h seems like something out of a sci-fi film.
But for Air Marshal S. Mukerji, chasing the sun's shadow during the total solar eclipse on Oct 24, 1995, that's exactly what happened. Heralding the IAF's participation in scientific study of total solar eclipse, Mukerji, presently the Air Officer-in-Charge Personnel at Air Headquarters and the then commanding officer of IAF's only (photo)MiG-25 reconnaissance squadron based at Bareilly, undertook a sortie in the giant plane to record the celestial event.
He got the rare opportunity to film the Sun's corona from an astounding altitude of 80,000 feet. "We flew at Mach 2.5 in the path of the eclipse at 80,000 feet along the planned central axis of the eclipse over Neem ka Thana (in Rajasthan's Sikar district)," recalled Mukerji of his historic sortie.
The sortie finds a mention in his flying log book simply as "Supersonic Profile". "The weather and visibility were not any constraints as clarity at stratospheric levels is far better than that nearer the ground," he said.
After the total solar eclipse of 1898 over India, the next occurrence took place in 1980. And in the subsequent total solar eclipse in 1995, the IAF assisted the Department of Science and Technology (DST) in their quest to film this celestial alignment.
This was possible with aviation speeds streaking way past the supersonic barrier. With a manual camera mounted above the instrument panel, a special lead and button provided to the other pilot, Wing Commander Y.S. Babu, seated in the front cockpit, the duo, with special solar filters on their visors flew straight towards the Sun for a minute and 24 seconds, photographing never-before seen images of the spectacle during the total solar eclipse.
"A lot of preparation went into the sortie. It had to be charted and axis programmed on the inertial navigation system, with briefings by scientists armed with NASA charts. The aircraft was first jacked up and the angle-of-attack simulated on the ground to harmonize the camera along the axis.
"In addition, the aircraft's belly camera could capture the shadow beneath that was 85 km in width," Mukerji explained.
During Wednesday's eclipse, a 10-member team of scientists and a camera team will be flying in an AN-32 transport aircraft from the Agra airbase in an endeavour to film the event. The aircraft will fly along the central axis on a north-westerly direction at an approximate altitude of 25,000 feet, turn around at Khajuraho and land back at Agra.
This apart, a Mirage-2000 trainer will also take off from the Gwalior airbase and the pilot in the rear seat will take photographs as the fighter flies on an angular track to the central axis of the Sun's shadow.
Showing posts with label An-32 Transport Aircraft. Show all posts
Showing posts with label An-32 Transport Aircraft. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
DTN News: This IAF Pilot Chased The Sun's Shadow
DTN News: This IAF Pilot Chased The Sun's Shadow
*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media
(NSI News Source Info) NEW DELHI, India - July 22, 2009: New Delhi: For an Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter pilot chasing a target at Mach 2.5 or more than twice the speed of sound and yet not managing to play catc
h seems like something out of a sci-fi film.
But for Air Marshal S. Mukerji, chasing the sun's shadow during the total solar eclipse on Oct 24, 1995, that's exactly what happened. Heralding the IAF's participation in scientific study of total solar eclipse, Mukerji, presently the Air Officer-in-Charge Personnel at Air Headquarters and the then commanding officer of IAF's only (photo)MiG-25 reconnaissance squadron based at Bareilly, undertook a sortie in the giant plane to record the celestial event.
He got the rare opportunity to film the Sun's corona from an astounding altitude of 80,000 feet. "We flew at Mach 2.5 in the path of the eclipse at 80,000 feet along the planned central axis of the eclipse over Neem ka Thana (in Rajasthan's Sikar district)," recalled Mukerji of his historic sortie.
The sortie finds a mention in his flying log book simply as "Supersonic Profile". "The weather and visibility were not any constraints as clarity at stratospheric levels is far better than that nearer the ground," he said.
After the total solar eclipse of 1898 over India, the next occurrence took place in 1980. And in the subsequent total solar eclipse in 1995, the IAF assisted the Department of Science and Technology (DST) in their quest to film this celestial alignment.
This was possible with aviation speeds streaking way past the supersonic barrier. With a manual camera mounted above the instrument panel, a special lead and button provided to the other pilot, Wing Commander Y.S. Babu, seated in the front cockpit, the duo, with special solar filters on their visors flew straight towards the Sun for a minute and 24 seconds, photographing never-before seen images of the spectacle during the total solar eclipse.
"A lot of preparation went into the sortie. It had to be charted and axis programmed on the inertial navigation system, with briefings by scientists armed with NASA charts. The aircraft was first jacked up and the angle-of-attack simulated on the ground to harmonize the camera along the axis.
"In addition, the aircraft's belly camera could capture the shadow beneath that was 85 km in width," Mukerji explained.
During Wednesday's eclipse, a 10-member team of scientists and a camera team will be flying in an AN-32 transport aircraft from the Agra airbase in an endeavour to film the event. The aircraft will fly along the central axis on a north-westerly direction at an approximate altitude of 25,000 feet, turn around at Khajuraho and land back at Agra.
This apart, a Mirage-2000 trainer will also take off from the Gwalior airbase and the pilot in the rear seat will take photographs as the fighter flies on an angular track to the central axis of the Sun's shadow.
h seems like something out of a sci-fi film.
But for Air Marshal S. Mukerji, chasing the sun's shadow during the total solar eclipse on Oct 24, 1995, that's exactly what happened. Heralding the IAF's participation in scientific study of total solar eclipse, Mukerji, presently the Air Officer-in-Charge Personnel at Air Headquarters and the then commanding officer of IAF's only (photo)MiG-25 reconnaissance squadron based at Bareilly, undertook a sortie in the giant plane to record the celestial event.
He got the rare opportunity to film the Sun's corona from an astounding altitude of 80,000 feet. "We flew at Mach 2.5 in the path of the eclipse at 80,000 feet along the planned central axis of the eclipse over Neem ka Thana (in Rajasthan's Sikar district)," recalled Mukerji of his historic sortie.
The sortie finds a mention in his flying log book simply as "Supersonic Profile". "The weather and visibility were not any constraints as clarity at stratospheric levels is far better than that nearer the ground," he said.
After the total solar eclipse of 1898 over India, the next occurrence took place in 1980. And in the subsequent total solar eclipse in 1995, the IAF assisted the Department of Science and Technology (DST) in their quest to film this celestial alignment.
This was possible with aviation speeds streaking way past the supersonic barrier. With a manual camera mounted above the instrument panel, a special lead and button provided to the other pilot, Wing Commander Y.S. Babu, seated in the front cockpit, the duo, with special solar filters on their visors flew straight towards the Sun for a minute and 24 seconds, photographing never-before seen images of the spectacle during the total solar eclipse.
"A lot of preparation went into the sortie. It had to be charted and axis programmed on the inertial navigation system, with briefings by scientists armed with NASA charts. The aircraft was first jacked up and the angle-of-attack simulated on the ground to harmonize the camera along the axis.
"In addition, the aircraft's belly camera could capture the shadow beneath that was 85 km in width," Mukerji explained.
During Wednesday's eclipse, a 10-member team of scientists and a camera team will be flying in an AN-32 transport aircraft from the Agra airbase in an endeavour to film the event. The aircraft will fly along the central axis on a north-westerly direction at an approximate altitude of 25,000 feet, turn around at Khajuraho and land back at Agra.
This apart, a Mirage-2000 trainer will also take off from the Gwalior airbase and the pilot in the rear seat will take photographs as the fighter flies on an angular track to the central axis of the Sun's shadow.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Antonov Exhibits AN-74, AN-140 At LAAD Show / ANTONOV Will Present Its New Projects In Latin America
Antonov Exhibits AN-74, AN-140 At LAAD Show / ANTONOV Will Present Its New Projects In Latin America
(NSI News Source Info) April 16, 2009: ANTONOV ASTC will represent a number of its modern projects at LAAD-2009 aviation exhibition in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). ANTONOV airplanes are well-known in the region.
More than 260 AN-24 and AN-28 passenger airplanes, AN-26 and AN-32 transports and AN-2 light multipurpose biplanes work today in the countries of Latin America.
The Antonov An-140 is a short-range turboprop airliner, first flown on September 17, 1997. Apart from the main production line in Kharkiv, Ukraine by KSAMC, aircraft are being produced in Russia and under licence by HESA in Iran as the IR.AN-140 or Iran-140. It can carry a maximum of 52 passengers.
Basing on many-year positive experience of using the ANTONOV airplanes in the region, the ASTC offers to the aircraft operators a number of new machines. They are able to perform effectively a wide spectrum of tasks successfully working under climatic conditions of the countries of Latin America.
Among ANTONOV programs represented at the exhibition, are the new versions of AN-74 multipurpose family including maritime patrol one. It is intended to effectively perform various missions including: aerial and maritime patrol missions; search and rescue operations; electronic and radio reconnaissance; detection of polluted sea areas. If it is necessary, the aircraft can be easily converted to carry passengers, evacuate sick wounded persons.
The cargo compartment of more than 50m3 along with highly-mechanized ramp and advanced loading-unloading devices allow independent loading-unloading, transportation of a wide range of cargoes as well as aerial delivery.
The new transport version of AN-74 can transport various cargoes including military-purpose ones with a total weight up to 10 t. For more convenient loading/unloading of palletized and containerized cargoes, roller equipment was mounted on the aircraft floor.
Turboprop AN-140 can effectively enlarge a fleet of the airlines. Capability to be operated in a wide rate of heights of airfields and climatic conditions, under VFR and IFR at day and night are among its advantages. Potential of the AN-140’s structure makes it possible to develop a whole family of aircraft of different purposes on the basis of this aircraft.
ANTONOV ASTC together with its partners on the program has designed several new versions of the AN-140 including one for weather prospecting, coastal economic area protection, aerophotography and aerocartography, fire fighting, search and rescue operations both over the water and land, natural resources exploration and monitoring as well as cargo and passenger-cargo aircraft.
Taking part in the LAAD-2009 air show ANTONOV intends to conduct a series of negotiations with representatives of aviation enterprises of Latin America to discuss possible directions of cooperation including design of new types of aircraft.
Monday, April 06, 2009
Indo-Russia's Tactical Transpot Aircraft In Progress - Update
Indo-Russia's Tactical Transpot Aircraft In Progress - Update
(NSI News Source Info) NEW DELHI, India - April 6, 2009: The Indo-Russian Transport Aircraft is a medium-lift military transport which will be constructed by a joint-venture formed by the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) of Russia and the Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) of India. Both companies will invest US$300 million each in joint venture. 
First flight expected in 2011. Irkut has pulled out of the project after an industry realignment and has been replaced by Ilyushin. Total cost of development is 600 million US$. The envisaged requirement is for 100 aircraft for the Russian Air Force, 45+ for the Indian Air Force (IAF) and a projected demand of 60 from third countries. The IAF sees the aircraft as a replacement for its ageing fleet of 60-70 An-32/ and Avro HS 748 aircraft. Planned Specs: Maximum takeoff weight: 55,000 kg, Capacity: 88 to 100 paratroopers/passengers, Payload: 18.5 tons. The deal was signed in November 2007 during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Moscow. Rosoboronexport has now identified Ilyushin Aviation Complex as the new prime nodal agency after Irkut pulled out of the project in March 2008. The development and certification of the new aircraft is expected to be completed within six years.
The aircraft will replace Indian Air Force's aging fleet of Antonov An-12, An-26 and An-32 transport aircraft. The aircraft will be able to perform regular transport duties and also deploy paratroopers.
According to some speculative reports, the aircraft is to be powered by Russian-made turbofan engines attached to top mounted wings, and has a T-shaped tail. The payload will be 18.5 tons of military or civilian cargo, with a range of 2500 km and a speed of 870 km/h.
First flight expected in 2011. Irkut has pulled out of the project after an industry realignment and has been replaced by Ilyushin. Total cost of development is 600 million US$. The envisaged requirement is for 100 aircraft for the Russian Air Force, 45+ for the Indian Air Force (IAF) and a projected demand of 60 from third countries. The IAF sees the aircraft as a replacement for its ageing fleet of 60-70 An-32/ and Avro HS 748 aircraft. Planned Specs: Maximum takeoff weight: 55,000 kg, Capacity: 88 to 100 paratroopers/passengers, Payload: 18.5 tons. The deal was signed in November 2007 during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Moscow. Rosoboronexport has now identified Ilyushin Aviation Complex as the new prime nodal agency after Irkut pulled out of the project in March 2008. The development and certification of the new aircraft is expected to be completed within six years.
The aircraft will replace Indian Air Force's aging fleet of Antonov An-12, An-26 and An-32 transport aircraft. The aircraft will be able to perform regular transport duties and also deploy paratroopers.
According to some speculative reports, the aircraft is to be powered by Russian-made turbofan engines attached to top mounted wings, and has a T-shaped tail. The payload will be 18.5 tons of military or civilian cargo, with a range of 2500 km and a speed of 870 km/h. Indian Air Force plans to acquire 45 Tactical Transport Aircraft. Russian market will demand nearly 100 transport aircraft within next 12 years. The jet is expected to fly by 2013 and inducted by 2015.
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