The Hindu : LCA goes supersonic

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Aug 02, 2003

Front Page

Front Page

LCA goes supersonic

By Harichandan A. A.

BANGALORE AUG. 1. Tejas, the light combat aircraft (LCA), powered by an American GE 404 engine, made its maiden supersonic flight here on Friday to make Indian aviation history. Wing Commander Vikram Singh, one of three test pilots on Team LCA, took technology demonstrator I to a "targeted'' speed of Mach 1.08, flying at an altitude of 11 km.

"She behaved beautifully,'' the Wing Commander, who has flown much faster than this on other aircraft, told a media conference called to announce the test conducted by the National Flight Test Centre (NFTC), Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA). He held the aircraft at supersonic speed for 12 seconds. The flight lasted 35 minutes.

"This is the first time an Indian designed fighter aircraft has been able to accelerate to in a level flight to supersonic speed and hold at that speed,'' said a pleased M.B. Verma, LCA Programme Director ADA. V.K. Aatre, Scientifc Adviser to the Defence Ministry, and N.R. Mohanty, Chairman, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, were present.

Over the coming months, more supersonic flights are planned for technology demonstrators (TD) I and II, and for prototype version I (PV I) which will be rolled out in September, Mr. Aatre said. The Indian Air Force, and possibly the Navy, will each get their versions of the LCA "by the end of this decade''. Kaveri, the indigenous engine for the LCA, "is being developed", he said.

The technology demonstrators have been flown 94 times to date, with the flight duration being increased gradually. Over the next two years "we will concentrate on weaponisation and integration of systems'', Mr. Verma said.

The LCA's first supersonic flight, which came true two weeks later than announced, made everyone at the NFTC-ADA proud. Mr. Mohanty summed it up best. "On July 1, 2001, the LCA made its first ever flight, today within two years, it has made its first supersonic flight... it's a great day for us''.

Tejas, as the Prime Minister named it, was accompanied by a Mirage 2000 and a MiG 21, piloted by Air Commodore Parvez Khoker, Project Director, NFTC, and Squadron Leader Suneeth Krishna, Test Pilot, NFTC, respectively. The three aircraft flew supersonic simultaneously.

Later, Wg. Cdr. Vikram Singh stated that the maximum speed achieved by any aircraft piloted by a human being was Mach 3, that is, three times the speed of sound. An aircraft moving at Mach 1, which is the speed of sound, will cover about 334 metres a second.

Today, Wg. Cdr. Vikram Singh took a 2.5 G turn on the LCA, during which manoeuvre the aircraft and the pilot would have experienced a pull two and a half times that of gravity. He took the aircraft to an altitude of 8 km at sub-sonic speeds, and then climbed to 11 km, preparing for the supersonic flight. Then came the moment to forget theory and trust the aircraft. After months of agonising calculations, computer simulation and wind tunnel testing of wing vibrations and a battery of other tests, for 12 seconds, the LCA — an unstable configuration — made it.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page

News Update

Stories in this Section

Temple will come up at Ayodhya: PM

Talks only solution: Advani

Ready for debate on secularism: Amartya Sen

LCA goes supersonic

'No threat from China'

Fernandes `tests' MiG airworthiness

TADA court pulls up J&K police

Hospital blown up near Chechnya

Kelly probe opens

14 jail inmates flee