India’s National Civil Aircraft Development (NCAD) design bureau, under the National Aerospace Laboratory, had initially projected two variants of its Regional Transport Aircraft (RTA) with massive (95%) commonality in fuselage, empennage and wing design — something that befuddled many. The new picture above shows the base turboprop concept as it always has been, but the turbofan variant is all-new — low wing, no T-tail for starters. There goes NAL’s ludicrously optimistic dream of 95% commonality of airframe and non-engine systems between both variants. Compare with the variants here.
I like the idea of including a prop and jet version in the same family right off the bat. I am not sure if I have seen that before (the Dornier 328Jet was an after thought).
My only concern is the business aspect of this program. Who is it being built for? Do they have a buy-in from the Indian carriers? RJets are all the rage and everyone seems to be building one – So what will be its competitive edge over the others?
Cujo
those two are entirely different designs.
Complete SARAS first!!!
both really look hot…but they shouldn't remain designs….But anyways Best of Luck to NAL..
Shiv I a regular reader of your blog. I am concerned about the chinees build up. I request you to write a blog about how India can protect itself (If it is attacked now? Is there any any missile equipment india is having to protect itself from missile attack? Can missiles like akash, which has been designed for anti aircraft role can be used for these purpose?
Y ALWAYS INDIANS ACT AFTER CHINESE…AFTER THEY LAUNCH THEIR REGIONALJET…WE ARE ALSO IN MAKING?????
So I have two questions here
1. What happened to the SARAS? Has it migrated to dreamland after the crash which killed both the co-pilots? Last i heard, the SARAS was overweight by 900 kilos and the IAF wanted the weight reduced. There were also some talk about installing a higher rated Pratt & Whitney engine than the PT6A currently doing duty.
2. When it takes NAL 20 years to come up with an overweight propeller driven plane with imported Pratt & Whitney engines, how many years would it take them to build a modern aircraft such as the ones in the picture?
lots and lots of images and models on display everywhere,,very few things become a reality that too ,,very late,,involve private sector 100% tata mahindra L&T,ashok leyland,, godrej otherwise we are going no where
We buy arms from international vendors which are private companies, but don't allow to participate our own private sector companies.. I never understood why!!?!! .. it's easy to create PPTs then delivering actual products…!!
I am regular read of this blog because there are none available other than one from Ajai Shukla.. However, honestly speaking most of the time news are very shallow… rarely I see a detailed news on this blog!!!
Re Shiv
They have done completely right thing. A high wing turbofan is not a economical design for civilian aircraft as aircraft becomes heavier and fuel consumption in increased. High wing turbofan designs are used exclusively for military transports.
NAL should target 50-70-90 seater for turboprop aircraft and for turbofan aircraft it should target 90-110-130 narrow body aircraft like Embraer series.
Later 2020 onwards it can try its hand at equivalent of A320 or Boeing 737s
With contradicting news coming at regular intervals it's desirable to know about the present status. Will you help us know? Please!
Close down NAL; the government sponsored work-create and waste program.
seriously, i think all these PSUs need to make products rather than just show images and models. Even the LCA is still ages away from induction, and there is no hope in sight for the Airawath and other planes.. lets not dream to much.
India Govt first should look at their production ability and capabilities before going ahead with any prject. And start involving Private Sector MUST
What a joke. The much-hyped Saras has been languishing for years and is being finished only with Russian assistance. And that is a basic 14-seater aircraft that any aircraft maker worth their salt should be able to develop blindfolded.
http://igorrgroup.blogspot.com/2010/09/saras-duet-saga-is-following.html
Meanwhile NAL is floating dreams about regional jetliners. Someone should start a poll about which country they'll approach for assistance when this gets stalled indefinitely.
Given how quickly this design was fished out means that its a quick fund gathering photoshop job than an actual concept.NAL has yet to deliver a simple Saras plane yet we are expected to believe that they will develop not one but two COMMERCIALLY COMPETETIVE aircraft???
I think not!Involve private sector companies with good engineering DNA like L&T else stop wasting my(taxpayer) money on keeping NAL afloat!
I like the idea of including a prop and jet version in the same family right off the bat. I am not sure if I have seen that before
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