The Intermediate Jet Trainer (IJT), designed and developed by state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for stage –II training of Indian Air Force (IAF) pilots, has successfully demonstrated the capability to carry out six turn spins to both the left and right hand sides. The aircraft was piloted by Group Captain HV Thakur (Retd) and Group Captain A Menon (Retd), Trend reports citing The Indian Express.
After the feat, R Madhavan, Chairman and managing director of HAL, said given the right resources and backing, HAL is capable of designing products that can meet any requirement of the Indian Armed Forces.
Arup Chatterjee, Director (Engineering and R&D), added that by de, Trend onstrating its capability to have six turn spins on both sides, the IJT has achieved a major milestone. He attributed the success to the synergy between designers, flight operations and the certifying agencies — Regional Centre for Military Airworthiness and Directorate General of Aeronautical Quality.
“The IJT, which was conceived by HAL as a replacement to the ageing Kirans of IAF fleet, had completed demonstration of its capabilities in terms of altitude and speed envelope, load factor, satisfactory stall characteristics and limited armament capability as required by IAF, much earlier. The only pending task was spin testing. During the course of spin testing, in 2016, the aircraft departed from controlled flight which brought the programme to a temporary halt. However, HAL decided to proceed further using its internal resources to complete the critical Spin testing,” HAL said in a release.
The capability to enter and recover from spin is a necessity for a trainer aircraft, to enable the trainee pilot to recognise departure from controlled flight and the actions required to recover from such situations. Achieving satisfactory characteristics during spin and an assured recovery from spin form a part of very crucial flight tests due to its unpredictability.