Bengaluru, Sep 3 (IANS): The Hansa New Generation (Hansa-NG) aircraft, designed and developed by CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL), Bengaluru, made its maiden flight on Friday.

The aircraft took off from HAL airport at 2.09 p.m., flew at an altitude of 4,000 feet and gained a speed of 80 knots before it made a successful landing after about 20 minutes, a release from the Ministry of Science and Technology said.

The unique features of Hansa-NG are glass cockpit with cabin comfort, high, efficient digitally controlled engine, electrically-operated flaps, long endurance, low acquisition, and low operating cost.

The CSIR-NAL has already received 72 Letters of Intent from various Flying Clubs and the aircraft will be certified within the next four months before it gets inducted into service. The flight was monitored in telemetry by senior officers and scientists/engineers from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the Centre for Military Airworthiness & Certification (CEMILAC) and the CSIR-NAL.

Calling it a 'textbook' flight, Capt Amit Dahiya, the test pilot who flew the maiden flight, expressed his happiness, and told that all the flight parameters were found normal.

CSIR Director General, Dr Shekhar C Mande, while congratulating Team NAL, said this successful milestone flight is the culmination of efforts of the CSIR-NAL design team, flight test crew, and the DGCA.

He further mentioned that CSIR-NAL has already identified a private partner and series production will start soon. He applauded the efforts of Project Director, HANSA, Abbani Rinku, and Team NAL for the tireless efforts which has made this possible, the release added.