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)