Other States - Orissa   

Gliding merrily through the air

Photo: Linagraj Panda

Spirit of adventure: An officer of the Indian Army gliding near Balugaon in Ganjam district on Tuesday. —

BERHAMPUR: A hang gliding and paragliding expedition of the Indian Army is on its way from Bhubaneswar to Army Air Defence College (ADC), Gopalpur.

This long aero sport expedition was flagged off on November 17 in Bhubaneswar by Deputy Commandant of ADC N.C. Baunthiyal. This expedition would culminate on the ADC campus on November 24. It would coincide with the third ADC reunion celebrations to be held at the ADC on November 23 and 24.

During the expedition the team of paragliders and hang gliders would cover a distance of around 200 km. A total of three para gliders and three hang gliders are participating in the expedition. They would glide over and around the stretch of National High number 5 passing through Orissa during these eight days of their expedition. Till Tuesday the expedition had covered a distance of 75 km from Bhubaneswar. The team had to use 10 takeoff points for the launch of paragliders and hang gliders to cover this distance.

Both hang gliders and paragliders had to be either winch towed or the take off had to be made from hills for the launch offs. After getting down they are camping at near by villages to increase awareness regarding Indian army and aero sports among rural public.

The team comprises three officers and 14 other Army personnel of different ranks, who are led by Lt Col Parvinder Singh.

As it is first such major aero sport endeavour of the Indian Army, the expedition team had an extensive training at Kamshet, Ahmednagar, Pithoragarh, Devlali, Gurgaon and Army Air Defence College during last nine months. According to the ADC sources this expedition is first of its kind in India.

No such expedition of this magnitude has ever been carried out by anyone before in Indian Armed Forces.

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