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Flying into the unknowns

An exclusive interaction with the test pilots of the LCA Tejas project. The men who have been tasked with the challenge of developing the prototype design into an operational fighter aircraft

The conference room is dark. All heads are poring over the large screen at one end, which is displaying a multitude of graphs and bar charts. Each curve on the graphs is analysed, each number is debated and jargon flies around. Welcome behind the scenes of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas project. A debrief session of the elite test pilots who are crucial to developing the indigenous fighter aircraft is underway at the National Flight Test Centre (NFTC).

Walking from the debrief, Air Commodore R.K. Sharma, Project Director (Flight Test), NFTC first seeks to dispel some misconceptions about test pilots. "A test pilot is not a gung-ho Texan. He is a man who knows all the systems backward in his aircraft. He can look at an aircraft and guess its flying characteristics."

Air Cmde Sharma, who himself also flies the Tejas, heads a test crew that consists of seven members — Captain J.A. Maolankar, Group Captain A.P. Singh, Group Captain N. Harish, Wing Commander N. Tiwari, Wing Commander R.K. Dash, the pilots and Wing Commander M. Prabhu, the flight test engineer while Wing Commander (retd) P.K. Raveendran functions as the Group Director.

All the personnel have been exclusively drafted into the project from the Indian Air Force (IAF), but Air Cmde Sharma again throws in a little googly there: "Not every good fighter pilot makes a good experimental pilot."

PHOTOS: BHAGYA PRAKASH K.

KICKER: The test flight crew led by Air Cmde R.K. Sharma (centre sitting) and left, the LCA Tejas PV-3 being piloted by one of the team

Test flying aircraft has three categories — product test flying, overhaul/upgrade test flying and experimental test flying. It is quite obvious that the final one qualifies as the most risky and challenging as the first two are never reached without going through the last category. Experimental test flying involves flying prototype aircraft whose flight characteristics have never been mapped before, except in simulations. It is the job of an experimental test pilot to determine these characteristics in a real environment and then give feedback on modifications or improvements to the design team. The LCA Tejas, an Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) project, has been on development for more than two decades and has now reached the stage of a final prototype which has been designated Production Variant (PV). The first aircraft was Technology Demonstrator (TD) One, which flew first on January 4, 2001, piloted by Wing Commander Rajiv Kothiyal. Now the test crew flies six aircraft (TD 1 to 3 and PV 1 to 3) to complete the necessary tests so that it can be certified for deliveries to the IAF. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) at Bangalare will manufacture the aircraft.

Test flying has a certain glamour attached to it thanks to Hollywood but then it is often said that someone who has no fear can never be a test pilot. Each sortie is carefully planned in great detail and after each flight there is an extensive debrief which can last hours to thrash out every single issue. Also test pilots have the responsibility of bringing back an aircraft safely in case of a failure so that the issues can be studied by designers in an intact aircraft than from debris on the ground. But issues are instantly spotted while flying because over 400 parameters of the LCA Tejas are monitored in real time when it is flying.

"It is more risk versus benefit. Everything is risky but as test pilots we are always prepared. It comes from experience. We explore envelopes, analyse data and resolve issues. Sometimes we have to even decide if we can continue with a level of risk or stop and fix it." All the team members are familiar with each other because they have worked together at some point. Everyone listens in to what the pilot is saying during a flight at the control room. Personal opinions on issues are always taken before a consolidated view is arrived at, but Air Cmde Sharma, adds tongue-in-cheek: "There is always only one boss."

As I prepare to leave the pilots, they say well within earshot of their boss: "We do have a secret code to indicate if the boss is listening in to the radio or not."

ANAND SANKAR

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