IAF pilots create record in paramotor flying

Braving the elements, a team of Indian Air Force pilots has created a national record by completing a 10,000-km paramotor adventure expedition that traversed over mountains, deserts and plains.

Paramotor flying, which means flying in a powered paraglider, involves open cockpit flying where a pilot is exposed to the elements.

The IAF's 'Skyriders' team of 14 Air Warriors led by Wing Commander M.P.S. Solanki had set out on the arduous flight on February 1 from the Kalaikunda Air Force Station in West Bengal and returned to the base on Saturday.

An IAF statement said: "The team followed the eastern coast to Kanyakumari before turning northwards along the western coast till Gujarat. It then transited over the desert of Rajasthan, fields of Punjab and followed the foothills of the Himalayas till Jammu."

"The team then followed a southerly course till New Delhi and resumed on an easterly course through Uttar Pradesh and Bihar before arriving at Kalaikunda," the statement added.

The earlier paramotor flying national record was for 9,132 km.