LCA is now Tejas. Tejas goes supersonic. The flight of the Silver Bat

Transcription

1 April - August 2003 LCA is now Tejas! Tejas goes supersonic! The flight of the Silver Bat

2 Aeronautical Society of India 13-B Indraprastha Estate New Delhi , India. Phone: Fax: Chief Editor Dr Srinivas Bhogle, NAL Feature Editors Dr R Balasubramaniam, Editor, AeSI Journal (Technology). Prof K Sudhakar, IIT, Mumbai (Academics) Prof P R Mahapatra, IISc, (Student Activities) Gp Capt HC Bhatia (retd) Secretary (Admn) (HO and Branch Activities) Mr Ajay Kumar, Secretary, AR&DB (AR&DB) Mr V P Mathur, HAL, Bangalore (Industry) Mr Devanandham Henry, ADA (ADA) Ms R Swarnalatha, NAL (NAL) Mr Shivanandan, Jet Airways (Airlines) Mr Lalit Gupta, DGCA (DGCA/AAI) Mr B H Malkani, Max Aerospace & Aviation Ltd. (Mumbai Centre) Mr Janardhana, VSSC (Space) AM S K Jain AVSM, VSM, HQ, TC, IAF, Bangalore (Armed Forces) Design Editor Mr A S Rajasekar, NAL Monthly Newsletter from Aeronautical Society of India Vol: 2, No: 4-8, Apr-Aug 2003 Not long ago, Aerospace America noted in a review of Asian aerospace that India is emerging as the region s most powerful aircraft manufacturing nation. The widely read US weekly, Aviation Week and Space Technology, lauded India for running its successful space programme on a shoe-string budget. So, has India arrived on the global aerospace scene? Not quite yet, I am afraid, but few realize how close we are. Watching Aero India 2003 held so professionally in Bangalore, and the visibly increasing presence of Indian aerospace products there and everywhere, one cannot avoid the thought that Indian aerospace is far more mature than many think. The breadth of India s aerospace programmes HAL has produced 23 types of aircraft, including 11 Indian designs, Dhruv is matchless in its class, the LCA (now Tejas) is likely to be the most affordable high performance supersonic fighter, SARAS is getting ready to fly, HJT-36 is projected to enter service in 2005, ISRO s PSLV is now a reliable workhorse would be remarkable anywhere in the China has bigger missiles and launch vehicles, Brazil has a more vigorous civil aircraft industry, Israelis have some fancy technologies, but none of these covers as broad a spectrum as India. Roddam Narasimha world. China has bigger missiles and launch vehicles, Brazil has a more vigorous civil aircraft industry, Israelis have some fancy technologies, but none of these covers as broad a spectrum as India. Indian aeronautical programmes have, of course, usually taken very much longer than projected for a variety of reasons. But the net result of this long drawn-out process has been that we find ourselves now with an unusually sound base of research, development, design and manufacture in the country. Indian capabilities, like Indian products, are now truly spread across the board. Almost all the ingredients needed for a boom are therefore now in place. This boom, however, cannot happen without the will of the State. R&D and industry have also to be able to define projects with development times of the order of five to eight years. Such time frames require a totally different kind of decision-making process, and would have to involve private enterprise within India and in some cases, abroad. Indian aerospace products now have no global brand equity and the best way to acquire it quickly is to team up with international companies that already have it. We require more Indo-X products, where X can be a suitable brand owner from elsewhere in the world. From this point of view the BrahMos cruise missile and the avionics and marketing agreement between HAL and Israel Aircraft Industries seem to be the right directions to pursue. Chief Editor s note Copies of AVIA in sufficient numbers will now be transferred to all branches. Members can pick up their AVIA copy from the Society s Branch offices. The newsletter is also available online at or or 2

3 LCA CA is now w Tejas The Prime Minister Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee named the light combat aircraft (LCA) Tejas on 4 May 2003 at Bangalore. In a truly memorable function the TD1 and TD2 flew in formation, piloted by Gp. Capt R K S Bhadauria and Sqd Ldr Suneet Krishna respectively. The PV1 aircraft was also rolled out. /Devanandham Henry School Outreach Programme I gave a presentation to the students and staff of classes IX and X of The Bishop s School, here in Pune, on Monday, 30 June There were about 485 boys and teachers present and the presentation was very well received. However, I do feel that it was too large a crowd and personal interaction was not possible. I would think that the ideal size would be around 150. I also showed a clip of an IAF film that I had been able to lay hands on. The clip was a great hit. Tejas goes supersonic sonic An important milestone of the Tejas aircraft flight test programme was achieved on 1 August 2003 when the TD-1 aircraft, piloted by Wg Cdr Vikram Singh, flew at a speed greater than the speed of sound (Mach 1.0). The aircraft reached 1.08 Mach at an altitude of 11 km. This was the 33rd flight of the Tejas TD-1 aircraft. Five days later, on 5 August 2003, during its 34th flight, the Tejas TD-1 aircraft, this time flown by Gp Capt R K S Bhadauria, again reached 1.15 Mach at 11 km altitude. During supersonic flight, the unstable (at subsonic speeds) aerodynamic configu-ration becomes stable. The air data probes, that sense air pressure and indicate aircraft speed and height, face a significant change in the flow field and pressures at supersonic speeds due to the formation of shocks. The aircraft air-intake also faces a stern test at supersonic speeds: it must give a good performance and ensure that supersonic buzz does not occur. Other challenges are posed by the drag of the aircraft; drag increases sharply at supersonic speeds and the aircraft requires much more thrust to overcome this air resistance. The aircraft structure must also be flutter safe at supersonic speeds. After completing 61 safe test flights, the Tejas TD-2 aircraft is an being upgraded to enable it to operate in an expanded flight envelope. /DH Air Marshal S S Ramdas. Next month: Sonal Gopujkar on how she got hooked to the School Outreach programme. The Agr gra meeting The 181 st Council Meeting of the Society s Governing Council was held on 26 July 2003 at ADRDE, Agra. Mr N R Mohanty, President of the Society, chaired the meeting. A number of issues concerning policies, promotional activities like Air Race India-2003, the criteria for the Associate Membership examination and plans for the forthcoming AGM at Bangalore came up for discussion. It was also decided that AVIA will henceforth have its e-avtaar; the newsletter will be posted on the Society s website. 3

4 We started very well Dr S R Valluri on Indian aeronautics in the 1950 s and 1960 s. Indian aeronautics had a flying start in the years immediately after Independence. Actually even a little before Independence during World War II when the Government of India took over Hindustan Aircraft Limited (HAL), from the Mysore Government and Walchand Industries. HAL became a repair base for the South East Asia Command during the War and, when the War ended, started converting war surplus DC 3 aircraft for commercial aviation. These planes became a part of the Indian Airlines fleet. When did indigenous civil aircraft development start? I think the beginnings were made with the appointment of Dr V M Ghatage as HAL s chief designer. Ghatage s team developed the HT2 trainer. The trainer was even productionised. That was a wonderful early effort. What about military aircraft? HAL was also producing a number of military aircraft and engines but only in the licence production mode. The first indigenous technology development effort happened only in the late 1950 s. The HF 24? That s right. Dr Kurt Tank, a German designer, and his group of designers of the HAL Design Bureau, developed the HF 24 (or Marut, as it was called). It was quite a special project India was trying to come to grips with the design and development of a fighter aircraft for the first Srinivas Bhogle, Chief Editor, in conversation with Dr S R Valluri. Dr Valluri who was Director, NAL from , was the President of the Society in Perhaps the single greatest contribution to Indian aeronautics came from Air Chief Marshal Latif. His decision to support an indigenous fighter aircraft development programme completely turned things around. time! Marut s aerodynamic design concepts were comparable to those of the developed world, but it failed to achieve its design supersonic performance because the engine around which it was designed was not eventually available. Why, what went wrong? It s quite a long story. The idea was that HF-24 would use a reheat version of Bristol Siddley s Orpheus 703. Bristol Siddley, at that point of time, was offering this version both to India and the NATO countries. But NATO unexpectedly dropped their project. Bristol Siddley then offered to develop the reheat version for India at a cost of Rs 5 crores. The offer was rejected. This was a serious blunder. What were the positives from this experience? The HF-24 development highlighted the importance of a strong R&D base in aeronautics. This experience resulted in the creation of NAL, GTRE and ADE around Soon there after, based on the recommendations (1964) of a committee led by Dr Satish Dhawan, all the IIT s created Departments of Aeronautical Engineering offering both teaching and research programmes in aeronautics. These developments considerably strengthened India s aeronautical base. There was also much excitement when the Subramaniam Committee was established in to review Indian aeronautics. Yes, indeed, and with good reason. Mr C 4

5 Subramaniam was a truly outstanding Indian leader and thinker. Recognising the importance of creating a strong aeronautics base in the country, the Committee recommended, among other things, the creation of an Aeronautics Research & Development Board (AR&DB). The AR&DB was set up in 1971 and continues to be active. Even in its early years the AR&DB could sanction funds up to Rs 2 crores every year. This wasn t a small amount; but it wasn t very large either certainly insufficient for a major national thrust in aeronautics. So that was a bit of a lull. You could say so. Although there was one last hurrah: the HJT-16 (Kiran), India s first and truly Mr C Subramaniam was a truly outstanding Indian leader and thinker. indigenous jet trainer, successfully entered into production at about the time the Subramaniam recommendations were presented. What was it like in the 1970 s? It was a trying period because the IAF didn t have enough confidence in the Indian industry; neither was the climate sufficiently conducive for industry and R&D to work together. Fortunately Air Chief Marshal I H Latif intervened decisively to eventually break the impasse. A major change in the situation developed after he strongly supported the decision to build an indigenous fighter aircraft. The LCA programme eventually went on to integrate the IAF, industry and R&D labs. Two new promotional activities While editing a page for a project document in MS Word, I initiated a spellcheck on a para that contained the sentence Then by integrating these structural components along with rear fuselage, the dynamic analysis of SARAS empennage is carried out, MS Word helpfully suggested:...the dynamic analysis of SARA s empennage is.... R Swarnalatha The Governing Council of the Society has approved two more promotional activities a national aero quiz and an aviation photo exhibition as part of the centenary celebrations of manned flight. The Chandigarh Branch would be the nodal agency for both these activities. The national aero quiz will generate interest and awareness on aeronautics and aviation among school children. The preliminary rounds will be organised by all the Branches at their respective locations during August-September The two semifinals and the final will be held at Strat atospheric airships A presentation titled Stratospheric airships for defence and civil applications by Lt. Gen. James A Abrahamson, formerly of the US Air Force and now the Chairman and CEO of Stracom International, USA was organized by the Delhi Branch on 19 July In his presentation, Gen Abrahamson discussed the basic principles of airships, explained Chandigarh. The Society will bear the travel and lodging expenses of the participating team members. The aviation photo exhibition is also targeted at school and college students. The exhibition will be organized at every branch city for 2-3 days, starting end- October We welcome suggestions telling us how to make the two events more informative and interesting. Please contact Wg Cdr H C Chaudhary, Honorary Secretary, AeSI Chandigarh Branch (tel: , e- mail: aerosoc@sify.com). their merits over other platforms like aircraft and satellites and discussed the applications of airships both in the civil and defence sectors. The presentation was well prepared and evoked a very encouraging response from the audience. Mr K V S S Prasad Rao, Distinguished Scientist and Chief Controller (R&D), DRDO presided over the function. 5

6 AGM of f Delhi Branch The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Delhi Branch of Aeronautical Society of India was held on 12 April 2003 under the Chairmanship of Mr Satinder Singh. Besides reviewing the working of the Branch in the preceding year, the audit report for was passed, and a new Executive Committee was elected. Mr Ajai Kumar, Director of Aeronautics, DRDO, was elected Chairman, AVM Rajkumar and Prof G S Bhatura were elected Vice Chairmen. The AGM also nominated Mr H S Khola and Air Marshal A V Patkar as advisors to the Executive Committee. Mr O P Sharma and Mr Lalit Gupta were re-elected Hon. Secretary and Hon. Treasurer respectively. On this occasion, the Branch had also organized two important lectures. Mr Jerry Wilmot and Ms Heather Beeby of BAe Systems spoke on Air Traffic Management and Capt D V Singh, Director, Flight Safety, Indian Airlines, spoke on Pilot s Perspective on Safely Management at Airports. Address for correspondence: Aeronautical Society of India, New Thippasandra Post, Bangalore Phone: Fax: Graphic designer: Vaishali Vinay Circulation and logistic support: J Vinayagam Chandrika R Krishnan. New w corporate ate members The following new establishments have joined as Corporate Members of the Society. " BAeHAL Software Ltd., Bangalore. The company specialises in simulation, ERP and multimedia software. It is also involved in content creation. " VEM Technologies Pvt. Ltd., Hyderabad. The company specialises in solutions for strategic applications. " Hi-Tec Systems, Inc, Gurgaon. A subsidiary of Hi-Tech Systems Inc. USA, specialises in CNS/ATM, aviation safely and IT. " Taj Air Ltd, Mumbai. The company is a nonscheduled air transportation service provider. " ECIL Hyderabad. The company specialises in design and manufacturing of electronic systems, including airborne applications. " United Technologies International Operations, Mumbai represents United Technologies Inc. and its Pratt & Whitney Division in the country. New Fellows of the Society The following members were elected Fellows of the Society on 12 May " Mr A S Reddy, Additional General Manager (QC Dept), HAL, Koraput. A graduate from Osmania University and post-graduate from IIT, Kharagpur, Mr Reddy specialises in design, development and defect investigations of aero-engine components and systems. " Air Cmde Sajjad Rahim, VSM. A graduate of Defence Services Staff College and a post-graduate in aerospace engineering, he specialises in high explosive weapons. " Mr Lalit Gupta, Deputy Director, Directorate- General of Civil Aviation, is actively involved in the type certification of the HPT-32, Dhruv and SARAS aircraft. He specialises in aircraft investigation and has authored a number of books including Advanced Composite Materials. " Mr Ravi Menon, Director, Air Works India Engg. Pvt Ltd. Mumbai the largest aircraft maintenance organisation in the private sector that maintains 24 different types of aircraft. Mr Ravi Menon is also Vice Chairman of the Society s Mumbai Branch and a member of its Governing Council. " Prof E Rathakrishnan, academician and faculty member of IIT, Kanpur. He is also the recipient of the Excellence in Aerospace Education Award for the year

7 The flight of f the Silver er Bat 19 March 2003 was a day with clear skies in Bangalore despite the previous evening s rain. On the far side of Jakkur airfield at 6.30 in the morning a crowd of almost 30 persons had gathered. The group included Mr N R Mohanty, Chairman, HAL (and President, Aeronautical Society of India) and his colleagues, Dr B R Pai, Director, NAL, Lt. Gen. V J Sundaram, Prof. S P Govindaraju and his team from IISc and a number of aviation enthusiasts. In the midst of this group was a person holding a strange looking contraption. This object had a pair of bat-like wings with a span of about 4.5ft covered in thin silver coloured foil with a rudder and elevator at the back mounted on a slim fuselage. While every one looked on, a tiny switch on this contraption was turned on and it was launched by hand. To the sheer amazement of the audience, the model began beating its wings just like a bird and started flying! After a brief flight, it glided back to land. Some trim adjustments were made and the model was off once again flying in circles, soaring up and swooping down. The flight was so realistic that immediately a pair of kites began following the Silver Bat! This strange model is the creation of Mr K Nanda Kumar, a 35 year old aviation enthusiast from Chennai. Nanda Kumar s profession involves servicing electronic and communication equipment in ships. His original hobby was to operate an amateur radio, but, about five years ago, Nanda Kumar got bored of it and switched his attention to building and flying radio control airplane models with help from Mr Sridhar of Chennai. It was while watching a feature on the National Geographic TV channel that Nanda Kumar came to know about ornithopters - machines that fly by beating their wings and started dreaming of building one himself. Vital statistics of the Silver Bat Wing Span 52" Total weight of model 438 g Maximum altitude flown 100 ft. Maximum endurance so far 4 minutes. Power Electric motor Radio Three-channel (motor speed, elevator, rudder) Unlike the conventional radio controlled airplane models that use a tiny IC engine for propulsion, the ornithopter model has an electric motor and batteries. The motor turns an eccentric crank through a reduction gearbox to which are attached the wings through linkages. There were many trials and modifications to the design of his model before Nanda Kumar achieved first success in the form of a mere two-second sustained flight! However, once the model flew on its own, refinements came fast - the two-second flight stretched to 22 seconds within a few days and then to a whopping four minutes! Nanda Kumar took almost two To the sheer amazement of the audience, the model began beating its wings just like a bird and started flying! years to perfect his ornithopter involving experi-mentation with 10 different types of wings, five fuselages, 20 different varieties of motor and five types of gearbox! Except for the micro servo actuators, all other components have been totally built from scratch or extensively modified. For example, small motors available off the shelf didn t have the necessary power; so a motor was modified by rewinding the rotor. A gearbox with the required reduction that would fit within the small space was not available and Nanda Kumar designed his own gearbox and got the gears machined and assembled. Even the tiny radio receiver required for this model was completely built by him, as these are not available in India and prove to be very expensive if imported. Nanda Kumar also used an innovative technique to gauge the thrust developed by his model. He used the smoke from lighted incense sticks in a room and by observing the movement of smoke when the model started flapping its wings, he could make a comparison of the capabilities of various configurations. Needless to say, all this effort has cost him more than Rs.30,000 that he has spent from his own pocket! K S Raman K S Raman, Scientist, NAL, passed away suddenly on 16 July This article was received in April

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