IAF's Round the World Microlight Expdn Crosses Intn'l Dateline

New Delhi, July 5 (UNI) The Indian Air Force's microlight aircraft -- presently on a 'Round the World' expedition -- entered the western hemisphere by crossing the International Date Line this morning.

The microlight aircraft took off from Anader in Russia and landed today at Nome in Alaska after crossing the IDL at about 0915 IST -- and thereby gained a day.

The IAF microlight expedition has been undertaken on the occasion of the IAF's Platinum Jubilee Year and was flagged off on June 1 last from Air Force Station, Hindan, near Delhi.

The expedition -- by Wg Cdr Rahul Monga and Wg Cdr Anil Kumar -- also aims to set a new world record by competing in the 300 Kg weight category microlight of make 'CSTW advance', according to an official spokesperson here.

On being asked over telephone how it felt to cross the IDL, Wg Cdr Monga shot back in his usual matter-of-fact manner: ''We have got one more day in our expedition to live it fully.'' The expedition has so far flown across Myanmar, Thailand, China and Russia -- and in doing so they have covered some of the most difficult terrain and successfully negotiated bad weather conditions.

The weather over China due to the current monsoon was particularly bad. The terrain of Eastern Russia and freezing Siberia was also traversed successfully.

Though the expedition was a few days behind schedule due to bad weather, the crew and the team at operations-centre is very confident of catching up and setting the new world record. The expedition was being tracked from its operations-centre in New Delhi by a satellite-tracking system called 'I-Trax' with a satellite-tracker on board.

The progress of the expedition can be seen on a satellite picture on website: as also on the IAF's official website by opening the expedition's link.

The microlight would be undergoing scheduled maintenance at Nome in Alaska after having completed in 80 hours of flying.

UNI