Abhinav Bindra's Fantasy Flight

First Indian to win an Olympic gold medal Abhinav Bindra took a free ride in a Lockheed Martin 'F-16IN' during the Aero India international air show 2009 at the Yelahanka air force base in the month of February, 2009.

After a sortie for more than 45 minutes Abhinav Bindra claimed it to be the best thing he has experienced after winning the gold medal in Olympics.
''Words cannot explain the excitement I underwent in those 45 minutes on board the F16IN. It was simply ecstatic and I'm still coming to terms with the experience. It was probably similar to what I felt when I won the Olympic Gold last August,'' Said Bindra.

The fourth generation F-16IN is in race for the IAF order floated to induct 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) into its depleting fleet and as a replacement in phases to the ageing Russian-made MiG-21 fighters.
At the controls of the 'F-16IN' was Lockheed's test-pilot Paul 'Bear' Randall, who has clocked 4,500 hours of flying time on various F-16 models.

"We went away from the airfield, pulled off a lot of Gs, up to 6.5 Gs. We did some maneuvers like turns and rolls. And we flew past the clouds at 20,000 feet and almost hit the speed of sound,'' Randall said, giving 10/10 to the gold medalist.
Bindra also had the privilege of manning the flight for a few minutes. "I felt I was in able hands,'' the pilot said about giving the controls to Bindra.

Below are the pictures taken by me before his take off.


Abhinav Bindra being told how to step into and step out of a cockpit at the Aero India International Air Show. After a Reassuring smile from Abhinav Bindra he was asked to come down and and few more tips were given to him before he took the co-pilot ladder to take his seat in the F-16In fighter jet craft.






Abhinav Bindra after taking the co-pilot seat and the helmet on he wavs to the waiting media before the pilot hops on to whizzz him in air for 45 minutes.






Abhinav Bindra waves to the F-16In ground staff from the co-pilot seat, even as the doors to the cockpit closes, then stares into the setting sun for a few moments, looks up towards the sky for an quite prayer before checking the gap between his head and the cockpit's closed door even as he keeps plugging on the oxygen mask on to his nose.
Though Abhinav Bindra looked very nervous he put up an brave face by not looking at the media but instead kept his nerves like the way he displayed while winning the Olympic Gold.

And then finally Abhinav Bindra the first Indian Olympic Medal winner leaves land in an supersonic F-16In fighter jet craft to touch the unlimited parts of the Bangalore skies.

Is the 'Cold War' Over?

Is the cold war over? Well for anyone with a little bit of access to media briefings at the recently concluded Aero India 2009 Show, could get to see the 20 year old famous 'Cold War' tactics being used by USA and Russia to get the 450,000 corers rupees or 1000 billion dollar contract for 125 medium sized fighter jets which the Indian Union plans on ordering to upgrade it's Air Force strength and capability to strike with precision and speed. In these times of recession, the USA which has started to face the heat and Russia which is facing a slide down on their economy for more than a decade, this offer looks like a boon from the bolt.

Lockheed Martin which owns the F-16 Super Viper jets were holding an media briefing soon after their competitor Mikoyan the owners of MIG 35 had held one at the same venue in the media center. One of the Russian journalist stayed back while the rest of them walked out along with the Russian Ambassador to India along with the top brass of the MIG 35 company. As the other Indian media were settling into their chairs two of the top brass of the Lockheed Martin officials were seen arguing with Olga Pospelova of the Russian Aviation magazine and demanding that she leave the hall as her ID card issued did not match the one of the other media persons present in the hall.Though she pleaded that this was the card she was issued by the organizing authorities which fell on deaf ears and later she was escorted out with an bouncer on her tail.

Through these moments I kept framing the sequence of her being shouted at and later escorted out. As a journalist I quickly thought that what happened to the freeze on the 'Cold War' between the two countries. Well money they say can buy anything and now it is time for the cold war between the USA and Russia to fall prey to it.


The Lockheed Martin owned F-16 Super Viper (left) burns smoke over the Bangalore skies as Mikoyan owned MIG-35 (right) speeds past an flag at the Aero India Show 2009 at Yelanka Air Force base on 12th February, 2009.



Who says the cold war is over, it has started to heat up again with this multi billion dollar pending order for 125 fighter jets by the Indian government. The cold war was at it's warmest at the Aero India Show 2009. An sequence of the Russian Aviation Magazine representative Olga Pospelova being first asked by the representatives of the Lockheed Martin to kindly leave, and later escorted away to the door during an media briefing by the US defense company at the Yelanka Air force base in Bangalore on Friday, 13th February, 2009.