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| - Fact Check: Vertical fighter jet stunts at Aero India 2023? Nope, this Dubai clip shows a toy plane
AFWA found that while similar manoeuvres have been witnessed at Aero India 2023, this video is neither recent nor from India. It shows a radio-controlled aircraft in Dubai.
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India Today Fact Check
This video shows a radio-controlled miniature jet in Dubai. It has no links to Aero India 2023.
The 14th edition of Aero India 2023 is currently taking place at the Yelahanka Air Force Station in Bengaluru. Ever since its inauguration by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 13, videos and photos of various aerial formations being showcased at the five-day biennial aerospace exhibition have dominated social media in India.
A video allegedly shot at the event, shows an aircraft hovering vertically, with its nose pointed towards the sky. The archived versions of such posts can be seen here and here.
AFWA found that while similar manoeuvres have been witnessed at Aero India 2023 this video is neither recent nor from India. It shows a radio-controlled aircraft in Dubai.
AFWA Probe
A reverse search of keyframes from the viral video led us to the same video shared on February 9 on Twitter. The tweet stated that it showed a Russian pilot flying the Sukhoi SU-35 aircraft. This suggested that the viral video was shot before the India aero show began.
Further searches led us to other social media posts containing the same video that also identified the aircraft as a Russian SU-35 fighter jet. However, we noticed that a few people had replied to these tweets pointing out that the aircraft in the video was a remote-controlled miniature and not the actual jet.
With the help of this clue, we searched for videos of remote-controlled miniatures of the jet and found a video shared in May 2021 on a YouTube channel named “Supercar Blondie”. The description of the video stated that it showed a radio-controlled fighter jet race held in a secluded area in Dubai. We noticed that the colour and design of one of these radio-controlled aircraft resembled the one in the viral video.
Alexandra Mary Hirschi, known online as “Supercar Blondie”, is a vlogger based in Dubai. In the video, Hirschi said that the miniature jet was a one-to-four-scale replica of a fighter plane. The owner of the jet, Mansour, added that it was a Sukhoi 30 model jet, fitted with canards while the other one was a Sukhoi 27. These RC aircraft cost about USD 30,000 and can go as fast as 500 kmph. A comparison between the model plane and the aircraft in the viral video can be seen below.
While this YouTube video did not contain the viral clip, other radio-controlled jets could be seen flying with their nose pointed towards the sky. Additionally, the pilots seen in the video were from the “Sky Hub RC” — a radio-controlled fighter jet club based in Dubai.
The website mentioned that these radio-controlled races take place at Al Lisaili RC Flying Field in Dubai. We compared photos of this location available on Google Maps with the viral video and found many similarities.
AFWA also spoke to Ludovic Bonnan, an RC pilot instructor and drone operator who is a member of the Sky Hub RC club. He said that the viral video was shot during the United Arab Emirates National Day celebrations at the Dubai RC Club on December 2.
Subsequently, we found a video of the UAE National Day 2022 celebration in which a man could be seen demonstrating a miniature jet at the same location. We noticed that his t-shirt contained the logo of Performance Aircraft Unlimited or PAU, a Florida-based company that manufactures RC aeroplanes. This same t-shirt was also visible in the viral video.
We also spoke to Mustafa, the owner of Gonzo Hobbies — a shop that sells these aircraft in UAE and GCC countries. He also confirmed to AFWA that the viral video shows a miniature SU-30 that his shop imported for a customer.
It’s noteworthy that Russian companies are displaying their defence systems at Aero India 2023. However, this video has nothing to do with the Indian aero exhibition.
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