HAL's Light Utility Helicopter clears tests in Himalayas
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited said on Thursday the Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) designed
and developed by it successfully demonstrated hot weather and high altitude capabilities in the Himalayas.
With the completion of hot and high altitude testing, the LUH has complied with all the requirements of the users and it was close to operational clearance certification, HAL Chairman and Managing Director R Madhavan said.
The trials were carried out by the test pilots from HAL, the Indian Air Force and the Army from August 24 to September
2, he said in a statement.
"All planned tests were successfully demonstrated", the statement said.
A comprehensive test plan was executed at Leh (3300 m altitude) in temperatures up to International Standard Atmosphere (ISA) +32 degree C which included envelope expansion, performance and flying qualities, according to HAL.
The LUH then lifted off from Leh (Jammu and Kashmir) and demonstrated its hot and high hover performance at Daulat Beg Oldie Advanced Landing Ground at 5000 m followed by another forward helipad (5500m at ISA + 27 degree C), it said.
"While these extreme weather conditions imposed flight restrictions on all other civil and military aircraft, LUH flights were unhindered as it is designed for such operations", the company said.
The helicopter embarked on a 3000 km flight from Bengaluru to Leh over a period of three days traversing many civil and military airfields.
During the course of ferrying and trials at high altitude, the chopper revealed high reliability without any service support, HAL said.
The composite trials team included designers, flight test crew of HAL, the IAF and the Army.
The flights were completed by an HAL flight test team led by Wg Cdr (Retd) Unni Pillai, CTP (RW) and accompanied by Wg Cdr (Retd) Anil Bhambani, Gp Capt (Retd) Pupinder Singh, Gp Capt V Panwar, Wg Cdr A Jena, a representative from the Air Force Gp Capt R Dubey and Lt Col R Grewal from the Indian Army, the statement said.
The LUH has completed hot weather trials at Nagpur in 2018, cold weather trials at Leh in Jammu and Kashmir 2019 and sea level trials at Chennai in 2018 and at Puducherry in 2019, HAL said.
ALSO READ: Hindustan Aeronautics Limited capable of producing Rafale: Chairman R Madhavan
