Upgraded Saras PT1N all set for maiden flight in Jan

By Anantha Krishnan M

Bengaluru, Dec 26: National Aeronautics Laboratories (NAL), a frontline wing under Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) here, is ready to put the upgraded prototype of Saras on its maiden flight.

The Saras PT1N (New), a 14-seater passenger plane, is expected to have its first flight after completing one more high speed taxi trial (HSTT).

Military sources confirm to Mathrubhumi that the first flight will be about 20-25 minutes.

Two Test Pilots and one Flight Test Engineer, who are empanelled to the PT1N project from Indian Air Force’s Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE), will be onboard the maiden mission.

The first flight could be any time during the first/second week of January 2018.

What separates the PT1N now from the maiden flight are a SRB (Safety Review Board) and one final HSTT.

A young team of around 40 scientists and engineers, with an average age of 40 years, have been toiling hard for the last nine months to ensure Saras does what it is meant to be doing -- flying.

The project had virtually hit a dead end after the March 2009 crash of PT-2 martyring three ASTE crew onboard. The subsequent crash probe, lack of confidence among users, want of funds and political will further dented the project.

The aircraft was grounded for close to three years (2013-2016) barring namesake EGRs to keep the power-plant in good shape.

The resurgence of Saras project as PT1N has now given hope for India’s foray into making 14/19-seater passenger turboprops, with China, Russia, Poland, Indonesia and United States have already gone some distance.

In the new avatar as PT1N, it boasts of many upgraded features, following a gap analysis undertaken last year.

A close look at what PT1N looks like

* The control forces have been significantly reduced.

* The nacelle design (for engine mount) has been made optimal.

* Environmental control systems, cabin pressurization systems have been modified.

* Automatic avionics stall warning system included.

* Linear flap track and trim taps on elevator modified. 

* Rudder area enhanced for better controllability. 

* Flight test instrumentation modified.

* Electrical systems modified to reduce voltage losses.

* Air data system has been provided with the nose boom for redundancy.

Apart from above modification on the aircraft, the following additional safety measures have also been ensured by the team.

* Complete borosopic inspection of the aircraft to eliminate any doubts about corrosion. 

* Computer-based failure analysis of engine, elevator jamming and ailerons power adequacy. 

* Simulator upgraded to the high-fidelity.

The NAL-ASTE combine’s primary objective with PT-1N is to evaluate all systems, including design and performance parameters. The inputs collected from PT1N’s initial flights (expected to be around 20-30 in the next six months), will be then used to freeze the design, paving way for the production version.

India’s 19-seater dream will be Saras Mk-2

PT-IN flight data will inspire NAL to prepare the DPR (detail project report) for India’s much-awaited 19-seater passenger plane – Saras Mk2.

The Saras Mk2 will have additional five more seats and a toilet as compared to the PT1N. It will also have gen-next avionics and glass cockpit, autopilot and other features any modern passenger turboprop could boast off.

The Saras Mk2 with reduced weight (around 700 kg compared to PT1N) will have an AUW (all up-weight) of roughly around 7.4 to 7.5 ton and will likely to run on MRF tyres.

Sources confirm that NAL plans to have both military and passenger version for the 19-seater. They hope to encash on the CEMILAC-DGCA’s certification model used in ALH, to save time.

As of now, two production variants are planned while the third one will be a fatigue test specimen (FTS) – all estimated to costing around Rs 700 crore.

In the last one year, NAL put some of its best workforce behind the Saras project with many slogging it out day and night.

Insiders say only less than Rs 5 core has been spent in the last one year for Saras PT-IN, thanks to lean management philosophy, optimum usage of resources and constant monitoring.

With CSIR backing the project after some hiccups, Saras is sure to be India’s star in 2018 with IAF offering all support to the desi mission once again. CSIR DG Dr Girish Sahni’s push for the Saras PT1N/19-seater, and the Udan mantra of Govt of India also have come as a blessing for team NAL.

Subject to the Cabinet Committee on Security approval, the detail design of the first limited series production (LSP) variant of Saras-Mk-2 should begin in 2019 followed by certification and demonstration flights by 2021. In short, in three years NAL will have its handful with Saras once again back on the radar. @Mathrubhumi 

S&T minister seeks whitepaper on civil aircraft project, NAL activities

By Anantha Krishnan M

https://twitter.com/writetake

Bengaluru, April 05: Union Minister of Science & Technology and Earth Sciences Dr Harsh Vardhan said on Sunday that he has sought a whitepaper on the research activities of National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) in Bengaluru.

Responding to a specific question from OneIndia on the status of NAL’s civil aircraft programme, the minister said he has asked Council of Scientific and Industrial Research’s (CSIR) acting Director-General (Dr M O Garg) and NAL Director (Shyam Chetty) to make a white paper on the civil aircraft programme and other activities of NAL.

“I am of the opinion that we need to re-orient our research. The CSIR needs to definitely take a fresh look at the activities they have been doing in the last six decades,” Dr Harsh Vardhan said.

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and NAL have already formed a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to undertake a 70-90-seater civil aircraft programme on a public private partnership (PPP) model.

The SPV was necessitated after the much-hyped National Civil Aircraft Development (NCAD) programme was put to a slow death during the UPA-2 regime.

Read the full report on OneIndia here: http://bit.ly/1P9S6xy

INDIA SHINING | NAL to unveil desi lab scale autoclave for IIT-K | Product to mitigate imports | MIT, VSSC ready with orders

By Anantha Krishnan M
Express News Service

Bangalore: Scripting a new chapter in the much-debated Pubic Private Partnership (PPP) in aerospace and defence, the National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL), a wing of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in Bangalore, is ready to unveil a product that will propel educational R&D in India. The first indigenous lab scale autoclave for aerospace applications is ready to be shipped out of NAL to the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT-K). While the design of the autoclave is by NAL, the mechanical systems have come from UCE, Mumbai and the control systems from Datasol, Bangalore.
During a visit to NAL's Center for Societal Missions and Special Technologies (CSMST), Dr G N Dayananda, chief scientist, told Express that the Lab Scale Autoclave is being built at nearly half the cost of imported ones. Manipal Institute of Technology and Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, will also get these autoclaves soon.
“The first lab scale autoclave will be unveiled during the autoclave user’s meet at NAL on September 3. A large autoclave order (4-m diameter and 13.5-m length) has been bagged against stiff competition from established European and American firms, after due technical qualification,” Dr Dayananda said.
According to Dr K Sham Sunder, Honorary Managing Director, NALTech, the efforts of Indian scientists in developing a desi lab scale autoclave should mitigate the imports, if not totally stop, saving precious foreign exchange. “We will deliver the next one in nine months and our expertise have forced the foreign vendors to substantially reduce their prices. The successful operation of this PPP model must pave the way for more such initiatives, exploiting the inherent technological strengths of our public sector and efficient marketing and production capabilities of the private sector,” Dr Sham, a seasoned campaigner with India's Tejas programme, said.
Due to the embargoes on import in the early 80S, NAL had developed a large aerospace autoclave for Tejas within the lab. “We also took up the challenge later to develop much bigger autoclaves for Tejas and today they have become the work horse at Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. One of the autoclaves with NAL is presently the largest state-of-art autoclave in the Indian aerospace sector,” says G M Kamalakannan, a principal scientist with CSMST.
“The technology developed is not the type that can be transferred for example like a chemical compound, as the autoclave requirements in terms of size and performance are customer specific, requiring suitable multidisciplinary design adaptations. The PPP model was the best-suited for us and the selection of the partners was mainly based on their competence, cost effectiveness and willingness to function harmoniously as a team. The lab scale autoclave being supplied to IIT-K will set the tone for India's foray into a complex technology in aerospace,” says J Ramaswamy Setty, a senior scientist with CSMST.

What are autoclaves

Advanced Carbon Fibre Composites (CFC) are extensively used in modern fighter aircraft, to minimise the weight and for improved performance. Of late, even civil aircraft, such as Boeing-787 (Dreamliner), have used composites extensively in their airframes. Composite parts for aircraft applications have to be cured in a controlled environment which need to follow certain pressure, temperature and vacuum cycles, to achieve the requisite properties. Autoclaves designed and developed to aerospace standards serve such a purpose.

Copyright@The New Indian Express

Dedicated nano-tech facility opens at NAL today

By Anantha Krishnan M

Express News Service

Bangalore: A facility to aid advance research in nano-materials will be opened in Bangalore on June 1, scripting a new chapter in surface modification technologies in the areas of aerospace, energy, societal and engineering sectors. Samir K Brahmachari, Director General, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) will inaugurate the facility at the National Aerospace Limited (NAL) premises. The new facility would integrate under one roof all the ongoing nanotechnology-related activities of NAL.

Sources tell Express that the Surface Engineering Division (SED) of NAL has been developing economically-viable technologies over the years. “Nano technology has made huge inroads in aerospace sector and NAL has been exploring the possibilities over the years. We have already developed and demonstrated some technologies in the area of solar selective coatings for domestic water heating and steam generation. Some of the highly polishable nanocrystalline coatings for passive radiative coolers have already been used on various satellite missions by ISRO,” sources said.

An efficient coating technology called NALSUN, meant for solar thermal applications, has been already transferred to 28 entrepreneurs. “The nanostructured materials and coatings have become a broad and multidisciplinary field of research with emerging applications. Some of the frontier areas of research at CSIR-NAL so far has been self-cleaning coatings, super-hard and super-tough coatings, nanocrystalline metal and composite thin films, nano-dimensional magnetic thin films, corrosion protection coatings, coatings for bio-medical applications, solar selective coatings, sol-gel hybrid coatings, cloud seeding materials and nanopowders for engineering applications,” NAL sources said.

CSIR-NAL has also demonstrated a new wear-resistant composite coating for trochoid of a Wankel engine. “We have successfully flight-tested the coating on an indigenous 55 HP rotary engine of the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) Nishant. The results were encouraging and we now foresee the use of this nano-coating on the engines of light-weight aircraft, micro-UAV and automobiles,” sources said.

CSIR-NAL has set its eye on developing nanowires and nanodots using anodic alumina template (AAO). “This is a very cost-effective way to grow nano-dimensional materials, which can be used for sensing gas, optical switching, biomedical sensor and storage devices,” sources said.

Copyright@The New Indian Express

No plane politics, NCAD project on right flightpath: CSIR DG | Delay due to 'careful approach' towards key details

By Anantha Krishnan M

Express News Service

Bangalore: Samir K Brahmachari, Director General, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) defended his decision to adopt 'a careful approach' towards India's inspiring National Civil Aircraft Development (NCAD) project. Speaking to Express over the phone from Delhi, Brahmachari denied that he or his team is 'deliberately creating turbulence' along the flightpath of NCAD, as being accused by some of the High-Power Committee (HPC) members.

CSIR DG Samir K Brahmachari

“Why should be there any hurry? We are dealing with massive government funds and it has to be dealt through a careful approach. There are lots of work to be done. Only a feasibility study is in place and that was part of the 11th Plan. Now, in the 12th Plan we will initiate the rest. It is not correct to say that we have stopped the project,” Brahmachari said.

When asked why some of the HPC members are sensing a 'deliberate delay', the CSIR chief said: “It is not a delay. When we do funding for such a huge project, we will be slow and cautious. Madhavan Nair's job as the HPC head was over in November 2011 and we thanked him for all that he has done through a letter. A new committee has taken over now as we have now entered the execution stage.”

Terming that it is important for Indian industries to come forward and propel NCAD, Brahmacahari said the Kelkar and Roddam Committees would submit their reports in the next two months. “If the industry participation is not there, this project won't take-off. Hence we are working on the joint-venture template,” he said.

To a query why the draft Cabinet note of HPC was not considered, Brahmachari said: “The format was based on an old model and it was rejected outright by the Planning Commission. This note was an extra job being done by the HPC and it was never part of their terms of reference. I know how to move Cabinet notes and the new committee will make one and move it at an appropriate time.”

Specifically when quizzed if he was playing the villain in a script for a blockbuster science fiction 'War of Brains,' the CSIR boss said: “Arey baba, no politics or deliberate delays. The 12th Plan Budget is not finalized. Everything will be clear after that.” Further when Express told Brahmachari that Prime Minister himself has seen the HPC report and was probably 'keen to go-ahead,' Brahmachari said: “When did we stop. We are going ahead. There's no controversy.”

Insiders at the Bangalore-based National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL), a premier CSIR lab, ducked Express queries saying that they have been officially asked to 'shut their mouth' and not to speak on the project.

Copyright@The New Indian Express

MAIN REPORT: BELOW POST

90-seater national aircraft project put to slow death? Few HPC members suspect 'delaying tactics'

By Anantha Krishnan M

Express News Service

Bangalore: Has the much-hyped National Civil Aircraft Development (NCAD) project of India being pushed to the back-burner? If sources who were part of the 16-member High Power Committee (HPC) are to be believed, the NCAD project is being 'deliberately delayed' after the feasibility report was submitted to the government in June 2011.

Former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman Madhavan Nair headed the HPC under the command of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). His team's mandate was to complete a feasibility study to develop and manufacture a 90-seater civil plane, in addition to spell out its broad design parameters. The NCAD office is situated at National Aerospace Laboratory (NAL) in Bangalore, a CSIR lab.

“We had submitted the report to the Samir K Brahmachari (Director-General, CSIR) on time in June 2011 which contained a design report, feasibility report, development plan and a draft Cabinet note. Within a month it could have been taken up. We had sought for in-principle a government approval for Rs 4,500 crore for the development phase and another Rs 3,000 crore for the production. The management plan was fine-tuned by A T Kearney,” sources said.

The HPC had sent the entire report for vetting to senior member of Planning Commission Arun Maira. “The report was very thoroughly reviewed by Maira and we later incorporated all his suggestions. We don't have any clue what went wrong. May be it is professional jealousy due to the media hype NCAD received. We have been told that the DG (Brahmachari) had strong reservations on CSIR-NAL or government taking it up. He wanted private partnership, which according to HPC was not feasible. We felt that because the technology is with the government agency, the question of knowledge transfer and IPR will come. We were also sure that no private agency will be able to fund so much of money and wait for a long time,” an HPC member said.

HPC members claim that had the government acted on time, then the project could have officially taken-off this January and by 2017 probably the first aircraft would have been ready for its first flight. “If the initial approval itself is taking one year, spare a thought for the project now. There's a deliberate delay and that's hurting us. More the delay in starting the project, more chances of new technologies coming in forcing further changes. Our efforts was to establish core competence for a civil aircraft programme in India. Commercial angle comes next. If we don't start somewhere in this area, we will be left home alone, even among the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India & China) nations.

In September 2011, the CSIR boss formed two committees with one headed by Vijay Kelkar to look into the JV formation of the project and another by Roddam Narasimha to look into the technical aspects of the project. But the HPC members are feeling let down considering some of the big names of Indian aviation and defence sector have put together the feasibility study. “Even Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was highly impressed with our report. We had given a copy of the report to the PM the very next day after it was submitted to Brahmachari. Now we hear there is some confusion as to who should be nodal ministry for this project – whether it has to be Science and Technology Ministry or Civil Aviation Ministry,” sources said.

Some of the HPC members say that out of the Rs 50 crore sanctioned by the S&T Ministry from the CSIR funding, only Rs 20 crore has been paid the team. “It was during a review meeting in 2010 with then S&T Minister Prithviraj Chavan that the funds were sanctioned. We haven't been given enough justifications why the remaining funds were not released. Chavan gave all support to this project,” sources said.

Copyright@The New Indian Express

Next post: CSIR DG Brahmachari reacts

NAL's Drishti to help pilots during fog fight | 2 systems operational at IGI Airport from Dec 14 |

   By Anantha Krishnan M

Express News Service

Bangalore: Pilots at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport in New Delhi, often engaged in fog-fight during take-offs and landings, will have some respite now. Drishti – a visibility measuring system – developed by a small group of scientists of Bangalore-based National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL), a  premier institute under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), have gone live at the IGI Airport from December 14.

Shyam Shetty, acting Director, NAL, confirmed to Express that two such systems have been installed at at the IGI Airport. “Drishti is a 30-meter baseline system, first of its kind installed at any airport in the country. It meets International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) stipulations. It is suitable for all categories of airports (CAT I, II & III), including CAT III B, where the pilots will have to land with low-visibility of 50 meters,” Shyam said.

Drishti has many features like electronic modulation of lamp intensity, real time embedded data acquisition with web-enabled software for remote health monitoring of the system. Similar equipment has been installed at the Amausi

Airport in Lucknow  (CAT II Airport) and is operational for some time now.

The system has been issued now International Class I NOTAM (Notice to Air Man) at Delhi and Lucknow airports. Shubha V, Scientist G with NAL's Materials Science Division, lead a six-member team in developing the system at a fraction of the cost of imported ones. “This system is installed parallel (within 120 meters from the center of the runway) and it gives correct estimate of the visibility down to 25 meters which occurs during severe fog conditions," Shubha said.

As per an MoU between NAL and the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD),Drishti is now installed at Runway 11 and Runway 29 of the IGI Airport. “We are really satisfied with the system and have now placed order for another two more as a stand-by. Our technical team has given encouraging output,” a senior official with GMR's customer relations at the IGI said. The IMD is said to have done the land-line communication from the runway to Air Traffic Control.

Drishti – an idea that took birth on CSIR Foundation Day (September 26)in 2007, got on to field trials at NAL in January 2008 and airport trials at Cochin International Airport Limited in 2008 June.

(Copyright@The New Indian Express)