News and Events, NAL, Bangalore

The annual symposium of AR&DB structures panel is held yearly once at one of the institutions which has significant participation in the structures panel project activities. This year the annual symposium of AR&DB structures panel was held at National Aerospace Laboratories on 19-20 April 2007.

Dr A R Upadhya, Director, NAL inaugurated the symposium. In his inaugural address NAL Director mentioned that NAL has submitted a proposal under the 11th five year plan to design and develop a seventy seater aircraft with turbo prop or turbo fan engines. He requested the structures panel member community to co-operate and provide whole hearted support in this project.

Around 40-50 scientists (including members of the panel) from various institutions attended the two day symposium. At the Symposium approximately 29 projects presentations were made which were sanctioned during the year 2005-2006. The principal investigators presented the progress of their projects to the panel members and the principal investigators of other institutions. Discussions were held at length, regarding the constraints and bottlenecks faced in the project. A review of this nature enables the panel to send their recommendations to the AR&DB quarters for further necessary action and release of funds.

The annual symposium as in the previous years turned out to be an ideal platform for the family of AR&DB structures panel members and investigators to closely interact.

Dr S K Bhaumik, Scientist, Materials Science Division, has been invited to contribute a technical manuscript related to "The Thermo-Mechanical Fatigue Behavior of Shape-Memory Alloys" for publication in the special issue entitled "Progress in Understanding the Fatigue Behavior of Metallic Materials" for the journal of Key Engineering Materials (published by TRANS TECH Publications Ltd.)

Dr Bhaumik has also been invited to write research article on "Titanium Shape Memory Alloys" for the special issue of Transactions of Indian Institute of Metals on "Titanium Alloys".

MoU between NAL and Sobha Aviation Engineering Services Pvt. Ltd. signed on 17 January 2007 is terminated w.e.f 2 April 2007 by Sobha Aviation. Sobha Aviation has decided to put off the programme, as they are not able to get suitable land for the project.

A delegation from ALCOA, USA visited NAL on 23 April 2007. Dr A R Upadhya, Director, NAL welcomed the delegation. The ALCOA team members had a detailed and interactive discussion with the NAL team. The delegation later visited NAL's Advanced Composite Division and Fibre Reinforced Plastic Division.

I reach the ASTE hangar just about 8.00 a.m. in the morning. It was a rather hazy morning.

Wg. Cdr. Makker, his test pilot crew, senior commanding officers of the ASTE and the entire fraternity of Team SARAS are in the midst of a most important briefing. SARAS stands majestically inside the ASTE hangar with all flight readiness checks completed as early as 7:00 a.m. The briefing gets over around 08:15 a.m. and the pilots immediately commence their pre-flight checks.

The tension is palpable. Wg. Cdr. P Asoka, flight test director conveys his wishes to the pilots before moving over to occupy his prominent position at the telemetry station. The telemetry team begin their business in the right earnest.

SARAS engines come on with a thundering boom. PT-II is fitted with two powerful Pratt and Whitney Engines (PT6A-67A). The power of twin 1200 hp engines is clearly distinguishable from that of the 850 hp engines of PT-I. The larger diameter white-coated propellers and the new coat of yellow paint on SARAS ably give company to the early morning sun at the tarmac. A hot and sultry day is ahead for all of us.

While the pilots go for their flight checks, the chase Kiran is all set to leave the ASTE tarmac to accompany SARAS. With both the engines in maximum torque, SARAS elegantly moves away from ASTE around 9:00 a.m. A large number of our NAL colleagues have gathered by now at the ASTE hangar to witness this historic moment, just a few minutes from now.

I quickly jump onto the ground chase crew van with Radhakrishnan to once again get as close shots as possible. Radhakrishnan is generous to give me the best vantage position.

We are now at the end of runway 27. HAL ATC welcome Wg. Cdr. Makker and his crew with a 'very good morning' before according their final clearance for 'take off'. Flight test director also gives his okay.

Hence, it would not be wrong to recollect two very apt quotes of similar first flights that took place in the aviation history much much earlier:

Suddenly, Santos-Dumont points the end of the machine skyward, and the wheels visibly, unambiguously, leave the soil: the aeroplane flies. The whole crowd is stirred. Santos-Dumont seems to fly like some immense bird in a fairy tale - 'Le Figaro,' first powered flight in public, 24 October 1906.

The hardships and perils of the past month were forgotten in the excitement of the present. We shook hands with one another, our hearts swelling with those emotions invoked by achievement and the glamour of the moment. It was, and will be, perhaps the supreme hour of our lives. - Sir Ross Smith, K.B.E., first from London to Australia.

It would also be apt at this point to recall the following statement from the hero of the second world war.

Sir Winston Churchill - "Sure I am that this day we are masters of our fate, that the task which has been set before us is not above our strength, that its pangs and toils are not beyond our endurance. As long as we have faith in our cause and an unconquerable will to win, victory will not be denied to us".

After all the pomp and celebrations that finally culminated at the ASTE tarmac, I quickly leave the Belur Campus and veer my vehicle onto the busy Airport Road. While quickly passing through the Air Force School at the corner, my ears quickly resonate to the bunch of tiny-tots merrily singing their popular nursery rhyme, "..Up above the World So High.Like a Diamond in the Sky.."

I ask Wg Cdr Makker, from the pilots perspective, how was the take-off?
The take off distance was about 2700 ft. from runway 27 end, the unstick speed was around 118 knots, initial climb attitude was pretty steep. After climbing through 800 ft, we throttled back to 70% TQs, speed checks on ADC1 were absolutely on par with Kiran aircraft – the chase ac for the flight. The rate of climb was quite good and was around 1700-1800 ft/min with undercarriage extended. The Kiran had difficulty in keeping pace with this rate of climb at 130 knots with SARAS.

What were your feelings on the lift-off and the first flight?
SARAS lift-off and the first flight of SARAS were nothing short of - ‘Pegasus’ (son of ‘Poseidon’, and the ‘winged-horse’ of the Greek mythology known for its poise, speed and grace). Absolutely wonderful!

What was the flight path that was scheduled for the first flight?
We followed the Mysore road rail line till Ramnagaram on VOR radial 2400 and the distance travelled was about 26-28 nautical miles.

How were the aircraft parameters at rejoin?
At the rejoin for runway 27, we came in for ILS landing. All ILS indications were absolutely correct and matched quite well with both sides EFIS display.

What about the feel and touch-down?
The feel was almost like PT-I. The touch-down was almost around 90 knots. The nose-wheel was lowered at about 60 knots. The flight was extremely good.

What about the flight duration and the max.altitude reached?
We reached a max.altitude of 9200 feet, the aircraft on its first flight flew close to 45 minutes and the max.speed attained was about 150 knots.

Your final views on the first flight?
PT-II is a very graceful, potent and a powerful flying machine.
As I descend down from the ASTE telemetry after the pilot de-brief, I realize that any first flight is a great challenge to mankind of his ever endearing skills, moments of supreme joy, ‘hearts swelling with emotions of achievement’, and eyes becoming moist with the pride of achievement.

The second prototype PT2 of the 14-seater multi-role Light Transport Aircraft SARAS had its successful maiden flight on 18 April 2007 at 09 05 hours. SARAS is being developed by the National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) of Bangalore, a constituent unit of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and is the first indigenous civilian aircraft of the country. The maiden flight of SARAS was conducted by Wg. Cdr. R.S. Makker as the Chief test pilot – SARAS, Wg. Cdr. A. Malik as the co-pilot and Wg. Cdr. M.S. Ramamohan as the flight-test engineer, all belonging to Aircraft Systems and Testing Establishment (ASTE) of the Indian Air Force, which is identified as the flight testing organization for SARAS.

The first prototype (PT-1) of SARAS had its maiden flight on May 29, 2004 and its formal inaugural flight on Aug 22, 2004 in the presence of Sri Kapil Sibal, the Hon’ble Minister for Science & Technology. Till now 106 flights of SARAS PT1 have successfully been conducted, including in the Aero India airshows of Feb, 2005 and Feb. 2007.

Several improvements have been made in SARAS design from PT1 to PT2. The most important one among these is the incorporation of two higher power engines PT 6A-67A of 1200 hp each in PT2 in place of PT6A-66 of 850 hp each used in PT1 and new propellers of larger diameter. This is particularly done to meet the stringent climb gradient requirements under one engine failure condition as stipulated by Federal Aviation Regulations –25 (FAR-25) of USA, the certification standard for SARAS. The higher power engines will also improve the other performance characteristics of SARAS. The supporting stubwing structure and the engine nacelle were also modified to suit the new engine. Improvements have also been incorporated in flight control system layout, flap operating system, avionics and electrical system layout etc., taking into account the inputs received from the flight crew and maintenance staff.

All these improvements have brought PT2 much closer to the final production standard aircraft.

Parallely, a weight optimisation programme has also been taken up for SARAS, with a target of 500 kg weight reduction, through optimisation of metallic structures, stringent fabrication control, increased use of composites etc. An additional prototype will be built to the final production standard and proved through a combination of ground and flight-testing. The FAR-25 standard certification by the Director General of Civil Aviation is targeted for the end of 2009.

Discussions are progressing with the Indian Air Force which is likely to be the launch customer for SARAS for meeting some of their transport and training requirements and also with HAL for productionising the aircraft. The aircraft performance will be demonstrated in PT2 to the Indian Air Force by simulating the all up weight of 7100 kg. After some further data is gathered, discussions will also take place with the Ministry of Civil Aviation and various operators for utilization of SARAS in regions like the North East and in other roles like feeder aircraft, light cargo aircraft, air ambulance etc.

With the present boom in civil aviation and the recognized need for air-networking different parts of the country including smaller towns, SARAS will have a distinct role to play in establishing air connectivity, bringing people together and in the overall economic development of the country. The maiden flight of PT2 is thus a very important milestone in that direction and in ultimately establishing a viable civil aircraft industry in the country.

The SARAS second prototype aircraft VT-XRM with the new, more powerful engines (PT6A-67A), took off from the Bangalore Airport at 09 05 hrs and the flight lasted about 40 minutes. The aircraft climbed to an altitude of about 9000 ft. and reached a maximum speed of nearly 150 knots. The pilots executed several mild maneuvers to get a feel of aircraft handling qualities. The landing was perfect as indeed were the other phases of flight. The flight crew reported that the aircraft handled as expected and there were no surprises. The flight parameters were normal and as expected. Wg. Cdr. R.S. Makker, Chief Test Pilot said after the flight that –

“The present SARAS with new engines appears to be a very potent and powerful machine, with all the aircraft systems performing precisely in the first flight itself, only goes on to show the professionalism of the entire TEAM SARAS”.

As a part of a major National initiative towards the development of Aerospace Quality Rolling Element Bearings, the National Aerospace Laboratories, Bangalore has established a National Test Facility for Rolling Element Bearings. This facility has been established in accordance with the Joint Service Specifications (JSS) prepared by the Centre for Military Airworthiness and Certification (CEMILAC), Bangalore so that it could act as a Centralized Certifying Agency for testing indigenously developed aerospace quality bearings.

This facility has been established with a view to meeting all the different tests as listed in the JSS, prepared by CEMILAC. The facility comprises of a Fatigue Bay for testing bearings upto 300 mm outer diameter and speeds upto 25,000 rpm and a 10,000 Class clean room housing all the necessary metrology

equipment. Other test set-ups that have been established in the facility, include rigs for estimating static load capacities of rolling element bearing assemblies and bearing components, frictional coefficients in the bearings, sphericity of the balls, wobble in the bearings, and dimensional stabilities. Equipment for evaluation of shear stability, extreme pressure of oil and an atomic absorption spectrophotometer have also been commissioned. This facility has been established under the project related to the development of Synthetic Aviation Lubricants (SAL), which is funded by CHT, CSIR, IOC (R & D), DRDO and HAL. It will act as a nodal agency for testing, indigenously developed Aerospace Quality Rolling Element Bearings using proven SAL or indigenously developed SAL using proven aerospace quality rolling element bearings, under real life situations, defined in terms of loads, speeds and temperatures as experienced in aircraft gas turbines.

Apart from the above, this facility can also be utilized for testing and certifying rolling element bearings procured from secondary sources for aerospace applications.

The facility was inaugurated by Sri M Natarajan, SA to RM. He mentioned that the facility will be extremely useful towards the development of aerospace quality rolling element bearings and synthetic aviation lubricants in the country. Dr. K V Raghavan, Chairman, RAB, DRDO who was the guest of honour while reiterating the importance of development of aerospace quality bearings and synthetic aviation lubricants stated that the NAL facility will be first of its kind in the country and one of the very few such facilities in the world. The facility details were presented by Dr. V Arun Kumar, Scientist, National Aerospace Laboratories. Dr. K S Balaraman, Executive Director, Centre for High Technology was the other guest of honour. While Dr. A R Upadhya, Director, NAL welcomed the gathering, Dr. J J Isaac, Head, Propulsion Division, NAL proposed vote of thanks.

Dr M N Sathyanarayana Jt Head, KTMD, Mr Somanarayanan, Scientist, KTMD , organised the programme extremely well in co-ordination with Mr V Munirathnam, Scientist, Propulsion.

Dr Shyam Chetty's distinctions

Dr Shyam Chetty, Scientist, Flight Mechanics and Control Division, has been conferred with the "Distinguished Alumni Award" of the National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli. The award will be presented to Dr Shyam Chetty at the the Alumni Day Function on 28 Apr 2007.

A software to calculate income tax for CSIR staff for the year March 2007 to February 2008, developed by Mr G Gururaja, Scientist, CSSD, NAL, Bangalore is now made available on NAL's Intranet nalme.

The Governing Body, CSIR and CSIR Society have approved the integration and consolidation of core competencies of CMRI and CFRI to form a new entity "Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research (CIMFR)", Dhanbad.

As the Saras PT2 waited patiently to set soar on its maiden flight, the build up to this momentous occasion continued quietly by the side. The Saras PT2 commenced its confident steps in the form of Low Speed Taxi Trials (LSTT) on 23 March 2007 to assess the aircraft controllability and functionality of various aircraft systems. By 3 April 2007, slowly but steadily, the aircraft continued to inch forward towards its goal of first flight.

The LSTTs were completed paving way for the ac to commence the High Speed Taxi Trials (HSTT). A maximum speed of 52 kt was achieved during LSTT. The aircraft controllability was adequate and the integration and functionality of various aircraft systems was satisfactory. Based on the results of LSTT the Flight Readiness Review Board (FRRB) accorded “Go-Ahead” for the HSTT and Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) runs.

All four HSTTs were successfully completed by 9 April 2007. The power packed Saras PT2, which is equipped with the new power plants was akin to unleashed Arabian horses on a racecourse. During the HSTT runs, Saras PT2 was raring to get airborne. The flight testing during HSTT was designed to assess this natural capability of the Saras PT2 though remaining under full control of the
Pilots.

On successful completion of HSTTs on 9 April 2007, a sub committee of FRRB accorded clearance for the much awaited first flight of Saras PT2. The scorching summer heat reminds us of the green house effect, which is causing lot of “joy” to the avionics equipment and the test crew during the runs. To ward off the heat and keep both avionics and the test crew “cool”, fans were installed in the cockpit and the avionics bay. However, the fans installed in the cockpit blow “hot and cold” as it is re-circulating the hot air in the cockpit.

This heat treatment of the test crew is tempering them for the gruelling path ahead before the first flight of Saras PT2. The telemetry team is back in action with every group clamouring about various parameters and scale factor. In fact, telemetry tasks are well delegated amongst the members of the telemetry group. The ac integration team is generally in control of things – like a “Hawkeye”.

The crash and chase team have fine-tuned their drills to take on any eventuality. The untiring efforts and valuable guidance of Project Director ensures that the spirits of “Team Saras” are always high. The tempo is building to the crescendo! All events have fallen in place like the pieces of jigsaw puzzle. Now,…… It is the final count down!

Wg Cdr R S Makker andWg Cdr MS Ramamohan

An FRRB sub-committee which met on 11 Apr 2007 has cleared SARAS for its three SOP runs (Standard Operating Procedure runs) and subsequently for its maiden flight.

On a blistering 12th afternoon, SARAS completed the first of its SOP runs. The run commenced around 1:30 in the afternoon and went on till about 2 p.m. After the run, Wg. Cdr. Makker in his de-brief mentioned that, “all basic aircraft and engine parameters were fine and the taxi run was smooth and satisfactory”. SARAS reached a max.speed of 90 knots during this SOP run. The peak brake temperature recorded was around 380 deg”.

Well, over the last fortnight, things have happened at a real blazing speed at the ASTE Tarmac. SARAS has effortlessly completed four low speed taxi trials and four high speed taxi trials. These runs eventually culminated with an elegant ‘Nose-Wheel-Lift’ on7 Apr 2007.

It was an absolute delight to behold. All the vital parameter readings are very much within the tolerance level, and all the integrated systems on the aircraft are working with a high degree of precision.

It’s mandatory that three consecutive SOP runs need to be successfully completed without any snag in order to be ready for the first flight.

Today, I happen to be lucky to be tucked inside our SARAS chase van to get a much better angle on my digital camera. SARAS on the runway in such close quarters can undoubtedly be quoted as ‘a thing of beauty is a joy for ever…’

As the aircraft veers in the direction of ASTE after the SOP run, my thoughts only fervently say that, ‘Aren’t We Almost There?’

Flight has always symbolised man’s ceaseless quest to explore the limitless sky in an unfettered freedom beyond all horizon. Charmed by the glorious sight of the birds flying merrily in gay abandon enjoying the mother nature to the fullest, man tried his best to emulate them, not by leaping into the sky, but by gradually and progressively improving his abilities to fly in man made machines.

SARAS, the very name conjures up delightful vision of a graceful, elegantly beautiful bird, pristine in its purity and majestic in its sheer grandeur. So the aircraft manufactured by NAL was aptly named for its beauty and grace Nearly three years have passed since SARAS for the first time, shook off its shackles to soar into the sky. From the initial unsure hesitant and fledgling steps, that it took on its arduous momentous journey, it has come a long way. The first SARAS PT-1 completed a century of flights during the Aero-India 2007 dazzling one and all, by its graceful flying. The sheer maneuverability and agility of its display amply demonstrated the enormous capability, as well as the maturity of the programme, and the great synergy between NAL and ASTE.

Come April 2007 the PT-2 of SARAS will also take to the sky showcasing the growing strides the programme is making. The PT-2 has finally moved out bidding its home and hearth NAL a fond farewell.PT-2 completed full complement of 12 EGRS. Now nestled at ASTE, SARAS PT-2 took its first steps (confident this time) on 23 Mar 07 as it commenced its Low speed Taxi Trials. Having set forth on its intended path the SARAS PT-2 is well on its way to its first flight. During the initial maneuvering in the taxi trials, the aircraft displayed amazing stability and a crisp, predictable and easy controllable response to all crew inputs. All engine parameters were stable. The satisfactory functioning of all the aircraft systems was a proof of an excellent aircraft design. God speed and many happy landings to PT-2 and the entire programme.

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