BANGALORE: Indian Air Force (IAF) pilots will officially get a taste of home-grown Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas with the 12th aircraft from the project flight-line and the seventh from the limited series production (LSP-7) block set to kiss the skies soon.Sources told Express that the crucial engine ground run (EGR) was over and the fighter was now being put on low-speed taxi trials (LSTT). “We will do the LSTT before October 24 and the high-speed taxi trials (HSTT) after that. Finally, we will do the nose-up trial leading to the first flight,” sources said.The aircraft is expected to do the LSTT at 150 kmph and the HSTT at 250 kmph.Though the LSP-7 was scheduled to fly in August, the project hit an air pocket when fuel leak was noticed in one of the aircraft during taxiing. “We had to ground the entire Tejas fleet as safety was our top-most priority. We lost the months of May, June, July and August with not much of testing happening,” sources said.Engineers had to re-arrange the butting of fuel and hydraulic pipes to avoid them coming into contact.In the meantime, the IAF minced no words about quality concerns of Tejas user versions, putting its makers Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in a spot of bother. “HAL took too much time in absorption of changes suggested by the user. We have definite issues with the pace of the programme. Each aircraft is now taking 24 months right from the part assembly stage. Once, Tejas is inducted into the IAF, we want HAL to put in an improvised production line,” a senior Indian Air Force official said.To iron out all the issues, a top-level Tejas review meeting was held in New Delhi this week with all the project partners in attendance.The IAF, which has already begun the preparations for the Tejas squadron, will have to wait for some more time before taking Tejas for the user trials. The No 45 Tejas Squadron, to be based in Sulur near Coimbatore, will be known as Flying Daggers.FIRE POWERTeam Tejas is back in Bangalore after a two-week successful weapon trials in Pokhran and Chandan ranges of Rajasthan. For the first time, three aircraft from the Tejas flight-line have dropped a laser-guided bomb (LGB), 1,000 lb bombs and practice ammunition.The aircraft also performed a 1,200-litre drop tank release (jettison) to test the accuracy parameters. “Close to 30 flights to check improvements and accuracy of hitting the targets were performed. The LGB trail was very critical,” sources said.The team will now head for advanced high-altitude weapon trials in Jamnagar and Leh. Sea trials will take place at INS Hansa in Goa with Russian-made R-73 air-to-air close combat missile.THE STORY SO FAR■ First flight of Tejas TD-1: 2001■ First flight of PV-2: 2005■ First order for 20 aircraft: 2006■ Order for 20 more: 2010■ Initial Operational Clearance: 2011■ Total flights: 1,713■ Total hours: 1,000-plus■ User evaluation: Before 2012 March(Source: MoD)
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