Saras to take maiden flight tomorrow

BANGALORE: The Saras, India''s firstindigenously built civilian aircraft, will take its maiden flight from the HALairport in Bangalore on Friday.Speaking to reporters following theconclusion of the IAF''s annual commanders'' conference on Wednesday, Chief of AirStaff, Air Chief Marshal S. Krishnaswamy, said the Aircraft and System TestEstablishment (ASTE) has planned a flight on Friday at 8 am.Theaircraft, a twin turbo prop, 14-seater, built by the National AerospaceLaboratories (NAL), has been undergoing final tests at the HALairport.Saras, which will be powered by Pratt and Whitney engines,is designed for executive transport, cargo carrying, remote sensing, coast guardand air ambulance usage.The Rs 150-crore project Saras, named afterthe Indian crane, began in 1991 under the stewardship of Roddam Narasimha but ithit air pockets due to the denial of critical components following US sanctionsimposed after the Pokhran tests in 1998. NAL, a CSIR lab, revivedthe project in 2000 after the government assured additional capital infusion ofRs 200 crore into the project. Plea to buy Saras: Speaking on hisefforts to make IAF buy indigenous aircraft, Krishnaswamy said, "I haveapproached the government and requested them that the IAF would prefer buying anindigenous aircraft (Saras), instead of a foreign-builtaircraft."Two prototypes of Saras have to be flown for a total of500 hours before it gets the Directorate General of Civil Aviationcertification, which is expected to be completed by 2007. "We have to support ouraircraft, the first few aircraft would be expensive, and any shortcomings in theaircraft could be improved by expertise by the IAF before commercialising it,"he said. IAF plans to deploy Saras at the training base in Yelahankato train Rookie pilots, who now are flying Dornier aircraft. "Firstwe need to build confidence level. Today, we use Dornier for training and wewill use Saras for training and through that we get to know that aeroplane,"Krishnaswamy said.