News and Events, NAL, Bangalore

ISAMPE Bangalore Chapter conducted a one-day workshop on Thermal Characterization of Polymer Composites on 27 February 2007. The workshop was held and co-sponsored by NAL and ADE, Bangalore.

The workshop began with an inaugural function at KTMD Seminar Hall, NAL at 9.30 am. Chief guest, Dr AR Upadhya, Director, NAL inaugurated the workshop and addressed the gathering. In his speech, Dr. Upadhya highlighted the importance of composites in various industries and brought out clearly the significance of thermal characterization of composites. Dr RMVGK Rao, chairman, ISAMPE Bangalore Chapter gave a brief outlook on the workshop details. He mentioned that this workshop was timely as significant amount of composites are being used in aerospace industry in the recent years. Dr S Sankaran, Scientist, ADE also spoke about the arrangements made for familiarization of DMA facilities to the participants at ADE.

The inaugural function was followed by lectures on relevant topics. Dr RMVGK Rao delivered a lecture on "An Introduction to Thermal Characteri-sation of Polymer Composites" and Dr K Balakrishnan, TA instruments spoke on "Characterization of Composite Materials by Modulated DSC and TGA - Focus on Aerospace Materials".

A total of 44 participants attended the workshop. The participation ranged from a wide band of organizations both government like DRDO, NAL, IISc, ISRO and many private and public enterprise industries like HAL, GE, TAML, Millennium Polymers, etc. Familiarization / demonstration of TGA, DSC and DMA facilities were organized for the participants at NAL and ADA. The participants were divided into two batches that went on for demonstrations of TGA and DSC at FRPD, NAL and DMA at ADE. After lunch, demonstrations continued with interchange of batches at NAL and ADE. Demonstrations were successfully conducted by Dr A Vanaja and Ms Sandhya Rao at NAL and Dr Sankaran and his team at ADE.

A concluding session was held in the evening at KTMD Seminar Hall to obtain the feedback from participants and distribute certificates of participation. Many participants expressed their views and were happy to attend the workshop as it provided an insight into thermal characterization of composites for advanced aerospace applications. Suggestions were also made to conduct similar workshops in other areas as well. Dr C M Manjunatha, Secretary, ISAMPE Bangalore Chapter gave vote of thanks and the workshop was concluded.

A team from Hughes Research Laboratory, USA, comprising of Dr Matt Ganz, Director, HRL and Dr Son Dao, Associate, HRL visited NAL on 28 March 2007.

“Limbering Up Before Final Take Off”

SARAS Low Speed Taxi runs have begun in the right earnest and are going on as per the schedule. Three low speed runs have been completed as on 24/03/07.

Immediately after the second run on 24/3/07, I catch up with Wg. Cdr. Makker and Wg. Cdr. Malik, chief test pilots to get their first hand impression on PT-II’s performance. Makker and Malik graciously opine that, “Pre-flight formalities, engine start and after-start checks went off smoothly – no surprises. PT-II appears to be a good platform to maneuver. Nose-wheel steering is very well tuned. Responses to steering inputs are consistent. There’s no doubt that PT-II appears to be a powerful machine.” He further adds that, “satisfactory functioning of all the aircraft systems is itself the best proof of the excellent design and maturity to which this programme has reached”.

From the Flight Test Director’s perspective, Wg. Cdr. P Ashoka is of the opinion that, “for a new prototype all the taxi runs so far have gone on very smoothly and brake temperatures are well within the limits. Most importantly, the new ejector system for engine oil cooling is proving to be very effective. The aircraft handling is also fine”.

Wg. Cdr. Rama Mohan adds that, “all aircraft systems have been well integrated and the aircraft functionality and system operability are very much similar that observed on PT-I. Results attained so far are well within the design limits and no major deviations have been noticed”.

As we move onto to April 2007, the ASTE Tarmac will soon witness another euphoric moment of champagne corks fizzing open. The Indian tri-colour would be held well aloft, swaying prominently to aptly signify reaching of another great milestone.

R Guruprasad and Suju Thomas

NAL's new telephone exchange (Ericssion Model MD-110 EPABX System) was formally inaugurated at a simple ceremony on 21 March 2007 by Dr A R Upadhya, Director, NAL. He congratulated the team; the telephone committee, the HCL Engineers and the NAL staff from various divisions for excellent team work and co-ordination in establishing the state of the art exchange.

Mr N Satyanarayana, Area Manager, (East), BSNL and his team and Mr R Shanmugha Murthy, Regional Manager, HCL and his team were the special invitees at the function.

Mr Aithu Poojari, Chairman Telephone Committee and Mr R P Thangavelu, Scientist, C-MMACS explained briefly about the new features of the telephone exchange. Some of the new features added are the caller id facility, voice mail with e-mail interaction and auto attendant facility.

A symbolic gesture of a telephonic talk by Dr A R Upadhya, Director, NAL and Dr M R Nayak, Advisor was part of the inaugural function. The function ended with the vote of thanks proposed by Mr S Balachandar.

Heralding the second phase of "Mesoscale modeling for monsoon related weather predictions" an agreement was signed between Council of Scientific and Industrial Research(CSIR), National Aerospace Laboratories, Bangalore, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research Centre (TIFR-B Centre), Bangalore, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), Bangalore and Encore Software Limited, Bangalore under NMITLI programme on 14 March 2007

A MoU has been signed in March 2007 between ISRO Satellite Center and National Aerospace Laboratories, Bangalore for the Establishment of a New Acoustic Test Facility (ATF) at ISRO Satellite Integration and Test Establishment (ISITE), Bangalore.

A high level delegation from European Commission visited NAL on 9 March 2007. Dr A R Upadhya, Director, NAL welcomed the delegation. Dr Jose Manuel Silva Rodriguez, Director General, European Commission made a brief presentation on European Union (EU) S&T Policy and Opportunities for Research collaboration between EU and India. Thereafter NAL and European commission had extensive discussions regarding mutual co-operation.

NAL, participated in an exhibition ELKOM DHRUVA 2007 organised by NSS College of Engineering, Palakkad at Fort Maidan, Palakkad on 14-17 March 2007. The District Education Officer, Palakkad was the chief guest at the function. The exhibition was visited by a large number of people, particularly the student community, who evinced great interest in NAL's facilities. The team from KTMD comprising of Ms Sasikala GR Murthy and Mr Vasant R Pilare, KTMD managed the NAL stall very efficiently and gave personalized attention to all the visitors.

Congratulations to our colleague Dr J J Isaac, Scientist G, for extension in service for a period of two years beyond 31 March 2007.

“I’m Eager to get a Feel of the Runway”

PT-II went through close to 15 rigorous EGRs (Engine Ground Runs). The flight crew and the NAL experts felt that the aircraft is now ready to progress to the next phase.

There’s some good news for all our NAL colleagues. The Flight Readiness and Review Board (FRRB) in its meeting held on 20 March 2007 has cleared SARAS
PT-II for its low speed taxi trials. They have now sent all the relevant set of documents to DGCA, Delhi for their final clearance. The DGCA R&D team is expected to make one further inspection to ascertain the aircraft of its readiness and finally blow their ‘whistle’ for the Low Speed Taxi Trials (LSTTs).

Meanwhile the aircraft is undergoing further EGRs to carry out dynamic balancing of propellers before flight and also to carry out elaborate EMI/EMC checks.

One last look at SARAS before leaving the ASTE Tarmac gives me an impression that “she is now too eager to get onto the runway to mingle with the other big birds”

SARAS will soon commence its low speed taxi runs, proudly and prominently displaying its ‘VT-XRM’ identity. What else could be a more befitting way of saluting one of NAL’s pioneering aviation dreamers, (Late) Sri Raj Mahindra.

NAL’s HANSA aircraft is all set to participate in the prestigious Australian Airshow. The Australian International Airshow and Aerospace & Defence Exposition will be held at Avalon Airport, Victoria from the 20th March to the 25th March 2007.

NAL has upgraded the internet bandwidth from 2mbps t0 10mbps from 7 Mar 2007. This bandwidth is served by using two proxy servers for faster response.

A Boeing delegation visited NAL on 12 Mar 2007. Dr Ranjan Moodhithaya, Head, KTMD welcomed the delegation. Mr M S Ramachandra, Consultant, NAL gave a brief introduction about the details of the programme. Areas of mutual interest were discussed. Consequently the two teams from NAL and Boeing had a detailed discussion on the proposed NAL-Boeing centre.

The 18th Annual General meeting (AGM) of the Materials Research Society of India (MRSI) was held during Feb 12-14, 2007 at the National Physical Laboratory, New Delhi. At the AGM, Dr Anjana Jain and Mr S Kalyan Sundaram, Materials Science Division, National Aerospace laboratories along with Mr V Vedha Prakash and Mr H H Kumar were conferred with the Best Poster Award for the paper titled “Preparation and characterization of ß-PVDF films”.

Regional Research Laboratories (RRLs) of CSIR renamed

Five Regional Research Laboratories (RRLs) of CSIR located at Bhopal, Bhubneswar, Jammu, Jorhat and Thiruvanathapuram have been renamed owing to change in the profile of the labs. The new names commensurate with the direction, orientation of expertise, excellence developed and reflects a futuristic outlook of the lab.

RRL, Bhopal – Advanced Materials and Processes Research Institute (AMPRI)
RRL, Bhubneswar – Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology (IMMT)
RRL, Jammu – Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (IIIM)
RRL, Jorhat – North – East Institute of Science and Technology (NEIST)
RRL, Thiruvanthapuram – National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (NIST)

“On my way to my second home to accomplish a new milestone..”

SARAS moved on silently to its second home at ASTE without any pomp or paraphernalia on 9th March 2007 for its scheduled engine ground runs. In the next few days, it would be subjected to PT-II final readiness tests, full power EGRs, LSTs, HSTs and finally, the much awaited first flight.

I reach the hangar around 11:00 a.m. on 13th March 2007. SARAS is occupying its prominent place in the west end corner of the ASTE tarmac. The ‘majestic yellow’ coat of paint is prominently shining in the sunlight trying to match nature’s own rays. This ‘yellowishness’ is ably compounded by the beautiful flowers from the adjoining ‘Golden Bell tree’ at the tarmac.

Wg. Cdr. Mallik, before the commencement of the engine run is quick to remark that - ‘Looks like I am about to enter an oven’. Many of us know that SARAS is not yet pressurized and is going through the rigours of the engine runs in these present hot weather conditions.

Wg. Cdr. Makker takes charge of the operations around 11:20 a.m. and the aircraft is then put onto a rigorous engine run for close to an hour during which a number of different parameters were checked as per the power plant system test schedule.
After the run, Wg. Cdr. Mallik is the first to come out of the aircraft, heaves a sigh of relief, and quickly adds, “I don’t have to visit my health club in the evening for another ‘Sauna’”.
Sometimes, critical tasks push mankind beyond limits.

At the other end, Wg. Cdr. Makker, Wg. Cdr. Ashoka and Rajeev Kandral look satisfied with the results of the run. Most importantly, it is to be noted here that PT-II has a newly designed oil cooling system. Its efficiency during the engine runs have been very good due to its innovative design. Hence, it’s not surprising that most of the engine temperature parameters are well within the acceptable limits.

Today’s engine run happens to be the 9th in its schedule and the engines were run at max torque.

As I leave the ASTE Tarmac, I ask to myself as to what is this unique Siamese Twin connection between the SARAS engine runs and this sweltering summer – Maybe, one cannot be without the other.

NAL's International Women's Day(IWD) celebration was organized at the NAL's S R Valluri auditorium on 8th March 2007. Dr Sudha Murty, Chairperson, Infosys Foundation, Bangalore, was the year's guest of honor at the celebration.

The programme commenced with a melodious invocation by Dr Girija Gopalarathnam invoking the blessing from goddess Sharadha. Dr Kalyani Vijayan welcomed the audience and said this year's International Women's Day celebration is very special because IWD has gained entry into the annual calendar of events of NAL.

Dr A R Upadhya, Director, NAL introduced the guest of the day Dr Sudha Murty, the Chairperson of Infosys Foundation. He gave a brief detail about her brilliant academic background and her several achievements which got topped with a Padmashri in 2006. He described her as a multifaceted personality with a golden finger. He also made an announcement that from 2008 onwards on IWD, two awards would be given. The awards are for the best girl child of class 8th and 10th of Group I and II staff.

Dr Sudha Murty's lecture 'To be a Woman in a Man's World ' was a true life personal experience of her voyage and struggle. She was the only woman amongst men whether it was in the engineering college or at TELCO. She said 'men have a fragile ego but are generous and easy to work with'. While talking about women, she was very candid 'women only compete with their female colleagues whereas men co-ordinate with their male colleagues and unite'. Her strategy at work was to be patient and work hard and never ask for favours. She feels that people can be won with dialogue and not by competition. She concluded by saying 'for every successful woman there is an understanding man behind her' and she richly reminisced the role of her father and her husband who were sitting beside her in her journey of life while she was driving and taking decisions.

Ms Rama Mahadev, Sr COA proposed the ceremonial vote of thanks and hoped the message conveyed is well received by the audience.

Ms Gomathy Sankaran, Scientist, KTMD, the key anchor compered the programme very well.

Dr B R Pai, former NAL Director, and his team of flying enthusiasts made a successful trip to the virgin airfield at Hassan - Boovanahalli. According to Dr B R Pai, Safari 2007, was enjoyed and appreciated not only by the participants but also the people of Hassan because many of them were seeing aircrafts at close quarters for the first time in their life. In the Safari 2007 eight microlight aircraft (3X-Air of Raj Hamsa and 3 Zen-Air of Agni Aerosports and two powered hang gliders - NAL's Raj Hamsa clipper and Albatross Cruizer) participated. It was very remarkable to note that all the aircraft were produced in Bangalore and it was indeed a good experience particularly for the pilots doing cross country flight for the first time.

Dr B R Pai made a special mention of NAL team for the very efficient organization of the event which went off smoothly, despite inclement winds and turbulence which posed challenges to the fliers. The contributions of Mr C V Giriraj, Mr P Radhakrishna and Mr Josy were highly appreciated.

Dr B R Pai further states a positive outcome of the event was Mr Vijay Das and his team at Hassan who revived the airfield for the event, and who are determined to start a flying club there with strong local support. The response from the local people he says was heartening and they have also desired the team go back and give some rides.

2nd March 2007 turned out to be a 'Red Letter Day' at the SARAS Hangar - a milestone deserving our warmest appreciation, a day of stupendous rejoicing. Most importantly, a historic event, that would go down into the annals of Indian civil aviation history.

I reach the hangar around 3.45 p.m. The atmosphere is totally festive. Team SARAS is in a jubilant mood. At every corner of the SARAS hangar, hand-shakes and warm hugs seemed to be the 'sweetest menu' of the evening.

SARAS's 100th flight took place on 10th February 2007, i.e. the 4th day of Aero India 2007 with a beautiful air display. To commemorate this event, the management of NAL chose 2nd March 2007 to celebrate this most significant and well-achieved milestone.

With our achievements in Aero 2007, It was clear to everyone that the development of the SARAS prototype has truly been an 'engineering marvel' and 'our nation's pride'.

Dr A R Upadhya - Director, NAL, Dr K Yegnanarayan, Mr M S Chidandanda, Dr T S Prahlad and Wg. Cdr. Makker representing NAL and ASTE respectively shared their rich experiences from the time of the conceptualization of this 'novel project' to its present realization. It has been a long and arduous journey worth all the effort.

The SARAS programme itself has been a classic example of a 'great synergy venture' and undoubtedly the biggest 'comrades' who stood by us right through our torrid and also happy times were these group of Air Force 'test pilots' from ASTE who took up this challenging task of flying the SARAS prototype, thereby proving its 'design capability'. All the Commandants of ASTE and the Chiefs of the Air Force led from the front and strengthened this NAL-ASTE bond with their continued support.

It would only be very apt to end this weeks' article recollecting Pandit Nehru's 'soul stirring' speech made on 14 August 1947 - "Long ago we made a tryst with destiny...a moment comes, but rarely in history..."

HANSA and SARAS are true embodiments of a 'liberated, vibrant and independent India'. Moments like celebrating the 100th flight of SARAS also comes - not often, 'but rarely in history'.

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