Karnataka - Bangalore   

An exciting adventure

Staff Reporter

SOARING IN THE SKY: A member of the Para Motor Expedition giving a demonstration in Bangalore on Saturday. — Photo: K. Bhagya Prakash

BANGALORE: It is called the Kashmir to Kanyakumari (K2K) Expedition, the Indian Army's latest "never ever attempted before" adventure. The Army's Parachute Regiment will undertake the country's first Para Motor Expedition, covering a distance of about 4,000 km across India in 35 days. The adventure starts on October 21.

Taking off from Patni Top in Kashmir, the team of five will set the adventure spirit soaring, with ports of call at Udhampur, Jammu, Pathankot, Jalandhar, Chandigarh, Meerut, Aligarh, Agra, Nagpur, Adilabad, Hyderabad, Kurnool, Puttaparti, Bangalore and Kanyakumari.

The team, led by Col. M.S. Sandhu, will also have Major R.K. Mishra, Naik Raju, Naik Prem and Naik Pramod. The expedition equipment is sponsored by ITC Limited.

To add a dash of colour and aerial splendour, the expedition will also feature special Aero Sports airshow in Bangalore (November 16), Jammu (October 21), Jalandhar (October 23), Chandigarh (October 25), Agra (October 30), Kamptee (November 6), Secunderabad (November 11), Madurai (November 20) and New Delhi (December 5).

The airshows will feature skydiving, winch paragliding, parasailing, ballooning, power hang gliding and microlight flying, besides para motor displays.

The Agra airshow will also feature aerial displays by the aerobatic team, Suryakiran, says Brig. V.K. Sharma, SM commandant of the Parachute Regiment Training Centre in Bangalore.

The flying team will comprise an integral ground support element, a series of mobile detachments spread across two flying days on the closest road lateral along the flight path progressing by leapfrogging ahead. "It will be responsible for air space management, search and rescue, coordinating with all military and civil agencies en route, getting clearances from Air Traffic agencies and providing all integral administrative support required," according to Brig. Sharma.

A para motor uses a two-stroke 312cc German engine. The engine is battery and hand-operated and made up of aviation standard material. For propellers, a set of four blades made up of carbon fibre is used. The gliders attached to the para motor are specially designed and manufactured by the Hong Kong-based firm, Swing.

It can take a load of 140 kg and maintain a forward speed of 54 kmph at zero wind speeds.

The motor also features a reserve parachute that is mounted for safety.

This could be used to land the pilot and the machine safely during emergency. The Army follows a 30-day syllabus to train a pilot fit for flying under simple basic conditions.

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