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A tale of two 900s

Two beautifully refurbished old world charm bikes, a Ducati Triple Nine and a Honda CBR 954RR. Restored perfectly well by the folks at Autologue Design.

The paint job, very well mated with the bikes own personality and with a personal touch, the bikes really boast about their former glory.

The Honda, beautifully crafted, perfected fairings, monster sounds and speed, a lot of excitement went into…

Dassault Aviation/Armee de Lair deployed three Rafale from Al Dhafra air base in the UAE. A pair of two-seaters were dedicated for flying displays, and the third, a single seater, was  on a static display.

Demonstrations will be provided by the Captain Benoit ‘Tao’ Planche who will show the 2014’s program, coached by Captain Brocard.

The three Rafale’s were under the responsibility of an engineering team from Support Squadron Engineers Technical Aerospace, from St Dizier Air Base, during Aero India.

Standard procedures are followed everytime a plane needs to go up in the sky. Both, the pilot and the technician make a round of the plane checking all important parts while doing a general check-up.

Going up in the sky, really requires a lot concentration. You really have to memorise every move you make up there, you have to imagine a race track up above. It all has to be there in your mind, always!! You can see below, Tao using his hands as a plane and performing all the manoeuvres that he memorised.

FINE ART, indeed!

When ‘Tao’ is in full flow, doing one manoeuvre after the other, it does get seriously loud on the ground.

Tao, meeting up with some of his ‘other’ friends.

Watching the last iteration of the Rafale Solo Display, right before sunset was epic. It was the best time to create fantastic images. The light was right, falling perfectly on the planes.

Everytime you’re back from your mission/aerobatic acts, your given a hero’s welcome and the pilots very well deserve it!

and then soon enough, the plane then becomes the playground of the ground crew!

Hats off to you, Mr. Benoit Planche

Duration of the Solo Display : 9 mn Operating height : from 100 Ft to 3000 Ft Speed : from 100Kt to Mach 0.95 G Limits : +10 G / -3 G

This post, I’m typically going to concentrate on everything that was the Aero Show. I think I caught about 6 to 7 iterations of the aero show, over the course of these 5 days.

A lot of coordination between all the authorities resulted in an ‘Aero India’ that was at par with world standards and probably even the biggest such expo in the world.

Honestly, it’s been a full year since Aero India took place and my memory isn’t really the sharpest. Here are some of best moments I captured at the Aero Show, with little or no words at all. Haha!!

Watching the ‘WASPS’ free fall to earth after getting to a certain altitude was thrilling to watch

‘A very nice paint job’, I would say.

The ‘Sarang’ group of helicopters were at their elegant best.

The ‘Red Bull’ guys did put on a good show everyday until that fateful moment, when one of them clipped the other’s wing while performing the manoeuvre pictured below on the right.

  The Breitling crew was a delight to watch, so were a few other group displays. Such coordination, much wow!

The sound and action these planes produced from their props/gills, fantastic to experience up-close.

  The Sukhoi’s, MIG’s and even the LCA Tejas, all of them displayed their proficiency in these aerobatic acts.

    It was a day of immense pride watching an indigenous product going up against the proven world masters in this field.

Even the C-17 Globemaster and other several ‘Hulk’ sized planes didn’t plan on missing the party.

The ‘Rafale Solo Display’ garnered a lot of attention from the crowd, more about that will follow in a detailed post just about Solo Display and everything that goes behind it.

This post, I’m typically going to concentrate on everything that was the Aero Show. I think I caught about 6 to 7 iterations of the aero show, over the course of these 5 days.

A lot of coordination between all the authorities resulted in an ‘Aero India’ that was at par with world standards and probably even the biggest such expo in the world.

Honestly, it’s been a full year since Aero India took place and my memory isn’t really the sharpest. Here are some of best moments I captured at the Aero Show, with little or no words at all. Haha!!

Watching the ‘WASPS’ free fall to earth after getting to a certain altitude was thrilling to watch

‘A very nice paint job’, I would say.

The ‘Sarang’ group of helicopters were at their elegant best.

The ‘Red Bull’ guys did put on a good show everyday until that fateful moment, when one of them clipped the other’s wing while performing the manoeuvre pictured below on the right.

  The Breitling crew was a delight to watch, so were a few other group displays. Such coordination, much wow!

The sound and action these planes produced from their props/gills, fantastic to experience up-close.

  The Sukhoi’s, MIG’s and even the LCA Tejas, all of them displayed their proficiency in these aerobatic acts.

    It was a day of immense pride watching an indigenous product going up against the proven world masters in this field.

Even the C-17 Globemaster and other several ‘Hulk; sized planes didn’t plan on missing the party.

The ‘Rafale Solo Display’ garnered a lot of attention from the crowd, more about that will follow in a detailed post just about Solo Display and everything that goes behind it.

‘Electricity, batteries and two wheels!’

Racing wouldn’t be the first thing to come to your mind when you hear these three words. Well, wasn’t I in for a cracker of a surprise.

In 2009, the news of Tork Motorcycles TX 01making it onto the podium at the Isle of Man hadn’t really spread  in India. Across the world, people had started to notice the debutant effort of the sole Indian manufacturer at…

#TeamAL : KTM X26

“If you can achieve that finish on wood, you’re definitely on the right track.” I was in for a nice surprise, didn’t believe my eyes when Mukul told me that the prototype kit for the shoot was actually made out of wood. I was like, no way is that wood, but when I got closer and turn it over, I saw them brown things underneath.

It was actually a very funny night. The shoot was sort of confirmed,…

The general public too pretty much loved the bikini-fairing/plastic cladding on the bike! Plastics are kept to an actual minimal on this Z, so much so, that its difficult to find plastic surfaces large enough to mount a GoPro on.

“Sugomi: An intense aura or energy given off by a person or object of greatness and felt by the viewer. Someone, or something, possessing sugomi inspires awe, leaves an indelible impression, is imposing in stature or ability, and commands respect.”

“Sugomi can be seen in the crouching form of a hunting predator as it gathers energy in preparation to strike, muscles tensed in anticipation, eyes locked onto its prey.”                    — Kawasaki

Sugomi influenced every decision on this bike, from the piercing headlights to the lack of things like traction control…. Its wheelie happy front wasn’t really bothering Bhuvan a whole lot. He was more wheelie happy than her, popping out-of-corner wheelie, off crests and even on tiny roads with a lit off-throttle response, and there goes the front, up in the sky, far from home.

Shooting her was a joyous task. Listening to her, even more so!! As usual, try making it to the ghats of Lavasa at sunrise for some gorgeous images. Angles and light, make beautiful compositions!

The power delivery is incredibly linear, with plenty of power across the entire rev range. Even from launch, the Z1000 pulls away from traffic quickly and doesn’t leave you waiting for the power to hit.

Its wheelie happy front wasn’t really bothering Bhuvan a whole lot. He was more wheelie happy than her, popping out-of-corner wheelies, off crests and even on tiny roads with a greedy throttle, and there goes the front, up in the sky, far from home, even on third gear.

      The Z1000 is quite a nice motorcycle featuring a lot of improvements for its price. It sharp, easy to ride and has plenty of speed and handling performance to have you smiling underneath your helmet. Even after all that character from this inline-four, it’s still missing that edgy thrill that’s at the heart of some of its chief rivals. But if you can look past that and are seeking reliable transportation that you can ride day in and day out then, the Kwacker fits the bill, or maybe thats something for its younger sibling, the 800.