| Pune |
Updated: December 28, 2019 9:03:45 am
The MIG-27 bids farewell in Jodhpur on Friday.
“I would put it in just one word: intoxicating.” That was Wing Commander Vijay Joshi (retd) recalling his time inside a MiG-27.
In 1984, he was the first test pilot to fly the Russian-origin aircraft at the handing-over ceremony that December. On Friday, Joshi was at the IAF station in Jodhpur to mark the end of the aircraft's journey.
The 76-year-old was among the several serving and retired officers who watched the “swing-wing” aircraft they had once flown get decommissioned from service.
“It is the end of an era… The shift from MiG-21 to MiG-27 was a huge move forward and now, it is time to move on. I felt sad seeing the MiG-27 get retired but that was the only way,” says Joshi.
Wing Commander Vijay Joshi (retd)
Commissioned in 1963 as a fighter pilot, Joshi has flown the Sukhoi-7 and Mig-21, too, among other jets. And after retirement, he flew civilian and corporate aircraft. But there's something about the MiG-27 that continues to tug at his heart.
“The technology of swing-wing was really something,” he says, referring to the additional capability that allowed the aircraft to change the sweep of its wings…
