.bmp)
.bmp)
ZHUKOVSKY, Russia-Russian President Vladimir Putin took the pilot's seat on Wednesday as he was shown around a new airliner, leaving the man likely to succeed him in the co-pilot's chair.The seating arrangements during a tour of an aircraft-testing facility may have come about by chance, but they could also be a reflection of the relationship between the two men after Putin steps down from office in May.He has said he is prepared to serve as prime minister if Dmitry Medvedev is elected in a March 2 poll, but many analysts predict it will be Putin who is really in command.An amateur aviation buff who once traveled to an official visit in a fighter jet, Putin climbed enthusiastically up the steps of the Tu-334 passenger aircraft followed, after some hesitation, by former law professor Medvedev.Reporters on the ground could see through the cockpit windows that Putin was sitting in the pilot's seat with Medvedev alongside him.Earlier, Putin encouraged 42-year-old Medvedev to climb into the cockpit of a Yak-130 training jet. Instead of taking the pilot's seat, Medvedev climbed into the navigator's seat at the back of the cockpit.KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY
Both men were at the facility at Zhukovsky, near Moscow, to inspect plans to turn the site into a high-tech aircraft design centre -- part of a Kremlin plan to restore Russia's status as a major aircraft manufacturer.
To read more go to :
As in the days of Noah....
