National Aerospace Laboratories
Encyclopedia
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
's second largest aerospace
Aerospace
Aerospace comprises the atmosphere of Earth and surrounding space. Typically the term is used to refer to the industry that researches, designs, manufactures, operates, and maintains vehicles moving through air and space...
firm after Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL). It was established by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research
CSIR India
Council of Scientific and Industrial Research established in 1942, is an autonomous body and India's largest Research and Development organization, with 39 laboratories and 50 field stations or extension centers spread across the nation, with a collective staff of over 17,000...
(CSIR) at Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
in 1959 and its headquarters was later moved to Bangalore
Bangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
in 1960. The firm closely operates with HAL, DRDO and ISRO and has the prime responsibility of developing civilian aircraft in India.
NAL is a high technology oriented institution concentrating on advanced topics in the aerospace
Aerospace
Aerospace comprises the atmosphere of Earth and surrounding space. Typically the term is used to refer to the industry that researches, designs, manufactures, operates, and maintains vehicles moving through air and space...
and related disciplines. Originally started as National Aeronautical Laboratory, it was renamed National Aerospace Laboratories to reflect its major involvement in the Indian space programme, its multidisciplinary activities and global positioning. It is India’s only civilian aerospace laboratory with a high level of competence and the expertise of its scientists is globally acknowledged. http://sankalpindia.net/drupal/?q=nal-pioneering-excellence-50-years
NAL employs a staff of about 1300 with about 350 full-fledged R&D professionals. NAL is equipped with facilities such as the Nilakantan Wind tunnel
Wind tunnel
A wind tunnel is a research tool used in aerodynamic research to study the effects of air moving past solid objects.-Theory of operation:Wind tunnels were first proposed as a means of studying vehicles in free flight...
Centre and a computerised fatigue test facility. NAL also has facilities for investigating failures and accidents in aerospace.
RTA-70 (Indian Regional JetIndian Regional Jet-External links:* http://www.icast.org.in/news/2008/aug08/aug25dob.pdf...
)
CSIRCSIR India
Council of Scientific and Industrial Research established in 1942, is an autonomous body and India's largest Research and Development organization, with 39 laboratories and 50 field stations or extension centers spread across the nation, with a collective staff of over 17,000...
has approved Rs 300 crore ($75 million) to design an aeroplane that can carry 70 passengers on short flights, and compete with planes of Franco-Italian aircraft maker ATR in Indian skies. The project will be called RTA-70. NAL would use the money to design a digital concept plane in around two years. The money will also be used to improve infrastructure at the lab. Once additional funding for the Rs. 2,000 crore project and its partners are firmed up, a prototype would be built and flown in four years. The first prototype would be a 70-seat plane. It is a family of aircraft that NAL is designing and will have three variants, a 70-seater, a 50-seater and an extended 90-seater version to be called RTA-90 with option of both Turbo prop and Turbo Fan as power source.
Products
- NAL HansaNAL Hansa|-References:*Jackson, Paul. Jane's All The World's Aircraft 2003–2004. Coulsdon, UK: Jane's Information Group, 2003. ISBN 0-7106-2537-5.-External links:* * -See also:...
- An all compositeComposite materialComposite materials, often shortened to composites or called composition materials, are engineered or naturally occurring materials made from two or more constituent materials with significantly different physical or chemical properties which remain separate and distinct at the macroscopic or...
, light-weight trainer aircraft - NAL Saras - A light, multi-role, 14 seater transport aircraft.
- NAL NM5NAL NM5NM5 is a multi-role, multi-mission aircraft being jointly developed by National Aerospace Laboratories and Mahindra Aerospace Pvt Ltd. It is a 5-seater civil aircraft and an extension of the Hansa project. The NM5 has been entirely designed and developed by NAL and Mahindra Aerospace on a 50:50...
- Five Seater - General Aviation Aircraft