Click to play videoBangalore: The highpoint of the Bangalore air show has been the spectacular flying displays.
Breathtaking stunts of all types generally come with a statutory warning that they are not to be replicated by viewers. Forget the viewers, flying manoeuvres are forbidden to even most qualified pilots.
There's just a small tribe of exceptional fliers who have the privilege of being crowd pleasers - test pilots top guns, who are best qualified to push aircraft to their limits.
These are the fliers whose primary business is to be the first to fly new and modified aircraft.
And nowhere is aviation so risky as in the business of testing military aircraft. For the community, which was pioneered by the likes of astronaut Neil Armstrong and Chuck Yeager - the first to break the sound barrier stunts at air shows is a walk in the park.
MiG Test Pilot Pavel Vlasov said, “Flying at air shows is a small part of our work. What we do here represents two-to-three years of our work."
Deaths of legends like Russian Alexander Fedetov, who was killed while testing the MiG-31, is a sobering thought for those who are constantly flirting around the thin red line.
But contrary to the glamorous image of the showmen - there is no room for thrill seeking sky jocks among them.
Boeing Test Pilot Ricardo Tavern said, “Looks like that way at air show but so much hard work."
Thanks to the technology, risks to test pilots have decreased substantially since the 1950s, when they were being killed at the rate of one a week. But it still remains the most dangerous activity in aviation.
Test pilots do not go to war, but their role in no less heroic. Ensuring the reliability of war machines in the air represents the pinnacle of military aviation.
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