President Patil creates history, flies a Sukhoi
Pune: President Pratibha Patil, 74, created history on Wednesday as she became the first woman to undertake a sortie on the Sukhoi-30 MKI from the Lohegaon air base. Dressed in the anti-gravity suit, the President waved to the media as her aircraft took off. Wing Commander S Sajan piloted the Su-30.
The Sukhoi-30MKI belongs to the Rhino squadron of the IAF. Her pilot Wing Commander S Sajan heads this top notch squadron. He has over 3,200 hours of flying experience, out of which more than 1,500 hours are on Sukhoi variants. He has been commended in the past by both Chief of Air Staff and Air officer Commanding in Chief, said a defence spokesperson in a press release.
The IAF has chalked out a special rectangular pattern of navigation route for Patil’s maiden sortie that will last 30 minutes.
The aircraft will touch a maximum speed of 0.9 Mach (700 to 900 kmph) and would be flying in formation with another two Su-30 MKIs on either side of the main aircraft. The president will be exposed to gravitational force up to level 2G.
“President Patil will be the first woman President anywhere in the world to fly the Su-30 MKI. It will be a basic flight, not the kind of combat manoeuvres that fighters generally do. It will more or less be similar to President Kalam’s flight in 2006 — except it will not be going supersonic,” said IAF spokesperson T K Singha earlier.
Before Kalam, then defence minister George Fernandes had undertaken had flown the Sukhoi in May 2004, clocking 1.15 Mach (about 1,500 kmph).
As per the IAF, all preparations have been made for the historic flight by the President.
Her flight became a reality after she was declared fit to fly. However, she will be subjected to few basic tests today also, just before the flight.
President Patil has been briefed and given a video-audio presentation on flying in a fighter jet plane by Air Force officers recently and will be again briefed today.
"We have completely evaluated her health. She has been preparing for this for the last two months and she is medically fit," Air Chief Marshal Naik had said earlier.
"Even on the day she goes on the sortie, she will be tested, just before she gets into the aircraft. Only if the President is medically fit on that particular day, she will take the flight," he said, when queried on the fitness of the 74-year-old President.
Being the Supreme Commander of the armed forces, it is a matter of pride for the IAF that she will be flying one of our aircraft," Naik said.