Literally scaling new heights, Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata on Thursday took off in a multi-role combat aircraft F-16 at the Bangalore Aero Show for a 35 minute sortie.
Tata, 69, undertook the flight in co-pilot's seat, which was commandeered by Paul Hattendorf, the test pilot of Lockheed Martin, the manufacturer of the aircraft.
The jet belongs to Bloc 50 of the US Air Force. F-16, also known as Fighting Falcon, is in the race for Indian Air Force's mega plans of acquiring 126 multi-role combat aircraft. Lockheed has been lobbying hard to sell its jet to India. With this, Tata has now become the oldest Indian to fly the American-made aircraft.
Lockheed Martin aeronautics director, communications, Joe Stout said the company had approached Tata for the flight as he was a respected industry leader and himself a pilot licence holder.
"We had met him before when Tata had visited US earlier. We had offered him to fly F-16 simulator but his tight schedule prevented him from doing so. When we brought F-16 for this air show we approached him and he agreed," Stout said.
Tata, who was in a G-suit and appropriately attired for the sortie, was found to be fit for it despite his age. "Basic physical fitness tests were carried out on him, including his blood pressure, vision, colour blindness and heart condition," he said.
Asked if at 69, age was a deterrent to fly, Stout said, "I don't think so. Only thing is you have to meet the basic physical requirements," he said.
Stout said, in the sky Tata was given full control of the flight for sometime. The F-16 can go up to 9gs (highest gravitational measurement) and can acquire a speed of over Mach-2, which denotes that it goes up to twice the speed of sound.
On Wednesday, Tata was given the opportunity to sit inside the aircraft with the full pilot gear on. Tata, who holds a pilot's licence, had said the thought of the F-16 flight "excites me very much."
The Tatas are not new to aviation. Ratan Tata's predecessor JRD Tata is celebrated as father of India's civil aviation. JRD Tata had launched Tata Airlines in 1932, which was nationalised in 1953 and rechristened Air India. Ratan Tata himself flies the Falcon 200 owned by group company, Indian Hotels.
