The indigenous HANSA-NG flying trainer designed by National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) has completed sea level trials. The aircraft is being developed under the aegis of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). The aircraft is being designed to meet the requirement of Indian flying clubs. NAL states that it has already received more than 80 Letters of Intent from various flying clubs.
The prototype aircraft underwent sea level trials from February 19 to Match 5 at Puducherry. The plane was flown from Bengaluru for these trials, covering a distance of 260 km in 1.5 hours at a cruising speed of 155 km/hr. In addition, the aircraft undertook 18 hours of test flying at Puducherry, piloted by Wing Commanders K V Prakash and Dilip Reddy from the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) premier Aircraft & Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE).
According to NAL, the objective of these trials was to evaluate handling qualities, climb / cruise performance, balked landing, structural performance including positive & negative G, power plant and other systems performance at sea level.
The prototype aircraft has so far completed 37 flights accumulating 50 hours of flying, and additional flights are required for grant of Type Certification from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. This is slated to be achieved in April, and thereafter, the manufacture of the aircraft will be offered to the public/private industry.
The indigenously developed flying trainer has a Just-In-Time Prepreg (JIPREG) Composite lightweight airframe and electrically operated flaps. A Rotax Digital Control Engine powers it. It offers improved visibility to its pilots with a bubble canopy with a wide panoramic view and features a state-of-the-art glass cockpit.