bangalore there couldnt have been a better beginning for shashank h r winner of the gripen contest when the swedish fighter aircraft took wing with shashank on board it was his first flight ever interestingly he had not even been on a commercial aeroplane before this in his lifethis finalyear engineering student from bms engineering college got a chance to fly along with chief test pilot robin norlander after winning a contest conducted by them i have flown celebrities politicians and journalists but this is the first time i am flying a person who has never been in air before i was nervous for him thinking hed be nervous i didnt want him to have a bad experience i met him in the morning briefed him and tried to make him relax said robinthe team performed climbing and descending turns 360degree turns and finally joined a triangular formation with saab 2000 and saab 340 in front of the audience shashank was in charge for 30 minutes the pilot said shashank was comfortable as he was used to video games remind him of the gate exam that he was to take today and pat comes the reply gate will come next year even if i was to take it this year i wouldnt have come out with flying colours i took the right decision what shashank did shashank who flew in the copilots seat the seat behind the lead pilots in the gripen combat aircraft on sunday was allowed to operate the stick and rudder pedal inside the cockpit for almost 30 minutes on a flight of 1 hour and 5 minutes the stick helps bank the aircraft to the left and right and fly it up and down the rudder operated by foot is an aid that helps the aircraft fly towards the left and right