1974 in India

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[edit] The Human Bird

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Russia had not yet made their first hang glider flight so Indian aviation enthusiasts of the 1970s and the press alike were pushing for a success in what was being viewed as a grand accomplishment not unlike the moon landings of the sixties.

Aviation has always been a passion in India, from the Vimana flying ships of ancient Sanskrit to the purchase of Air India’s first 747’s in the early seventies a fascination with flying captured the wonderment of a nation. In India's more modern history Vishwa Bandhu Gupta (news man/aviation enthusiast) built India’s first "human powered kite" (1974) harkening back to Indias aviation roots. Known as The Human Bird, Caril Ridley flew from one of maharajas hill-towers near Sonar Hot Springs where children were let out of school and spectators from surrounding villages gazed upward entranced by the image of a butterfly shaped wing soaring from the cliff high above. Stories from Vedic scriptures were evoked harkening such fervent history found in ancient text;

“On this sun-like, divine, wonderful chariot the wise disciple of Kuru flew joyously upward and when becoming invisible to the mortals who walk the earth, he saw wondrous airborne chariots by the thousands.” (Mahabharata)