Milestone Event For India’s First Public-Private Partnership In Aircraft Development

The first flight of a new airplane is always and exciting event. Wednesday marked the inaugural takeoff for the C-NM5 aircraft, jointly developed by India's CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratories and Mahindra Aerospace. The program is India's first public-private partnership in the development of aircraft, and this milestone event is the result of teamwork across three development teams – CSIR-NAL, Mahindra Aerospace and GippsAero, a Mahindra Aerospace subsidiary in Australia.

Engineers from CSIR-NAL and Mahindra Aerospace spent close to three years designing the aircraft. The prototype was built over a 10 month period by the rapid prototyping team at GippsAero in their facilities near Melbourne, Australia, where the flight testing is also taking place. The 45-minute first flight on the 1st of September tested basic handling of the aircraft. Subsequent flights have evaluated aircraft stability and control in different flight regimes. Developmental flight testing and evaluations are continuing, with the ultimate objective of achieving Type Certification in keeping with international regulatory standards, followed by a global sales and marketing program.

The C-NM5 is a 5-seat all-metal aircraft powered by a Lycoming IO-540 engine, and features fixed landing gear and a spacious cabin with large access doors. The cabin interior is reconfigurable to adapt the aircraft to different roles, while simplicity of systems and ease of maintenance are design drivers throughout the aircraft. The C-NM5 thus complements Mahindra Aerospace's growing family of light utility aircraft that are designed to meet the latest global standards, while operating in environments with limited infrastructure at extremely low costs per seat mile.

“It is our privilege to announce an important milestone in the NM5 program with the first flight of the prototype in Australia which was undertaken by Mahindra. This is not only a pioneering public-private partnership for India, but also symbolizes the globalized nature of the technological knowledge pool from which we can all draw from and contribute to, leading to execution excellence. Together with the private sector, such initiatives will  provide the impetus for the development of a world class indigenous aerospace industry in India," said Prof. Samir Brahmachari, Director General, CSIR, and Secretary, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India.

“It gives us great pride to see our first indigenous effort, the C-NM5, developed along with the CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratories, complete its maiden flight. A partnership that will enable India to Rise – to the skies! This project is part of Mahindra’s goal to provide transportation and connectivity solutions to communities everywhere. My congratulations to our teams in India and Australia for successfully executing India’s first public-private partnership in aircraft development,” said Mr. Anand Mahindra, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Mahindra Group.

“We are very pleased that Mahindra have invested in GippsAero and had the confidence to trust us with building the prototype of this milestone aircraft and undertaking successful first flights. We are confident that following completion of the development program, the C-NM5 will receive international certification as with other GA aircraft. The achievement today also reinforces our belief in our ability to deliver our upcoming development programs for new models in the Airvan family of aircraft,” said Mr George Morgan, Director of Technology at GippsAero Pty Ltd.

FMI: www.mahindra.com