First Flight: Indian-Made Saras | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

 Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-05.06.24

Airborne-NextGen-04.30.24

 Airborne-Unlimited-05.01.24 Airborne-AffordableFlyers--05.02.24

Airborne-Unlimited-05.03.24

Mon, May 31, 2004

First Flight: Indian-Made Saras

"It Was A Good Flight"

The first Indian-built civilian aircraft made history Saturday, successfully completing its first flight with what executives at India's National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) called "a good flight."

"It went off very well," said NAL Director B. R. Pai, quoted by the Press Trust of India.

For NAL, it was a long, expensive road to the Saras' first flight. Design and construction on the aircraft began in 1991. But after India's nuclear weapons tests in 1998, the US slapped a technology ban on New Delhi, dramatically slowing development of the project.

The prototype Saras was powered by two pusher turboprop engines designed and built by Pratt & Whitney of Canada. It flew at an altitude of almost 7500 feet after taking off from HAL Airport in Bangalore. The initial flight lasted approximately 20 minutes. Officials said it averaged a speed of approximately 150 kts.

NAL hopes the Saras (named for a type of crane native to India) will fill a number of civilian roles, from cargo transport to 14-passenger commercial carrier.

FMI: www.cmmacs.ernet.in/nal/pages/saraspg/sarashm.htm

Advertisement

More News

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (05.04.24)

Aero Linx: JAARS Nearly 1.5 billion people, using more than 5,500 languages, do not have a full Bible in their first language. Many of these people live in the most remote parts of>[...]

NTSB Final Report: Quest Aircraft Co Inc Kodiak 100

'Airplane Bounced Twice On The Grass Runway, Resulting In The Nose Wheel Separating From The Airplane...' Analysis: The pilot reported, “upon touchdown, the plane jumped back>[...]

Aero-News: Quote of the Day (05.04.24)

"Burt is best known to the public for his historic designs of SpaceShipOne, Voyager, and GlobalFlyer, but for EAA members and aviation aficionados, his unique concepts began more t>[...]

Aero-News: Quote of the Day (05.05.24)

"Polaris Dawn, the first of the program’s three human spaceflight missions, is targeted to launch to orbit no earlier than summer 2024. During the five-day mission, the crew >[...]

Read/Watch/Listen... ANN Does It All

There Are SO Many Ways To Get YOUR Aero-News! It’s been a while since we have reminded everyone about all the ways we offer your daily dose of aviation news on-the-go...so he>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Change Display

Headlines Only | Headlines w/ Teasers | View Everything

Advertisement

Top Videos

Airborne 05.06.24: Gone West-Dick Rutan, ICON BK Update, SpaceX EVA Suit

Airborne 05.03.24: Advanced Powerplant Solutions, PRA Runway Woes, Drone Racing

Airborne Affordable Flyers 05.02.24: Bobby Bailey, SPRG Report Cards, Skydive!

See All

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2024 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC