Log (MIL): New Delhi, India - Republic Day Rehearsals and Flypast, Jan 2024

[Borispole]

Well its that time of year again where the annual India Republic Day sees the start of the practice flybys in advance of the main event on 26th Jan.


This year I got the confirmation that I could be in Delhi only a few days ago whereas fellow Scramble member Nikonrobert had also recently made plans to be here after seeing the report from last year. That worked out pretty well as we were both able to identify one aircraft each that the other didn’t capture during the fast flybys.


The weather is always the main challenge in the most polluted city in the world but today was not too bad with only a little fog at the start of today’s practice flypast, the first one this year. I suspect as with most first practices that the main objective was for the team leaders to become familiar with the routings which would account for the reduced number of aircraft when compared to the later practices from previous years. There were no Apaches, Dhruvs or Chinooks today and only one aircraft on each wing of a multi-type formation whereas I’m sure there will be 2 aircraft off each wing in subsequent days. With that said, today had a fairly decent turnout even though there were still some frustrations as can be seen below. As with last year’s report, I’ve included timings as they do tend to keep to them for that year’s flypast.


10:29 Mi-17 formation carrying flags
ZN5001, ZN5008
Only 2 Mi-17s this time, there will be up to 5 in future days


10:57 MiG29 formation
3 ship formation, photos were in focus but not good enough to read with the fog, too grainy. Someone needs to invent a fog-proof camera!


11:51 Light Transport formation
(VP905) C-47, no serial visible with Do228s KD710, KD723 off each wing.


11:53 C130 and CN295 formation
KC3801, KC3804, CA7101


11:54 Elint and SU30 formation
KM3554, SB064, SB308


11:55 P8 and SU30 formation
IN323, SB035, SB123


11:56 C17 and Su30 formation
CB8008, SB407, SB429


11:58 Tejas formation
LA5017, LA5022, LA5026, LA5028


11:59 Jaguar formation (should have been 5 ship but was a 3 ship with 2 stragglers, the last one was missed by us both)
JS102, JS126, JS133, JS208, plus one


12:00 Rafale formation, 6 ship flew right over our heads, zero chance of getting them


12:01 Su30 formation
SB307, SB313, SB324


12:02 Single Rafale - RB001


12:03 Single Rafale - RB005


Another practice is currently expected tomorrow and Sunday (20th and 21st) whilst it looks like Monday 22nd is a rest day. I would expect at least 1 or 2 more practices 23rd/24th whilst 25th never usually has a practice. 26th of course is the main event.

I'll post logs for each practice day when I can, just hope the fog stays away!

[Borispole]

Todays second practice was very productive with an incredible additional 31 aircraft not seen yesterday of which we identified 30. We got all the 6 Rafales and 3 Su30s this time, but even so that's an impressive additional total. The weather was much better than yesterday also, with some direct sunlight on the main flypast at the end.

There were additional helicopters this time too which helped boost the totals with a good showing from both the Army and Air Force. Also notable today was (as far as I can tell) the first active participant from a foreign air arm, in this case a French Airbus 330 Phenix, one can only hope that in the next practice there may be some Rafale alongside it (fingers crossed).


The timings changed slightly as well, presumably to more accurately reflect the real timings as to the end of the parade that forms the main event as far as the VVIPs will be concerned on the day itself. With all that said, here is the log from today:


10:29 Mi-17 formation, with only the first mentioned carrying a flag today
ZN5008, ZN5001, ZN3357, Z3378 (note, not ZN)


10:36 French A330
048 ET 02.091, 31 EARTS, F-UJCN


10:48 Army Attack Helicopter formation
Prachand: IA6101
Rudra: IA2132, IA2147, IA(21)?4 – this last one was very difficult as it flew low and trees blocked the rear view which would have confirmed the serial. It will be one of IA2104, 2124 or 2134 given that the penultimate number had a rounded top right side, hopefully we will have better luck with that one tomorrow.



11:02 MiG29 formation
KBU702, KBU727, KBU3115


12:03 Air Force Attack Helicopter formation
Prachand: ZF4836
AH-64E: ZV4804, ZV4813
Rudra: ZD4149, ZD4161


12:04 Light Transport formation, same 3 as yesterday, the C47 serial confirmed today
C-47 VP905 with Do228s KD710 and KD723 off each wing


12:06 C130 and CN295 formation – these came directly overhead our position with one C130 unread but tied up from ADSB
KC3801, KC3802, CA7101


12:07 Elint and SU30 formation – same aircraft as yesterday
KM3554, SB064, SB308


12:08 P8 and SU30 formation
IN323, SB190, SB123


12:09 C17 and Su30 formation
CB8010, SB407, SB429


12:11 Tejas formation
LA5017, LA5019, LA5020, LA5022


12:12 Jaguar formation
JS108, JS126, JS128, JS133, JS208, JS212


12:13 Rafale formation
BS025, RB004, BS007, BS008, BS019, BS024


12:14 Su30 formation
SB307, SB313, SB220


12:15 Single Rafale, RB005


12:16 Single Rafale, RB001



The amount of aircraft tail swaps from yesterday’s flypast was more than expected comprising a C130, C17, 2 Su30s, 2 Tejas, 3 Jaguar, plus of course all the additional helicopters and the identification of the Rafales and MiG-29s this time around.


Looking forward to the Sunday rehearsal flypast.

[Borispole]

The Third rehearsal flypast (Sunday 21st Jan) turned out to be a big disappointment in the end as the fog had decided to spoil things, I guess we had been very lucky the previous day so we were due some bad luck. Throughout the morning the sun kept trying to poke through and just after the flypast had finished the fog disappeared and it turned out to be a nice afternoon, which made it even more frustrating.

The fog meant an hour’s delay to the start of the flying program and also meant that the number of aircraft was much reduced. We did manage to identify some but there were no new serials taking part today that we could see. For the record, here is what we logged:


11:29 Mi-17 formation, only one today, ZN5008

11:42 French A330, flew by unseen in the fog, tied up from ADSB as 048 the same one as yesterday. This continued on to Al Dhafra in UAE which was a bit of a surprise.

Army Attack Helicopter formation, cancelled

12:02 MiG29 3 ship formation, shapes seen in the fog, no photo possible, none identified

12:31 Air Force Attack Helicopter formation was just the same Prachand as yesterday ZF4836, no Apache or Rudra

12:33 Light Transport formation, flew by unseen in fog, Dornier serial from ADSB
C-47 VP905 with Do228 KD723

12:34 C130 and CN295 formation, C130s flew by unseen in fog, serials from ADSB
KC3801, KC3802, CA7101

12:35 Elint and SU30 formation, E145 shape visible in fog, SU30s unseen, none identified

12:36 P8 and SU30 formation, no Su30s today – P8 was the same one IN323

12:37 C17 and Su30 formation
CB8008, SB407, there may have been a second Su30 unseen

12:39 Tejas formation, 3 today, serials unreadable in fog

12:40 Jaguar formation, 3 today
JS102, JS208, JS212

12:41 Rafale formation, flew low behind trees, unable to photograph, think only a 3 ship today

12:42 Su30 formation
SB307, SB313, SB324

12:43 Single Rafale RB001

12:44 Single Rafale RB005


Picked up on ADSB departing the main Delhi Airport VIDP after arriving yesterday was another A330 Phenix 047/F-UJCM which currently appears to be on its way home. Would be interested to know why they were both in the area – maybe another recent Rafale delivery?

Also arriving into VIDP this evening were 3 An32s within an hour of each other: KA2753, KA2714 plus a third where I cant make out the serial from the photo in the fog. KA2714 was my 99th Indian AF one, only 5 more active to go….

There is no rehearsal flypast tomorrow 22nd Jan, would expect the next one on 23rd.

[Borispole]

Today (Tuesday 23Jan) marked the fourth and final rehearsal flypast, the only one now remaining is the main event on 26th Jan. The weather started out still fairly foggy for the earlier participants but by the time the main flypast took place the fog had burned off and it was gloriously sunny making for some excellent photographs. Add to that some 14 additional airframes not noted on any of the previous rehearsals this year and it made for a great day out.

The flying activities followed the now familiar pattern from previous days, with similar timings from the first and second rehearsals:

10:31 Mi-17 formation
ZN5001, ZN5007, ZN5008, ZN3344, ZN3348 – ZN5008 returned a couple of mins later and did not make the main flypast at the event site, so was most likely an airspare


10:40 3x Fast Jet flyby, think they were possibly Tejas but could only make out the outline in the fog as they sped past, no chance for pictures. This was the time slot previously used by the French Phenix so a creative mind could think French Rafales? Hopefully the weather will be better on 26th for these.

10:49 Army Attack Helicopter formation, flew low behind treeline so missed most. Only identified one Rudra from the Prachand and 3 Rudra that flew past, but it was a new one (possibly the one partially identified on the second rehearsal)
IA2134

After this the weather improved greatly and no more aircraft were missed.

11:03 MiG29 formation
KBU702, KBU727, KSU906


12:08 Air Force Attack Helicopter formation
Prachand: ZF4836
AH64E: ZV4804, ZV4813
Rudra: ZD4159, ZD4161

12:09 Light Transport formation
C-47 VP905; Do228s KD710, KD723

12:11 C130 and CN295 formation
CA7101, KC3801, KC3802

12:12 Elint and SU30 formation
KM3554, SB064, SB159

12:13 P8 and SU30 formation
IN323, SB019, SB123

12:14 C17 and Su30 formation
CB8008, SB407, SB429

12:16 Tejas formation
LA5017, LA5030, LA5028, LA5027

12:17 Jaguar formation
JS108, JS124, JS128, JS136, JS208, JS212

12:18 Rafale formation
BS025, RB004, BS007, BS008, BS019, BS003

12:19 Su30 formation
SB307, SB134, SB220

12:20 Single Rafale
RB001

Only one single Rafale today. The 14 additional aircraft comprised 3 Mi17, 2 Rudra, 1 MiG29, 3 Su30, 2 Tejas, 2 Jaguar and a Rafale of which 10 were new to me, so very productive.

I notice that the French Phenix 048/F-UJCN returned to IXC today so there is every chance that it will participate in the flypast on 26th. A transport A330 F-UJCT also arrived at Delhi airport this evening, presumably with a VIP delegation which I expect with the Guest of Honor that is usually unveiled just prior to the event.