Thursday, April 09, 2009

HAL Hands Over First G-150 Rear Fuselage To IAI / HAL Hands Over First Rear Fuselage For Gulfstream (G-150) Aircraft To IAI

HAL Hands Over First G-150 Rear Fuselage To IAI / HAL Hands Over First Rear Fuselage For Gulfstream (G-150) Aircraft To IAI (NSI News Source Info) April 9, 2009: Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) on Tuesday strengthened its position as a leading aerospace export house when it handed over the first rear fuselage for the Gulfstream (G-150) aircraft to Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI). Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation, based in Savannah, Georgia, announced the wide-cabin, high-speed G150 business jet in September 2002. The G150 is a wide-cabin version of the successful G100 business jet. The aircraft was developed by Gulfstream and Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI). The first fight was successfully completed in May 2005. *G150 flight deck The aircraft is equipped with a Rockwell Collins Pro Line21 integrated avionics suite. The flight deck accommodates two crew and is fitted with a Rockwell Collins EFD-4077 electronic flight information system which provides data to the four 18.4cm display screens. The dual UNS-1C flight management systems have an integrated global positioning system and Rockwell Collins FCC-4005 autopilot. The navigation systems include dual AHC-85E attitude and heading reference systems, ADC-850C air data systems, VIR-432 navigation markers, DME-442 distance measuring equipment, single automatic direction finder ADF-462, an ALT-55B radio altimeter, a terrain collision avoidance system TCAS-94, a Honeywell EGPWS electronic ground proximity warning system and TWR-850 colour weather radar. The communications suite comprises VHF-422C cockpit radios, RTU-4220 tuners and TDR-94D transponders, Baker B12135 audio sets, Magnastar flight telephones, Rockwell Collins HF 9000 radio, Motorola NA-1335 Selcal selective calling unit, Artex ELT emergency locator transponder and a Universal CVR-30B cockpit voice recorder. *Gulfstream G150 performance The G150 has a long-range cruise speed of Mach 0.75 (895km/h), flying four passengers non-stop up to 5,467km (3,397 miles), equivalent to non-stop New York to Los Angeles, London to Moscow, or Rio de Janeiro to Santiago. The aircraft can reach speeds up to 1,015km/h (Mach 0.85) and altitudes up to 13,716m (45,000ft). The wings are fitted with pneumatic de-icing systems. HAL Chairman Mr Ashok Nayak handed over the documents of the HAL-built Aft (rear) fuselage for G-150 to Mr Shlomi Karako, General Manager, Business Jets Division, IAI, at a simple function at HAL’s Aircraft Division in Bangalore. Gulfstream (G-150) is a business executive aircraft built in Israel and transported to the United States for further furnishing. The G-150 is marketed the world over by the US-based Gulfstream Corporation. Ready for more challenges, says Nayak: The Aircraft Division has made a mark on the international export map over the years by supplying several types of door assemblies to Boeing, Airbus and other global firms. “With the G-150 fuselage delivery HAL has now entered a fairly advanced manufacturing level of building major structural assemblies for global players in the civil sector. The G-150 project augurs well not only for HAL, but also for the national objective of producing a civil aircraft of international standards,” Mr Ashok Nayak said. He also attributed the success of the project to the involvement of the private sector and expressed hope that the Company would bag more orders in the future. “The G-150 programme has given us huge confidence in taking up bigger challenges. We are now looking forward to the G-250 programme and we have made our strong presence felt in the bidding process. HAL-IAI has a time-tested partnership and we are here to capitalize on the vast potential in the business jet market,” Mr Nayak added. Quality at its best, says Israel: HAL’s ability to deliver the G-150 fuselage on time came in for praise from the strong contingent of IAI officials. “To us, this is a champion product. We have seen closely HAL’s capabilities in handling new technologies and new IT processes. For us the Gulfstream fuselage is a perfect example of synergy and quality,” Mr Shlomi Karako of IAI said. About the project: The IAI approached HAL with a request for quotation (RFQ) for building the fuselage in December 2006, since they required a partner to build the fuselage from digital data for the first time. (This process was against the legacy of paper drawings from which hundreds of aircraft were built in Israel.) The contract for producing 200 ship-sets of G-150 fuselages was signed in 2007, and a dedicated state-of-the-art hangar came up in Bangalore within nine months. The programme also saw significant and close collaborative efforts between HAL and IAI in realizing the hardware through web-based design data transfer. It also brought together the Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and Civil Aviation Authority of Israel (CAAI). HAL has a seven-year schedule to deliver 200 fuselage ship-sets to Israel.

No comments: