29 aircraft join Dirgantara Rally

29 aircraft join Dirgantara Rally

JAKARTA (JP): Twenty-nine single- and double-engine airplanes
will take to the skies from Jakarta to Lombok during the
Dirgantara Rally 96 aero-safari which starts this weekend.

Indonesia's CN-235 aircraft will join the AS-202 Bravo, T-34,
Piper Cherokee, Husky, Dakota and some helicopters in the three-
day across-the-sky parade.

"Malaysia and Singapore will take part in the rally," Vice
Marshall Irawan Saleh, National Air Defense commander and the
rally's coordinator, said yesterday.

The National Air Force's top brass, civilians and athletes
from the Indonesian Aerosport Federation are among the
participants.

It will be the second festival of its kind in Indonesia after
the initial event 10 years ago. Irawan said that the second aero-
safari is being held to celebrate the National Air Force's golden
anniversary.

The rally, which will cover more than 1,500 kilometers, will
be divided into three stages.

After the flag-off at Halim Perdanakusuma air base in East
Jakarta on Saturday, participants will fly east to Cirebon,
Semarang, Purwokerto and Surakarta before landing in Yogyakarta.

All planes will continue east to Madiun, Malang, Denpasar and
Lombok on the second day. The final stage will be a U-turn
passage from Lombok to Surabaya, Semarang and Cirebon before
touching down at Halim Perdanakusuma. (yan)