Sun played hide-and-seek in Bir-Billing on the first day of the Paragliding World Cup forcing action to be cancelled on Sunday. 14-year-old Yukesh who is designated by the global body Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI) to check for weather conditions before the race competition officially begins, shared that multiple factors added to day 1 being called off.
"There were other things (besides the cloud cover) that cancelled the race. There was no sun so there won't be any thermal winds to help the gliders. Further, there was a little bit of fog cover affecting visibility in Billing and then there were plenty of clouds," said Yukesh who has been flying since the age of 12 years old.
The competition was supposed to kick-start at 10 in the morning, which was pushed by an hour due to the conditions. later at around noon, the task committee for the competition decided to call off things completely.
However, this didn't dampen the mood and surge in number of people at the landing spot in Bir. Multiple free fliers were in action and there were various acrobatic pilots to woo the crowd. Although, the biggest cheer of them all was reserved for Bollywood actress and co-owner of IPl team Kings XI Punjab Preity Zinta who spread her wings with the support of local pilot Shamsher Singh.
Celebrity pilot
This isn't Shamsher's first celebrity assistance flight. He had flown Omi Vaidya famous for his portrayal of Chatur in Bollywood movie 3 Idiots in Dharamshala earlier. "It was a great experience. Did feel slightly nervous and excited at the start but she was really nice about it. But it's okay. I've been flying with VIP's and VVIP's for nine years now," he said upon landing and taking a selfie with Zinta.