The Bangalore-based Aircraft and System Testing Establishment (ASTE) may not be as popular as the fighter jets or for that matter the men behind them. However, this team is the one, which orchestrates the numerous aerobatic stunts and scintillating manoeuvres that the audiences get to see at the Aero India show.
The ASTE team, apart from overseeing the flight display is also entrusted with the job of ensuring flight safety when the fighter jets perform their dog fights and other maneouvers in front of hundreds of spectators.
“We are the nerve centre of the Aero India all flight operations are monitored by us. We observe closely how the aircraft take-off and land in order to ensure that they not defy safety rules,” said Group Captain N Tiwari, the flight display director of Aero India 2011.
He said that, on an average, about 40 aircraft take-off and land during the show and that the team has been put up at the Air Force Station Yelahanka (AFSY) since February 7, the day the aircraft starting arriving at the air base.
“In an air show, as soon as one aircraft lands, another takes-off in order to maintain the tempo and keep the onlookers engrossed. Monitoring the flight operations during an air show is a very difficult job as all kind of aircraft operate,” Tiwari said.
After take-off from Yelahanka, the fighters remain within the visual bubble of the crowd, so that they can be seen by the audience during the performance.
This apart, the flight display monitoring team also has another difficult task in communicating to the foreign air force pilots.
