Hindustan Aeronautics HF 24
| Hindustan Aeronautics HF 24 Marut | |
|---|---|
 HF 24 Marut in the Schleissheim aircraft yard |
|
| Type: | Fighter plane |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: | |
| First flight: |
June 17, 1961 |
| Production time: |
until 1977 |
| Number of pieces: |
129 |
The HAL HF 24 Marut is a single-seat fighter - bomber from the Indian manufacturer HAL that was in service with the Indian Air Force . The name of the aircraft goes back to the Indian word Marut (Sanskrit: मरुत्), which can be translated as "wind spirit". The machine is the first supersonic fighter to be built in India.
history
Development of the HF 24 began in 1956. On behalf of the government, Kurt Tank began designing the aircraft, supported by 16 German experts who had come to India with him in 1955. For flight tests, a two-seater glider , mainly made of plywood , with the same airfoil profile thickness and floor plan on a scale of 1: 1 was created, the cockpit of which came as close as possible to the planned bomb fighter plane. The landing gear was pneumatically retractable and an anti-spin parachute was installed. With test pilot Roshan Lal Suri at the controls, the non-powered aircraft designated as X-241 took off on April 3, 1959 for its first flight behind a Douglas Dakota Mk.IV (BJ 449) in aircraft tow up to 17,500 ft (approx. 5,330 m). The rate of descent was 19 m / s (3800 ft / min). After 86 test flights, during which, for example, the longitudinal stability was checked and the phygoids were flown, the nose wheel did not extend when landing. The aircraft was damaged and no longer used for flight attempts.
The first flight of the near-series motorized version took place on June 17, 1961. Since no engine with the necessary power was available, the HF 24 were equipped with a license version of the Rolls-Royce Bristol Orpheus 703 jet engine, which Hindustan produced. Therefore, despite the good construction, the desired double speed of sound could never be achieved. 129 series aircraft had been built by 1977, 18 of which were double-seaters with seats arranged one behind the other for training purposes, which only came into service in 1970. The type was used in the 1971 Bangladesh war . No machine was lost in aerial battles; however, four were destroyed by ground-based air defenses and two more on the ground. Three pilots were awarded the Vir Chakra. Despite its clearly too weak engines, the machine remained in active service until mid-1985 and was only then replaced by the MiG-23BN .
Military use
Technical specifications
| Parameter | Data |
|---|---|
| crew | 1 |
| length | 15.87 m |
| span | 9 m |
| height | 3.6 m |
| Wing area | 28 m² |
| Empty mass | 6,195 kg |
| Max. Takeoff mass | 10,908 kg |
| drive | two jet engines HAL / Bristol Orpheus Mk 703 ; 2,200 kg thrust each |
| Top speed | Mach 1.2 at 12,000 m |
| Use radius | 398 km at an altitude of 12,000 m |
Armament
- four Aden 30mm cannons
- a mobile grate with 50 SNEB -68 mm missiles in the fuselage tub
- four suspensions under the wings for various types of weapons
Preserved copies
One aircraft belongs to the Schleissheim aircraft yard . It was a gift from India to Kurt Tank's widow. It was exhibited on loan in the Aviation Museum Wernigerode from 2019 . Two more are in India; a decommissioned machine is in front of the HAL Museum in Bangalore , a mock-up in Kamla Nehru Park in Pune .
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Maruta . In: Proprietors of FLIGHT (Ed.): Flight . tape 86 , no. 2886 . Flight, London July 2, 1964, p. 16 ( flightglobal.com [PDF; accessed November 7, 2019]).
- ↑ Kapil Bhargava: The HF-24 Marut's Glider Prototype. In: bharat-rakshak.com. April 7, 2015, accessed November 28, 2018 .
- ↑ The second trick. Aviation Classic 5/2014, pp. 21–25
- ↑ http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/india/marut.htm
- ↑ Schleissheim aircraft yard : Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. HF-24 Mk 1 Marut. Retrieved November 28, 2018