Indian aircraft manufacturer Hindustan Aeronautics Limited started advanced testing of its HTT-40 training aircraft. During these tests, the aircraft first performed a corkscrew with two revolutions and subsequent return to normal flight. The tests were successful.
A corkscrew is the name of a plane lowering in a steep downward vertical spiral at high angles of attack. For many airplanes, a spin is a serious danger, and pilots must have the skills to pull the aircraft out of this state. You can practice these skills on training aircraft.
Aircraft tests with a corkscrew allow us to assess the reliability of their design and overall handling. The inspections of the HTT-40 training aircraft with a corkscrew started after the aircraft passed the stall test. At the stage of extended testing, the training aircraft will be tested by several types of corkscrew.
It should be noted that the development of the aircraft, for which the corkscrew is one of the standard flight modes, is quite complicated. The fact is that designers have to balance between sufficient strength of an aircraft’s construction and its weight to complete a corkscrew.
The development of the two-seater training aircraft HTT-40 has been conducted by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited since 2013 to replace the outdated HPT-32 Deepak. The new aircraft will be used for initial and advanced training of pilots.
The length of the aircraft is 10.50 m, height is 3.40 m and the wingspan is 11.00 m. The maximum take-off weight of the aircraft is 2.8 tons. HTT-40 is able to reach speeds of up to 400 km/h and fly to a distance of one thousand kilometers.