A Fresh Start

- C Santhosh

The indigenously-developed Saras aircraft programme has been revived and test aircraft PT1N made its first flight in January, signalling a new commitment for the 14-seater light aircraft. The Saras has had a troubled and time-consuming development cycle, since it was first rolled out in 2003, but fresh efforts being made by Council of Scientific & Industrial Research - National Aerospace Laboratories (CSIR-NAL) have given the aircraft a new lease of life.

The new Saras Mk2 will be a 19-seater aircraft and the civilian version has been renamed Saras-NG. 20 test flights are to be completed over the course of this year by the Indian Air Force (IAF) Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE) flight team, following which the production model of the aircraft is expected to be frozen by July. The flight test programme will also evaluate the performance of the aircraft. Military certification will be obtained first, following which the required steps will be taken for grant of civil certification from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

Wing Commander U P Singh, Group Captains R V Panicker and K P Bhat were the crew during the first flight of the aircraft during which Saras PT1N attained a height of 8,500 feet and speed of 145 knots over the course of a 40-minute flight over the skies of Bengaluru.