HAL LUH (PT-2) in maiden flight

Maiden flight of the second prototype of HAL’s Light Utility Helicopter-PT-2 was made on 22 May 2017 at Bengaluru,with Chief Test Pilots Wg Cdr Unni K Pillai and Wg Cdr Anil Bhambhani at the controls. The LUH PT2 has a modified tail boom and incorporates improvements based on feedback from testing of LUH PT1. The first flight of PT1 was carried out in September 2016 and further envelope expansion flights are in progress. HAL plans to carry out further flight testing on PT1 and PT2 in the months ahead so as to freeze the helicopter configuration by end of 2017. The LUH has a glass cockpit and will be deployed for reconnaissance, surveillance roles and as a light transport helicopter, being powered by TM/HAL Ardiden 1U/Shakti 1U single turbo shaft engine.