BANGALORE: Ratan Tata, the 69-year-old Tata Group chairman, made a 35-minute sortie on the F-16 multi-role combat aircraft at the Bangalore air show on Thursday.
Having become the oldest Indian — and first civilian — to fly the Lockheed Martin-manufactured Fighting Falcon, Tata will pilot Boeing’s F-18 Super Hornet fighter on Friday, a Boeing spokesman said.
Lockheed Martin and Boeing are vying for a major Indian Air Force contract for 126 multi-role combat aircraft.
“It was exciting... an exhilarating experience,” Tata said on disembarking from the fighter-bomber. “I flew at heights suited for supersonic speed and came down to as low as 500 ft.”
“Given a chance, I would love to fly again,” he said, still clad in a G-suit, a specialty wear that protects aviators and astronauts from blackouts at high levels of acceleration. Tata’s sortie took him to a height of 18,000 feet at Mach 1.3 (around 1,238 kph). The flight was commanded by Paul Hattendorf, Lockheed Martin’s chief test pilot. “I took the controls only during takeoff and landing,” Hattendorf said.
Lockheed Martin had approached Tata while he was in the US some time ago, to sound him out about flying their showpiece. Joe Stout, the company’s communications director, said they chose Tata because he is a respected industry leader and holds a pilot’s licence. “But he was too busy to fly there,” Stout said. “Since we brought the aircraft here for the air show, we asked him again and he agreed. Many ministers and industry leaders have flown the F-16 abroad.”
