President Pratibha Patil to fly in fighter jet

New Delhi: Pratibha Patil is 74 years old, the President of the country and she will do what no woman has done before when she flies in a Sukhoi, a frontline Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter jet on November 25.

IAF vice chief Air Vice Marshal PK Barbora on Tuesday said the force was "proud of the moment" when Patil will fly in the Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter jet, which also symbolises women empowerment.

"It is a record in the world that the first lady President will fly in one of the finest fighter jets. Not just the IAF but India should be proud of it... For a lady to fly at this age it might well get into the Limca books of record," Barbora told reporters.

Patil had expressed the desire to fly in one of the war jets of the IAF.

"It was the president's own desire... she wanted to fly and it is an order for us," said Barbora.

Patil has already undergone the stringent medical tests mandatory before undertaking the sortie in the fighter aircraft.

"First, the medical was carried out at the Rashtrapati Bhawan. She has cleared it as clean as anyone else... I must say that the lady has tremendous guts and she has acclimatised herself for the flight," the IAF Vice Chief added.

However, a routine pre-flight medical will be done on Patil on the morning of November 25 just before the flight. During the 30 minutes sortie, the Sukhoi-30 MKI will achieve a maximum speed of 0.9 Mach (1 Mach is the speed of sound).

"She is a fully fit lady. But keeping her age in mind we will restrict manoeuvering so that the president does not feel uncomfortable. It is not a combat sortie but a familiarisation sortie," he said.

"We are planning to do subsonic (below the speed of the sound) and to see that there is no visible discomfort to the president," Barbora added.

The President has been doing Yoga and treadmill exercises to keep herself fit.

Patil is following in the footsteps of her predecessor APJ Abdul Kalam.

Patil, who is India's first woman President, will also become the first woman to fly in an IAF fighter plane. The Air Force currently has 784 women officers working in different branches, but presently they are barred from the fighter stream.

"We have lady pilots in the IAF. I think it will take some time before they (females) are taken in the fighter stream," added Barbora.

Earlier Kalam, the father of the Indian missile programme, had taken a ride in a submarine in 2006 and followed it up with a sortie in a Sukhoi the same year.