Naveen Jindal flies French Rafael at Bangalore’s Aero India show
February 12th, 2011 - 1:22 pm ICT by ANI
Bangalore, Feb 12 (ANI): Lok Sabha MP Naveen Jindal took to the skies as he co-piloted Dassault’s Rafael fighter aircraft on the third day of the Aero India 2011 show here.
Jindal, who holds a commercial pilot’s license, said that the fighter plane went upto 50,000 feet high.
“It was an amazing experience for me and when the aircraft takes off the amount of thrust and speed that you feel its like you can not feel anywhere. It feels like a rocket or like a bullet that has been fired. So, that’s the most amazing feeling,” said Jindal.
He said he did not experience any difficulty or discomfort even during the manoeuvres as he has been on a fighter aircraft before.
Jindal is the third celebrity to fly a combat aircraft during the air show.
Indian ace shooter and Olympic gold medalist Abhinav Bindra flew fighter jet F-16 Super Viper of the US aerospace major Lockheed Martin Thursday, while India’s only cosmonaut Wing Commander (retd) Rakesh Sharma co-piloted Super Hornet on Friday.
Ace Indian cricketer Rahul Dravid also visited the air show and was seen enjoying the fighter jets at the show.
The F/A-18 Super Hornet is in the race for supplying 126 Medium-MultiRole Combat Aircraft (M-MRCA) to the Indian Air Force under a 10.8 billion dollars deal expected to be signed in the next financial year.
The participants in the show represented the civil and military aerospace manufacturers from 40 countries including the US, Britain, Russia, France, Germany, Italy, Israel, Belgium, Brazil, Spain, Ukraine and the Netherlands.
The Air show kick started on February 9 and will end on February 13. (ANI)
- Ratan Tata to fly F/A-18 Super Hornet at Aero India - Feb 10, 2011
- Ratan Tata co-pilots Boeing fighter at air show - Feb 10, 2011
- India shops for combat aircraft at Farnborough - Jul 20, 2010
- Bollywood star Shahid Kapoor flies in F-16 at air show - Feb 12, 2011
- Congress MP Naveen Jindal flies in fighter at air show - Feb 15, 2009
- Nut graph on combat jet contenders - Apr 28, 2011
- Aerobatic display by fighter jets, copters to be major attraction of Aero India 2011 - Feb 08, 2011
- Antony opens Asia's biggest air show in Bangalore - Feb 09, 2011
- Unsuccessful firms keep options open on India's combat jets order - Apr 28, 2011
- All vendors given reasons for combat jet short-listing: IAF chief - May 02, 2011
- India set to pick $10.4-bn combat plane deal winner - Oct 07, 2011
- Aero India 2011: Global defence majors eyeing big deals from Indian armed forces - Feb 08, 2011
- Defence ministry panel to consider combat jet deal next month - Sep 22, 2011
- US will have to offer India generous terms to seal combat aircraft deal: Expert (Part-II) - Jan 28, 2011
- Eurofighter to offer renewed bid for IAF order soon (Lead) - Jun 09, 2010
Tags: abhinav bindra, aero india, aerospace manufacturers, combat aircraft, commercial pilot, dassault, f a 18 super hornet, fighter aircraft, fighter jet, fighter jets, fighter plane, indian air force, indian cricketer, jindal, lockheed martin, Lok Sabha, olympic gold medalist, rahul dravid, rakesh sharma, wing commander