PUNE, 9 June 2006 — Indian President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam undertook a historic sortie in a Sukhoi 30 MKI multirole combat jet yesterday.
Kalam also created history by becoming the first Muslim president in the world to fly in a supersonic fighter aircraft.
Kalam, 74, completed a 30-minute flight in the fighter jet that soared to over 20,000 feet after taking off from the Indian Air Force’s Lohegaon airbase in the western Pune city.
He became the first Indian president and the oldest Indian to fly in an advanced fighter jet. In 2004, India’s then defense minister, George Fernandes, flew in a SU-30 MKI when he was 72.
The SU-30 MKI is India’s latest all-weather fighter that can reach a top speed of Mach 2 plus, or twice the speed of sound.
The aircraft was piloted by Wing Commander Ajay Rathore, commanding officer of the SU-30MKI squadron called the “Lightning Squadron”, with the president seated in the rear of the cockpit. Special attention was given to the age of the president and accordingly it was decided to fly the aircraft at a height of 20,000 feet only with minimum acrobatics in air.
Prior to the flight, the president was briefed about the “G” force effects. Dressed in the petrol-blue “G” force uniform, an excited Kalam stepped into fighter aircraft. After landing successfully the president first complimented Rathore and said, “My life long dream to fly in a fighter aircraft has finally come true.”
Kalam, who aspired to be a fighter pilot in his youth and was rejected by the Indian Air Force in the 1950s, was happy at realizing his dream of flying in a fighter jet. “It is a beautiful experience. There was no time to be afraid,” Kalam told reporters, adding he handled controls of the aircraft. Kalam said that the aircraft had flown at twice the speed of the sound. “It was terrific and very exciting.”
Kalam, who is also the supreme commander of India’s Defense Forces, already holds the record of being the first Indian president to have taken an undersea journey in a submarine. The adventurous Kalam was also India’s first president to have visited soldiers in the world’s highest battlefield, at the Siachen Glacier in the Kashmir region, at an altitude of 6,400 meters.
— With input from agencies
