16 thoughts on “NDTV’s Vishnu Som Flies The Gripen NG”
SierLapalang
When the Chinese have launched their own 5th generation stealth fighter we are still playing with Western toys such as GripenNG,Rafale etc.It is a bad omen for the country's security.
China have not a functional 5th G fighter. They have an empty shell who are many years from going in to service. With new sensors its not even sure if F22, F35, PAK and J20 will be as effective in the future as believed now. Not even USA can afford an all stealth fleet of fighters.
Flight Trials started in 1988 And they also use American Engine good MAKE WAY TO TECHNOLOGY THRESHOLDS AND SANCTIONS REMEMBER WHAT US DID RIGHT NOW TO IN THE CASE OF RADAR FROM IAI ROLL THE DICE TAKE THE CHANCE
NDTV's credibility has been destroyed, directly or indirectly. Ms. Dutta campaigned for D. Raja on behalf of Congress Govt. So I wonder how can I trust Vishnu Som too. Is he campaigning for Gripen NG? Almost all the media in India is always support Congress!
I feel Gripen NG is the best MMRCA considering the value, size & Tech. But I am not an Aviation expert. Anyway, after this Burka Gate, most of the "well known" journaists' background is very much exposed. Only what's remaining for them is their big, long never-exhausted tongue. "Annaconda" in the mouth in India's Sickcular Journos.
I AGREE WITH ONE ANONYMOUS COMMENTS ON ndtv. I am scared of them! week before, they posted an article on mr. raul vincithat he did not eat a kabab from the 5 star hotel but from a small shop. When will our journos behave?
Vishnu Som is not a fighter pilot, a test pilot, or a flight test engineer. Any talk of Som "flying" the Gripen NG or any other fighter a/c is pure BS! He was merely a passenger. If he has claimed anywhere that he's flown any fighter a/c, then he's a charlatan and a masquerader. By the same argument, Pratibha Patil also "flew" the SU 30 MKI!
Actually, I did FLY the Gripen NG !! The following is an excerpt from an article published in Vayu also avalable on our website …
Just a little jealous ? Enjoy !
"After a sortie lasting about 45 minutes, in which we also flew in formation with a JAS-39 D which was filmed by camera people on an SK-60 trainer , Fredrik and I turned away for some low altitude runs after which he handed me controls. Throttle and stick response on this fighter is instantaneous and the set-up of the man-machine interface in the cockpit is truly impressive. Though the Raven AESA radar which forms the heart of the NG's weapon system had been removed ahead of this sortie since the NG goes into an extended modification period, I was able to appreciate and understand the symbology on the multi-function displays.
The Left hand MFD had been configured to provide a repeat of the pilot's head up display symbology over a wide-angle video underlay of the skies and terrain around us. SAAB's artificial horizon symbology is quite distinctive and extremely intuitive. The plane you are flying is figuratively placed at the centre of a hemisphere along a dotted line if you are in straight and level flight. Once you pull up, the symbology changes and the dotted line forms a reverse `U' as you progressively climb. On top of the `hemisphere' a large `X' appears atop the pole and if you fly down, the dotted lines form a `U' till you pass the straight dotted line which you allign yourself to if you want to regain level flight. Its tough to explain in words but very easy to understand when you see it.
Soon enough, it was time to land and Fredrik asked me if I was confident enough to land the jet. He had stick and throttle priority up front so there was no real danger. Engaging ILS, we flew towards Linkoping in pretty marginal weather. With no HUD at eye level, I kept my focus squarely on the left hand MFD where a targeting cue linked to the ILS appeared. With gentle inputs on the sensitive control stick, I had to place the velocity vector (essentially the plane) directly over the targeting cue and keep it there. As we lost altitude progressively, and turned into finals, Fredrik engaged autothrottle and, in a little while, lowered the undercarriage prompting a change in the HUD symbology. The targeting cue became a tiny dot now and the runway appeared in the distance, the threshold marked by a small U. Steering inputs needed now were more pronounced to keep the cue at the centre of the velocity vector. With a few hundred feet to go, the cue disappeared and Fredrik told me to place the velocity vector on the spot I wanted to touch down. He also, repeatedly told me to keep looking down at the MFD, not get distracted by the terrain coming up on all sides ! Now gliding over the runway, I attempted to flare to which Fredrik said `don't flare, just touch down" which I did. Touchdown was at about 140 knots. Fredrik said "mine" and manually engaged brakes, the Gripen coming to a halt in a few hundred metres.
It was as simple as that, an incredible feeling to do the real thing, for someone who spends hours landing jets on Microsoft Flight Simulator X on my home pc. But the Gripen sortie was not over yet. We refuelled in a few minutes without switching off the engine, returned to the runway and blasted off again for another sortie, quite similar to the first one.
There are lot of interesting features of the Gripen NG. For me, the lasting impression after this flight was the simplicity of its operations. For an untrained pilot to be able to land a fighter with such ease clearly indicates just how easy it is to fly the jet, a factor that the Gripen team says could really help out young, inexperienced pilots.
There's an extremely credible school of thought that opines that all this extolling of the virtues of the Gripen NG is to provide ammunition for some elements to sink the LCA Mk2. Specifically, certain influential quarters wish to sink the LCA Mk2 and freeze the LCA Mk 1 production to some paltry token numbers! I guess, one just has to wait and see.
When the Chinese have launched their own 5th generation stealth fighter we are still playing with Western toys such as GripenNG,Rafale etc.It is a bad omen for the country's security.
He wishes. Suggest you change that to "Flies as a passenger in".
China have not a functional 5th G fighter.
They have an empty shell who are many years from going in to service. With new sensors its not even sure if F22, F35, PAK and J20 will be as effective in the future as believed now.
Not even USA can afford an all stealth fleet of fighters.
when will vishnu som also fly in the 5th gen J20? looking forward to that video.
Had you not posted this before also, when he actually flew, or has he flown again now?
Vishnu has hired Vayu magazine and Livefist as his PR machines to further him and promote his activities…good!!
The name and symbol of Gripen is originally based upon the Indian symbol Garuda.
So if EFT, Rafale and Mig-35 are out of race, then Gripen can be purchased and renamed as Garuda in India.
Flight Trials started in 1988 And they also use American Engine good
MAKE WAY TO TECHNOLOGY THRESHOLDS AND SANCTIONS REMEMBER WHAT US DID RIGHT NOW TO IN THE CASE OF RADAR FROM IAI ROLL THE DICE TAKE THE CHANCE
NDTV's credibility has been destroyed, directly or indirectly. Ms. Dutta campaigned for D. Raja on behalf of Congress Govt. So I wonder how can I trust Vishnu Som too. Is he campaigning for Gripen NG? Almost all the media in India is always support Congress!
I feel Gripen NG is the best MMRCA considering the value, size & Tech. But I am not an Aviation expert. Anyway, after this Burka Gate, most of the "well known" journaists' background is very much exposed. Only what's remaining for them is their big, long never-exhausted tongue. "Annaconda" in the mouth in India's Sickcular Journos.
Ha ha super cool.. press for sale… okay, so he got a free ride and saab got an informercial.. dollars exchanged?
I would love to see an all Indian stuff!
I AGREE WITH ONE ANONYMOUS COMMENTS ON ndtv. I am scared of them! week before, they posted an article on mr. raul vincithat he did not eat a kabab from the 5 star hotel but from a small shop. When will our journos behave?
he did admit to subverting journalism 🙂 …and exactly that it is..commercials
IIRC..the engine is American ..something which contributed to LCA being "three legged"
Vishnu Som is not a fighter pilot, a test pilot, or a flight test engineer. Any talk of Som "flying" the Gripen NG or any other fighter a/c is pure BS! He was merely a passenger. If he has claimed anywhere that he's flown any fighter a/c, then he's a charlatan and a masquerader. By the same argument, Pratibha Patil also "flew" the SU 30 MKI!
@ anon @ 302 PM
whats a little lie in promoting videshi maal :)…after all he just left out the 'in' in som flew IN the gripen
Actually, I did FLY the Gripen NG !! The following is an excerpt from an article published in Vayu also avalable on our website …
Just a little jealous ? Enjoy !
"After a sortie lasting about 45 minutes, in which we also flew in formation with a JAS-39 D which was filmed by camera people on an SK-60 trainer , Fredrik and I turned away for some low altitude runs after which he handed me controls. Throttle and stick response on this fighter is instantaneous and the set-up of the man-machine interface in the cockpit is truly impressive. Though the Raven AESA radar which forms the heart of the NG's weapon system had been removed ahead of this sortie since the NG goes into an extended modification period, I was able to appreciate and understand the symbology on the multi-function displays.
The Left hand MFD had been configured to provide a repeat of the pilot's head up display symbology over a wide-angle video underlay of the skies and terrain around us. SAAB's artificial horizon symbology is quite distinctive and extremely intuitive. The plane you are flying is figuratively placed at the centre of a hemisphere along a dotted line if you are in straight and level flight. Once you pull up, the symbology changes and the dotted line forms a reverse `U' as you progressively climb. On top of the `hemisphere' a large `X' appears atop the pole and if you fly down, the dotted lines form a `U' till you pass the straight dotted line which you allign yourself to if you want to regain level flight. Its tough to explain in words but very easy to understand when you see it.
Soon enough, it was time to land and Fredrik asked me if I was confident enough to land the jet. He had stick and throttle priority up front so there was no real danger. Engaging ILS, we flew towards Linkoping in pretty marginal weather. With no HUD at eye level, I kept my focus squarely on the left hand MFD where a targeting cue linked to the ILS appeared. With gentle inputs on the sensitive control stick, I had to place the velocity vector (essentially the plane) directly over the targeting cue and keep it there. As we lost altitude progressively, and turned into finals, Fredrik engaged autothrottle and, in a little while, lowered the undercarriage prompting a change in the HUD symbology. The targeting cue became a tiny dot now and the runway appeared in the distance, the threshold marked by a small U. Steering inputs needed now were more pronounced to keep the cue at the centre of the velocity vector. With a few hundred feet to go, the cue disappeared and Fredrik told me to place the velocity vector on the spot I wanted to touch down. He also, repeatedly told me to keep looking down at the MFD, not get distracted by the terrain coming up on all sides ! Now gliding over the runway, I attempted to flare to which Fredrik said `don't flare, just touch down" which I did. Touchdown was at about 140 knots. Fredrik said "mine" and manually engaged brakes, the Gripen coming to a halt in a few hundred metres.
It was as simple as that, an incredible feeling to do the real thing, for someone who spends hours landing jets on Microsoft Flight Simulator X on my home pc. But the Gripen sortie was not over yet. We refuelled in a few minutes without switching off the engine, returned to the runway and blasted off again for another sortie, quite similar to the first one.
There are lot of interesting features of the Gripen NG. For me, the lasting impression after this flight was the simplicity of its operations. For an untrained pilot to be able to land a fighter with such ease clearly indicates just how easy it is to fly the jet, a factor that the Gripen team says could really help out young, inexperienced pilots.
Cheers
Vishnu
There's an extremely credible school of thought that opines that all this extolling of the virtues of the Gripen NG is to provide ammunition for some elements to sink the LCA Mk2. Specifically, certain influential quarters wish to sink the LCA Mk2 and freeze the LCA Mk 1 production to some paltry token numbers! I guess, one just has to wait and see.