SARAS PT1N makes maiden flight

Speed Post News Network

New Delhi : SARAS PT1N (14 seater) designed and developed by CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratories (CSIR-NAL), a frontline aerospace research laboratory, successfully made its maiden flight on January 24, 2018.   Union Minister for Science & Technology, Dr Harsh Vardhan, has congratulated the scientists of CSIR-NAL and other agencies involved in the successful maiden flight.

The flight was commanded by Wg Cdr U P Singh, Gp Capt R V Panicker and Gp Capt K P Bhat from IAF-Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE). The aircraft took off at about 11 am from HAL airport and flew for about 40 minutes at the maximum height of 8,500 ft at the speed of 145 knots, according to a PIB release.

The chase aircraft (KIRAN) was piloted by Gp Capt Badrish and telemetry was commanded by Gp Capt Naraynen, Wg Cdr Pandey and Wg Cdr R Sridhar (Retd).  All the system parameters have been found to be normal. It was a text book flight.

The primary objective is to evaluate the system performance in about 20 flights and the data collected from this shall be used to freeze the design of production version aircraft.  The production version aircraft will be of 19 seat capacity and will undergo civil / military certification.