Those with long memories may recall my last posting on this subject in 2016 where the weather proved a major frustration in catching the participants of the annual flypast. This time I’m happy to say the results were more fruitful as can be seen from the log below.
India’s Republic Day is an annual event that provides a flypast every 26th January along the Kartavya Path which leads to India Gate in the centre of Delhi. The roads in and around that area are normally full of security types and various VIPs and along with the many obstructions means it is not the best place to catch the photos of the flypast; for that I use the Buddah Jayanti Park which is off to the West as they invariably pass West to East regardless of the wind direction. The last aircraft in the flypast historically makes a high climb out once it reaches India Gate to close the proceedings.
There are a couple of challenges to catching the flypast; first there are a number of rehearsal days ahead of time starting around a week in advance but there is generally limited or no advance information as to which days they will fly and which they will not (never on 25th though). Second, the weather is always a challenge as at that time of year in the most polluted city in the world the occurrence of fog or smog can be a real problem. Best therefore to catch as many of the practice sessions as possible to maximise the chances of getting something worthwhile.
Arrival this year for me was Friday 20th Jan which as it happened coincided with a practice day (doh!), however our flight landed shortly before the start and it had all finished by the time my wife and I exited the terminal. Should have arrived a day earlier then!
All was not lost however as the following all fell into the logbook that day to start the tally of previously unseen aircraft at 3 for the trip:
20-Jan-23, Fri DEL - Delhi, India
K7066 Boeing 777 300ER Government of India
H1517 HAL.748 Indian Air Force
H2182 HAL.748 Indian Air Force
K3601 Embraer Legacy 600 Indian Air Force
K5013 Boeing 737NG 7HI BBJ Indian Air Force
KA3059 Antonov An-32 Indian Air Force
KD715 HAL/Dornier Do 228 Indian Air Force
KD721 HAL/Dornier Do 228 Indian Air Force
KE-3605 Embraer Legacy 600 Indian Security Police
As it turned out, the following day was also a practice day and although the weather was dull with some high level smog, the day proved very successful with the following log. I made a note of the timings as they generally keep the same times and format for each practice for that year.
21-Jan-23, Sat Delhi - Republic Day Parade, India practice day
10:26 Mi-17 formation
ZM2907 Mil Mi-17 1V Indian Air Force
ZM2986 Mil Mi-17 1V Indian Air Force
ZM3029 Mil Mi-17 1V Indian Air Force
ZM3091 Mil Mi-17 1V Indian Air Force
????? Mil Mi-17 1V
10:41 Army Dhruv formation
IA1144 HAL Dhruv Indian Army Aviation
IA3102 HAL Dhruv Indian Army Aviation
IA2146 HAL Rudra Mk.IV Indian Army Aviation
IA2151 HAL Rudra Mk.IV Indian Army Aviation
10:51 MiG29 formation
KBU719 Mikoyan Gurevich MiG-29 Indian Air Force
KBU722 Mikoyan Gurevich MiG-29 Indian Air Force
KBU737 Mikoyan Gurevich MiG-29 Indian Air Force
11:14 Single Dhruv
ZD4137 HAL Dhruv Indian Air Force
11:51 Air Force Attack Helicopter formation
ZF4832 HAL Prachand Mk.1 Indian Air Force
ZV4808 AH-64E Apache Indian Air Force
ZV4814 AH-64E Apache Indian Air Force
ZD4154 HAL Rudra Mk.IV Indian Air Force
ZD4142 HAL Rudra Mk.IV Indian Air Force
11:52 Single Mi17
Z3378 Mil Mi-17 1V Indian Air Force
11:52 Training Dhruv formation
ZD4059 HAL Dhruv Indian Air Force
ZD4042 HAL Dhruv Indian Air Force
ZD4047 HAL Dhruv Indian Air Force
11:54 Light Transport formation
VP905 Douglas C-47B Indian Air Force Historic Flight
KD716 HAL/Dornier Do 228 Indian Air Force
KD709 HAL/Dornier Do 228 Indian Air Force
11:55 C130 and Rafale formation
KC-3813 C-130J-30 Hercules Indian Air Force
BS002 Dassault Rafale EH Indian Air Force
BS007 Dassault Rafale EH Indian Air Force
BS023 Dassault Rafale EH Indian Air Force
BS027 Dassault Rafale EH Indian Air Force
11:56 Heavy Transport formation
KA2687 Antonov An-32 Indian Air Force
KA3060 Antonov An-32 Indian Air Force
11:57 Elint and Rafale formation
KM3556 Embraer ERJ-145 SM Indian Air Force
BS005 Dassault Rafale EH Indian Air Force
BS016 Dassault Rafale EH Indian Air Force
RB002 Dassault Rafale DH Indian Air Force
BS026 Dassault Rafale EH Indian Air Force
11:59 C17 and Su30 formation
CB-8010 C-17A Globemaster III Indian Air Force
SB221 Sukhoi Su-30 MKI-3 Indian Air Force
????? Sukhoi Su-30 MKI-3 Indian Air Force
12:00 Jaguar formation
JS103 SEPECAT Jaguar IS Indian Air Force
JS109 SEPECAT Jaguar IS Indian Air Force
JS124 SEPECAT Jaguar IS Indian Air Force
JS129 SEPECAT Jaguar IS Indian Air Force
JT051 HAL Jaguar IT Indian Air Force
12:01 Su30 formation
SB215 Sukhoi Su-30 MKI-3 Indian Air Force
SB196 Sukhoi Su-30 MKI-3 Indian Air Force
SB057 Sukhoi Su-30 MKI Indian Air Force
12:02 Single Rafale
RB001 Dassault Rafale DH Indian Air Force
12:07 Single Rafale
RB005 Dassault Rafale DH Indian Air Force
The two aircraft not read off from photos (marked ????) were those that flew directly overhead my position. It turned out that there was a Chinook also flying but went unseen as it used a different path to the main parade. That meant a total of 51 aircraft, 50 seen, 48 identified, including 34 not seen before so I was very happy with the days results. The 10 Rafale in particular surprised me as that was significantly more than I was expecting.
The flypast for the Sunday 22nd Jan was cancelled late on the 21st as far as I can tell, however there was a bonus new number seen at the main airport that day so all was not lost:
22-Jan-23, Sun DEL - Delhi, India
KD708 HAL/Dornier Do 228 Indian Air Force, hex 800E10 confirmed.
Monday 23rd Jan was a bight sunny day and would make very nice photos. Another look at the map suggested a better place to catch the flypast was from the Delhi Polo Club so I made an early start and managed to find a secluded spot that would make very nice shots without the challenge of trees and other obstructions that were at the other spot. All seemed well until around 10 mins before the start of the flypast when a security patrol insisted that my driver and I left as it was a restricted area. Rather than take the time to argue it out (and probably lose), we made our way quickly back to the park but not in time to see the Mi-17 flypast sadly. This day was also noticeable for a change of track that meant the remaining helicopters were more overhead than before, leading to more unidentified aircraft. To top it all, during the C47/Do228 flypast my camera had a senior moment with an ERR message and the few seconds it took to resolve the issue meant that the formation had passed by already.
Despite all of that, this was definitely the best day for photos and I was very happy with the results of an extra 11 aircraft identified of which 8 were new to me, 6 of them being fast jets.
23-Jan-23, Mon Delhi - Republic Day Parade, India practice day
Missed the Mi-17 formation flypast as was on way back to the regular spot having been moved on from the Polo Club
10:41 Army Dhruv formation
IA1144 HAL Dhruv Indian Army Aviation
IA3102 HAL Dhruv Indian Army Aviation
IA2146 HAL Rudra Mk.IV Indian Army Aviation
IA2151 HAL Rudra Mk.IV Indian Army Aviation
10:52 MiG29 formation
KBU719 Mikoyan Gurevich MiG-29 Indian Air Force
KBU722 Mikoyan Gurevich MiG-29 Indian Air Force
KBU737 Mikoyan Gurevich MiG-29 Indian Air Force
11:06 Single Dhruv
ZD4137 HAL Dhruv Indian Air Force
11:51 Air Force Attack Helicopter formation
ZF4832 HAL Prachand Mk.1 Indian Air Force
ZV4808 AH-64E Apache Indian Air Force
????? AH-64E Apache Indian Air Force
ZD4149 HAL Rudra Mk.IV Indian Air Force
ZD4141 HAL Rudra Mk.IV Indian Air Force
11:52 Training Dhruv formation
ZD4061 HAL Dhruv Indian Air Force
ZD4042 HAL Dhruv Indian Air Force
????? HAL Dhruv Indian Air Force
????? HAL Dhruv Indian Air Force
11:54 Light Transport formation camera had ERR and failed to focus, so missed these
VP905 Douglas C-47B Indian Air Force Historic Flight
????? HAL/Dornier Do 228
????? HAL/Dornier Do 228
11:55 C130 and Rafale formation
KC-3813 C-130J-30 Hercules Indian Air Force
BS002 Dassault Rafale EH Indian Air Force
BS008 Dassault Rafale EH Indian Air Force
BS023 Dassault Rafale EH Indian Air Force
BS027 Dassault Rafale EH Indian Air Force
11:56 Heavy Transport formation
IN307 Ilyushin IL-38 SD Indian Navy
KA3061 Antonov An-32 Indian Air Force
KA3073 Antonov An-32 Indian Air Force
11:57 Elint and Rafale formation
KM3556 Embraer ERJ-145 SM Indian Air Force
BS005 Dassault Rafale EH Indian Air Force
BS016 Dassault Rafale EH Indian Air Force
RB002 Dassault Rafale DH Indian Air Force
BS026 Dassault Rafale EH Indian Air Force
11:59 C17 and Su30 formation
CB-8010 C-17A Globemaster III Indian Air Force
SB221 Sukhoi Su-30 MKI-3 Indian Air Force
SB128 Sukhoi Su-30 MKI-3 Indian Air Force
12:00 Jaguar formation
JS103 SEPECAT Jaguar IS Indian Air Force
JS109 SEPECAT Jaguar IS Indian Air Force
JS110 SEPECAT Jaguar IS Indian Air Force
JS129 SEPECAT Jaguar IS Indian Air Force
JS130 SEPECAT Jaguar IS Indian Air Force
JT066 HAL Jaguar IT Indian Air Force
12:01 Su30 formation
SB215 Sukhoi Su-30 MKI-3 Indian Air Force
SB235 Sukhoi Su-30 MKI-3 Indian Air Force
SB057 Sukhoi Su-30 MKI Indian Air Force
12:02 Single Rafale
RB001 Dassault Rafale DH Indian Air Force
The addition of the IL38 in formation with 2 An-32s was very welcome to see, especially as they were due to retire the following week.
Later in the day when chasing some newly identified W&R in the NW of the city, there was another Mi-17 flying around at low level that also turned out to be a new one for me:
ZP5243 Mil Mi-17 V-5 Indian Air Force
The flypast practice expected on 24th was cancelled late the previous day again and with there never being a practice on 25th then it meant there was only the formal flypast on 26th that remained. In typical Delhi style, the 26th was a real smoggy day and in the event several of the aircraft either cancelled or flew by heard but unseen. Most frustrating! To top it all, the operator of the park had seen fit to close the gates for the 26th until after the flypast which meant that I and some 50 others that had planned to observe it were left on the roadside and had telegraph poles and wires to contend with in addition to the traffic. I was so glad the previous 2 practices had worked out well.
For the record, here is what was readable from the very poor photos from 26th Jan:
26-Jan-23, Thu Delhi - Republic Day Parade, India main event
Mi-17 formation carrying flags cancelled
10:44 Army Dhruv formation - only 3 took part as the 4th turned off short, only 1 identified due fog
IA3102 HAL Dhruv Indian Army Aviation
???? HAL Dhruv Indian Army Aviation
???? HAL Rudra Mk.IV Indian Army Aviation
???? HAL Rudra Mk.IV Indian Army Aviation
10:52 MiG29 formation unseen due fog, suspect this was only a single ship today
Single Dhruv cancelled
11:53 Air Force Attack Helicopter formation
ZF4832 HAL Prachand Mk.1 Indian Air Force
ZV4808 AH-64E Apache Indian Air Force
ZV4814 AH-64E Apache Indian Air Force
ZD4142 HAL Rudra Mk.IV Indian Air Force
ZD414_ HAL Rudra Mk.IV Indian Air Force
11:52 Training Dhruv formation - unseen due fog, unable to determine the number of aircraft
11:54 Light Transport formation - unseen due fog, think this was just the C47 today
11:56 C130 and Rafale formation - C130 unseen due fog, don’t think there were any Rafales with it today
11:58 Heavy Transport formation - An32 with the IL38 was unseen due fog
IN307 Ilyushin IL-38 SD Indian Navy
11:59 Elint and Rafale formation
KM3556 Embraer ERJ-145 SM Indian Air Force
BS002 Dassault Rafale EH Indian Air Force
BS0__ Dassault Rafale EH Indian Air Force
RB002 Dassault Rafale DH Indian Air Force
BS026 Dassault Rafale EH Indian Air Force
11:59 C17 and Su30 formation - the 2 Su30s were unseen due fog
CB-8010 C-17A Globemaster III Indian Air Force
12:02 Jaguar formation
JS109 SEPECAT Jaguar IS Indian Air Force
JS110 SEPECAT Jaguar IS Indian Air Force
JS129 SEPECAT Jaguar IS Indian Air Force
JS130 SEPECAT Jaguar IS Indian Air Force
JT066 HAL Jaguar IT Indian Air Force
12:03 Su30 formation
SB215 Sukhoi Su-30 MKI-3 Indian Air Force
SB235 Sukhoi Su-30 MKI-3 Indian Air Force
SB201 Sukhoi Su-30 MKI Indian Air Force
12:04 Single Rafale
RB001 Dassault Rafale DH Indian Air Force
Only one aircraft new when compared with the previous days (SB201), but it was a new one for me so not a complete waste of time.
All in all I was very happy with the results, 48 new active military seen, plus 8 new W&R caught during the visit too including an IL14 that was thought long lost (will post those separately when I have the chance). Hope to see some other spotter/photographers in future years.
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