Squadron leader Kamaljeet Kaur became the first Indian female aviator to fly a heritage aircraft on Tuesday at the Indian Air Force’s Hindon facility on the outskirts of Delhi.
After India’s Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha announced last month that IAF would start allowing female fighter pilots for the first time, this is another momentous event for the force.
Kaur was accompanied by Tracey Curtis Taylor of Britain, who is emulating a worldwide solo air trip made by the legendary Amy Johnson from Britain to Australia in 1930.
While Taylor flew a Boeing Stearman, Kaur flew the heritage Tiger Moth biplane, which was first built in the 1930s. Both the planes share a resemblance in terms of engineering.
Tracy Taylor started her journey on October 1 and reached India flying over Europe and the Mediterranean before reaching Pakistan crossing the Gulf of Oman. She has flown over 13,000 miles in 55 days and expects to reach Australia by the beginning of 2016.
“It feels as if I am finally breaking free of the shackles of life and fulfilling a destiny which was always meant to be,” she was quoted as saying by Business Standard.