Aerospace lab to design, build 90-seat aeroplane

Bangalore: India’s largest public research agency, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, or CSIR, has approved Rs300 crore ($75 million) for its Bangalore aerospace lab to design an aeroplane that can carry 90 passengers on short flights, and compete with planes of Franco-Italian aircraft maker ATR in Indian skies.
National Aerospace Laboratories, or NAL, the CSIR lab focused on civil aircraft development, is building the regional transport aircraft, or RTA 70, as the project is called. It 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 Rs2,000 crore project and its partners are firmed up, a prototype would be built and flown in four years, said Kota Harinarayana, Raja Ramanna fellow at NAL, who is spearheading the project.
The first prototype would be 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 later.
14/04/08 K. Raghu/Livemint

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Apr 2008, New Apr 2008