India’s indigenous trainer aircraft maiden flight

HTT-40 (Hindustan Turbo Trainer-40) is a new basic training aircraft being developed by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Indian Air Force (IAF) took to the skies for the first time on May 31, 2016 and completed a basic flight of about 25 minutes without glitches.Stating that the aircraft was piloted by an HAL test pilot who did not try out any specific manoeuvres, sources said, it had completed the high-speed taxi trials a few days ago.The low-speed trials were completed in March 2016 before which about 40 engine ground runs were completed .The new aircraft will replace the ageing fleet of HAL HPT-32 Deepak trainers that are in service with the IAF.


The aircraft will be primarily used for
Basic flying training
Aerobatics
Instrument Flying
Navigation
Night Flying
Close formation

Design and features

The HTT-40 will be a fixed-wing aircraft incorporating an all-metal airframe design. It will feature a bubble canopy, T-tail configuration and a retractable tricycle landing gear system with a steerable nose wheel.

It will have a maximum take-off weight of 2,800kg and can be configured to carry a gun, rockets and bombs to perform light combat and counter-insurgency missions.

Speed: 450 Km/hr
Range: 1000 KM
Engine Thrust: 950 SHP
Cockpit: Tandem seating, Air conditioned cockpit
Modern Aircraft System: All metal, FADEC control Turbo Prop trainer aircraft with Zero-Zero ejection seats and Multifunction displays

Engineering notes
An oleo strut is a pneumatic air–oil hydraulic shock absorber used on the landing gear of most large aircraft and many smaller ones. This design cushions the impacts of landing and damps out vertical oscillations.

An oleo strut consists of an inner metal tube or piston, which is attached to the wheel axle, and which moves up and down in an outer metal tube that is attached to the aeroplane frame. The cavity within the strut and piston is filled with gas (usually nitrogen or sometimes air ) and oil (usually hydraulic fluid), and is divided into two chambers that communicate through a small orifice.

During landing the piston slides up and down. It compresses the gas, which acts as a spring, and forces oil through the orifice, which acts as a damper. A tapered rod ( metering pin ) is used on some designs to change the size of the orifice as the piston moves, providing greater resistance as compression of the strut increases. Additionally, a check valve is sometimes used to uncover additional orifices so that damping during compression is less than during rebound.

Nitrogen is usually used as the gas instead of air, since it is less likely to cause corrosion. The various parts of the strut are sealed with O-rings or similar elastomeric seals, and a scraper ring is used to keep dust and grit adhering to the piston from entering the strut.