India's First Civil Plane Saras Takes To The Skies After Nearly A Decade
SARAS taking off from HAL Airport at Bangalore
The new upgraded version of SARAS, the indigenous transport aircraft developed by National Aeronautics Laboratory, "successfully" made its maiden flight in Bengaluru on Wednesday.
SARAS PT1N, a 14-seater passenger aircraft, is an upgraded version of the plane, after the second prototype of SARAS had crashed during a test flight killing all the three crew members on board, on the outskirts of the city near Bidadi in March 2009.
The aircraft took off at about 11 am from HAL airport and flew for about 40 minutes at the maximum height of 8500 feet at the speed of 145 knots.
"All the system parameters are found normal," an official release said, describing it as a "text book flight."
Designed and developed by CSIR-NAL, a frontline aerospace research laboratory, the flight 'SARAS PT1N' was commanded by Wg Cdr U P Singh, Group Captain R V Panicker and Group Capt K P Bhat from IAF-Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE), the release said.
The 'chase aircraft' (KIRAN) was piloted by Gp Captain Badrish and telemetry commanded by Gp Captain Naraynen, Wg Cdr Pandey and Wg Cdr R Sridhar (Retd), it said.
The aircraft is seen as culmination of the efforts of team CSIR-NAL, IAF-ASTE, Center for Military Airworthiness and Certification (CEMILAC), HAL and Directorate General of Aeronautical Quality Assurance (DGAQA).
Council of Scientific and Industrial Research said the production version aircraft will be of 19-seat capacity and will undergo civil/military certification.
The first prototype of the plane had made its first flight in May 2004.
SARAS PT1N, a 14-seater passenger aircraft, is an upgraded version of the plane, after the second prototype of SARAS had crashed during a test flight killing all the three crew members on board, on the outskirts of the city near Bidadi in March 2009.
The aircraft took off at about 11 am from HAL airport and flew for about 40 minutes at the maximum height of 8500 feet at the speed of 145 knots.
"All the system parameters are found normal," an official release said, describing it as a "text book flight."
Designed and developed by CSIR-NAL, a frontline aerospace research laboratory, the flight 'SARAS PT1N' was commanded by Wg Cdr U P Singh, Group Captain R V Panicker and Group Capt K P Bhat from IAF-Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE), the release said.
The 'chase aircraft' (KIRAN) was piloted by Gp Captain Badrish and telemetry commanded by Gp Captain Naraynen, Wg Cdr Pandey and Wg Cdr R Sridhar (Retd), it said.
The aircraft is seen as culmination of the efforts of team CSIR-NAL, IAF-ASTE, Center for Military Airworthiness and Certification (CEMILAC), HAL and Directorate General of Aeronautical Quality Assurance (DGAQA).
Council of Scientific and Industrial Research said the production version aircraft will be of 19-seat capacity and will undergo civil/military certification.
The first prototype of the plane had made its first flight in May 2004.
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