Indian Air Force Arrives at Nellis


Message posted by Gregos on August 06, 2008 at 14:45:57 PST:

A “little birdy” emailed me with the heads up that the Indian Air force was due at Nellis sometime this morning. So up to Nellis Air Force Base I go. Since the sun was over Area II at 9:00am, I went up to Las Vegas Blvd just short of the I-15 on ramp -way out on the Area II side for better sun. At 10:45am I heard a foreign voice call in over Apex with the call sign “Astro Zero Two.” A flight of (4) SU-30s inbound for Runway 21R. Following shortly behind them came their “Heavy.” I didn’t catch his call sign as the fighters were having trouble understanding which runway was active. The “Heavy” came in minutes behind them. Since it was not the best spot in distance, I zoomed back to the race track for the next flight of four. This time the call sign “Tiger One One” came in at 11:10am with another flight of (4) SU-30s. At the same time a flight of (4) F-15s Call sign “Cowboy” and (2) Aggressors “Ivan” also came in to land and the scanner lit up with activity. I stayed for another 15 to 20 minutes and all was silent. On the way home just as I left Nellis, I heard the tower call “Astro Zero One Heavy” I could not hear the pilots reply. Then the tower asked if there were anymore of “their” fighters airborne? I assume that that was another Tanker or Cargo plane of the Indian AF.

As I type this, I still hear “Tiger Two Two” having squawk problems and the tower asking for him to check and then reset his transponder. The tower said he was squawking 4733 if you were wondering. Just from what I heard on the scanner, this may be an interesting Red Flag with the language barrier and all. I mean this in no disrespect to the Indian AF -As their English is far more superior to my Indian! But all I can say is things might get interesting over the radio…

Attached link: http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/view/20264498

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