Army microlight expedition arrives in Jaipur to mark 50 years of the 1965 war

JAIPUR: The Army's microlight expedition team, commemorating 50 years of the 1965 war, arrived here today with a fleet of three microlight aircrafts.

The expedition led by a team of Army Adventure Wing was flagged off on September 5 from Mhow in Madhya Pradesh.

It took off from Hisar this morning and touched down at a privately owned airfield "Go Fly Zone" near Shahpura. After an hour, the team left for Kota, where it will perform at an air show on an island lake.

The expedition involves a cross-country flight over a distance of 3,250 km in about 13 days. The team has already flown for about 2,200 km covering Bhuj, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Suratgarh, Bhatinda and Hisar.

"It's been a very successful expedition. We fly in the day and do maintenance of the aircrafts during night hours. Such expeditions are always thrilling and adventurous," the team leader Lt Col M S Chawla told PTI.

"We are getting a good response from people. On the first day, we flew for nearly 800 km before landing at Bhuj, where we conducted an air show. From Bhuj, we proceeded toward Jodhpur, where our team dropped flower petals on a memorial. Thereafter, we flew to Bikaner, Suratgar, Bhatinda and Hisar," he said.

"We will reach Mhow on Tuesday," Chawla said.

Captain Vibhuti Singh Deora, owner of the Go Fly Zone -- Shahpura, said local people were thrilled to see the army's microlights landing.

Deora said it was for the first time that microlights landed at the airfield.