National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL), a constituent laboratory of Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and Mahindra Aerospace, today announced the successful maiden flight of their jointly developed C-NM5 aircraft, marking an important "milestone" in their collaborative aircraft development programme.
The programme is India's first public-private partnership in development of aircraft and this "milestone" event is the result of teamwork across three development teams –CSIR-NAL, Mahindra Aerospace and GippsAero (a Mahindra Aerospace subsidiary in Australia), Mahindra said in a statement here.
Mahindra Aerospace is part of India’s $12.5 billion Mahindra Group.
Engineers from CSIR-NAL and Mahindra Aerospace spent nearly three years designing the aircraft using "cutting edge" design and analysis tools. The prototype was built over 10 months by the rapid prototyping team at GippsAero in their facilities near Melbourne, Australia.
Flight testing is being performed at GippsAero by a trained test pilot supported by GippsAero’s flight test team.
The 45-minute first flight on September 1 in Australia tested its basic handling. Subsequent flights evaluated stability and control. Developmental flight testing and evaluations are continuing, with the ultimate aim of achieving Type Certification in keeping with international regulatory standards, followed by a global sales and marketing programme.
C-NM5 is a five-seater all-metal aircraft powered by Lycoming IO-540 engine and has non-retractable landing gear and a spacious cabin with large access doors. The interior is reconfigurable to adapt the aircraft to different roles, while simplicity of systems and ease of maintenance are design drivers throughout the aircraft, it said.
