President Pratibha Patil did today what no woman before her has ever done - fly in a Sukhoi-30MKI, an Indian Air Force fighter jet. The Sukhoi took off from the Lohegaon Air Force base near Pune and did a sortie of 30-minute.
Upon her arrival around 9 am, Patil, the supreme commander of the armed forces, was accorded a ceremonial guard of honour by the air-warriors. She then had breakfast since she cannot fly on an empty stomach.
The president, who is 74 years old, then changed into a special G-Suit (anti-gravity suit), which helps the flier withstand high gravitational pressure by preventing excessive blood from flowing to the brain.
Wednesday's epoch-making event was a culmination of more than three months' preparations after the president expressed a desire to fly in a Sukhoi.
Besides a fitness regime that she underwent, President Patil was given a detailed briefing on her proposed flight and an audio-visual presentation of what to expect before and during the flight by senior IAF officers at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
The briefing included know-how of the different controls and equipment inside the aircraft, how to enter the aircraft, what she can touch, what she cannot touch, how to communicate with the pilot, how to handle the flying accessories like helmet and G-Suit and how the world would be visible from inside during the flight, Singha explained.
"President Patil has been found medically absolutely fit to undertake this flight," Singha said proudly.
The Sukhoi-30MKI belongs to the Rhino squadron that was formed Nov 1, 1969, making it 40 years old this month.
The president's flight was commanded by Wing Commander S. Sajan and the aircraft hovered at speeds of between 700-800 km/ph or 0.9 Mac.
"However, it will not achieve the supersonic levels of around 1100 km/ph. President Patil will occupy the rear seat behind the pilot and the flight will last around half hour," Singha said.
Patil followed in the footsteps of her predecessor A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who had also flown in a Sukhoi from Pune in 2006.
The IAF currently has 784 women officers working in different branches, but at present they are barred from the fighter stream.
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