Tejas the real hero, says Sindhu after flying a sortie

Bengaluru: Ace Indian shuttler P V Sindhu wore yet another feather in her cap by becoming the first woman to do a sortie in the indigenously built Light Combat Aircraft Tejas at Aero India show here Saturday and described it as the ‘real hero.’ 

“I am very happy about being the first woman to fly the Tejas. This day is dedicated for women. Hence I will remember this day forever,” she told reporters here after the 40-minute sortie.

Showering praise on the Tejas, Sindhu said the real hero was the indigenously built aircraft and added it was a great experience and opportunity to be the co-pilot.

“It was definitely a great experience and a great opportunity. I feel very honoured that captain Siddharth showed me all the stunts,” she said.

Captain Siddharth was the main pilot.

Replying to a query, Siddharth said Sindhu pulled 5G force.

G-force stands for either the force of gravity on a particular extraterrestrial body or the force of acceleration anywhere.

It is measured in g’s, where 1 g is equal to the force of gravity at the Earth’s surface, which is 9.8 meters per second per second.

Asked if she wished that a woman makes the first trip to space under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Gaganyan yatra programme, Sindhu said it was upto the union government to take the decision.

“I will leave it for them (central government) to take a decision in this regard, but definitely they are doing a very great job,” she said.

Army Chief General Bipin Rawat and Principal scientific advisor to the Indian Government, Prof K Vijaya Raghavan, had also flown sorties on the Tejas 

The army chief flew the sortie on February 21, a day after the HAL-made fighter jet received the Final Operational Clearance at the air show, signalling it was combat ready.

The Initial Operational Clearance was given in 2013 and IOC standard aircraft were inducted into IAF No.45 squadron in July 2016.

The Tejas will replace the aging Jaguar and Mig-21 fleet in the Indian Air Force.