(Press Release | Unedited)
The last aircraft in the Limited Series Production program of LCA-Tejas (LSP-08) took off on its maiden flight here today from HAL airport. The performance of the aircraft was flawless, said Dr. R. K.Tyagi, Chairman, HAL. The aircraft was flown covering a flight envelope at supersonic speeds and at an angle of attack of 20 degrees which is the current maximum limit cleared by design. With this, the Initial Operation Clearance (IOC) for the aircraft can be expected soon.
Air Cmde K.A. Muthana, VSM, Program Director
(Flight Test) piloted the aircraft on its maiden flight
The aircraft with a build standard akin to the
Initial Operation Clearance standard underwent series of rigorous checks by the
certifying and inspecting agencies during the last fortnight with a few taxy
checks to assess the aircraft performance.
The flight clearance by the certifying agencies was accorded today for
the aircraft after ensuring that all the aircraft systems were functioning
satisfactorily on ground. Till now
aircraft normally undergo high speed taxy trials prior to the first
flight. However, with the confidence
gained by the flight crew and the certifying agencies during the build and
ground checks a decision was taken to proceed with first flight without going
through a separate high speed taxy trial.
Aircraft systems related to fuel, environment
condition, electrical and avionics which had undergone series of modifications
based on feedback from earlier aircraft functioned well.