP News)
