First flight of LUH second prototype successful

Bengaluru: State-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited has successfully carried out the maiden flight of the second prototype of indigenously developed Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) at its facility here.

The chopper was flown by Chief Test Pilot Wing Cdr (retd) Unni K Pillai and Test Pilot Wing Cdr (retd) Anil Bhambhani for about 22 minutes with the pilots reporting nil snag, HAL said in a statement.

LUH’s PT-2 flight follows the first flight of prototype- two of indigenous basic trainer aircraft — Hindustan Turbo Trainer-40 (HTT-40) — on May 19.

“These maiden flights of indigenous aircrafts are testimony to HAL’s rapid progress towards the ‘Make in India’ campaign both in the fixed and rotary wing segments. These prototypes add strength to the ongoing test flights to achieve operational clearance cutting the time frame,” HAL CMD T Suvarna Raju said.

HAL said the LUH PT-2 has modified tail boom and incorporates improvements based on feedback from testing of LUH PT-1.

The first flight of LUH PT-1 was carried out on September 6, 2016 and further “envelope expansion flights” are in progress. It had made a flight demonstration during the Aero India-2017 in February.

HAL plans to carry out more flight testings of PT-1 and PT-2 in the months ahead to freeze the helicopter configuration by the end of the year.

The LUH is a three-ton class new generation helicopter being indigenously developed by HAL to meet the requirements of military and civil operators.

According to HAL, the helicopter with glass cockpit would be deployed for reconnaissance, surveillance roles and as a light transport helicopter.

The helicopter will be capable of flying at 220 kmph, with a service ceiling of 6.5 km and a range of 350 km with 400 kg payload, it said.

The LUH is powered by TM/HAL Ardiden 1U/Shakti 1U single turbo shaft engine with sufficient power margins to cater to demanding high altitude missions.