President Pratibha Devisingh Patil is all set to fly into the record books today by becoming the world's first woman president ever to take to the skies in a fighter aircraft. The President, who arrived in Pune yesterday for a three day visit will fly in the Indian Air Force most potent multi-role combat aircraft, the Sukhoi-30 MKI, from the Lohegaon air base today. This is the second time in the last four years that the Lohegaon base will see the commander-in-chief of the Indian armed forces flying in a Su-30 MKI aircraft. On June 8, 2006, then President A P J Abdul Kalam had taken a 30-minute sortie in the Su-30 MKI, an exercise that was positioned as a familiarisation flight as well as an act of motivating youngsters to join the armed forces.<br/>
News On AIR | November 25, 2009 10:40 AM
President Patil to enter record books by flying fighter aircraft