The Indian Air Force has sent its first microlight expedition on Friday and the Air Chief Marshal, F H Major flagged off the expedition from the Hindon air base at 8 am. On a mission to break the existing world record and to create a new record to fly over the world in a single engine aircraft, Wg Cdr Rahul Monga and Wg Cdr Anil Kumar started this expedition to cover 40,806 kilometers in 64 days.
According to the report, the expedition has gone to Allahabad and it will go to Bagdogra for some rest. After that the IAF duo officers would head out to Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, China, Russia United States, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Denmark, UK, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Iran, Oman.
After Oman they will come back to India by making entry from the Western region by taking rest in Jamnagar and Udaipur. Their final destination will be Delhi.
At present, Colin Bodill of UK holds the world record to circumnavigate the globe solo in a weight-shift microlight flight. He had done the journey in 99 days in 2001.
Now, the IAF team is ready to complete the journey in just 64 days to better Bodill’s record. The duo officers have the plan to fly back to Delhi on August 4.
Monga and Kumar are flying a two-seater German-designed; Ukraine-manufactured aircraft CTSW plane with a Rotax engine. Wg Cdr Monga has already done a India trip. He also holds the record to reach an altitude of 21,000 feet in May 2004 at the Hindon air base. This is the highest altitude that is gained by an Indian in a microlight aircraft.
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Image:TOI
