Kalam realises childhood dream

A P J Abdul Kalam today became the first president to make a sortie in a supersonic fighter jet, fulfilling a childhood dream, when he made a flight in a Su-30MKI multi-role combat aircraft from an airbase here.

"It was a dream of mine since 1958, when I became an engineer, to fly in a fighter aircraft," Kalam said after the 36-minute flight during which the frontline jet soared to a height of 25,000 feet, or about 7.5 km above the earth.

Clad in a G-suit to protect him from the intense gravitational forces experienced during supersonic flights, the beaming 75-year-old president came out from the jet and shook hands with senior IAF officers at the Lohegaon airbase.

Kalam, who in February became the first president to make a sortie in a submarine, said, "It was a beautiful experience ...There was no time to be afraid." Asked if he was nervous, prompt came the reply, "No, not at all because I had a good captain with me."

He said wing commander Ajay Rathore, the commanding officer of the SU-30 squadron who piloted the jet, had given him "training last night" for the flight.

Kalam, who had once applied for the Air Force and was bitterly disappointed after he was rejected, exhorted the youth to take up a career in the armed forces.