Tejas Undergoes Hot Weather Trials

Released on Friday, June 06, 2008

The Light Combat Aircraft 'Tejas' underwent hot weather flight trials at Air Force Station, Nagpur recently. The trials were planned at Nagpur because of the high ambient temperature conditions prevailing there during this period. The aim of the trials was to check operation of the aircraft systems under high ambient temperature conditions of over 40 deg C, representative of the stringent conditions the aircraft would be expected to operate in, after induction into the Indian Air Force. The Team which carried out the triaIs was a composite team with members from Indian Air Force (IAF), Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Centre for Military Airworthiness Certification (CEMILAC), Directorate General of Aeronautical Quality Assurance (DGAQA) with support from Air Force Station, Nagpur and Maintenance Command of IAF.

All aircraft systems, specifically the avionics system, flight control system and air conditioning system were tested extensively during the trials and functioned satisfactorily on ground as well in flight. A total of seven flights of four hours duration were flown at Nagpur on two prototype aircraft PV2 and PV3. The tests included flights at 200 meters above the ground with a speed up to 1000 km/h after 'hot soaking' the aircraft on tarmac for 2 to 4 hours. During this 'hot soaking' the aircraft skin temperature reached above 70 deg Celsius. The test flights were monitored in real time using a mobile telemetry station of ADA, positioned at Nagpur for this purpose.

This was the first time that the Tejas aircraft had flown a non-stop distance of about 1000 km from Bangalore. This was possible due to the presence of external fuel tanks (drop tanks) on the aircraft which were integrated recently. This was also the first time that the Tejas aircraft had been flown at such high ambient temperature conditions. A first look at the test data indicated that all the trial objectives were met satisfactorily. A large amount of data has been collected and is under detailed analysis by the aircraft designers at ADA and HAL. The aircraft is now planned for delivering precision guided bombs in the deserts of Rajasthan, later this year.