After nearly two decades, India’s first indigenous rotorcraft is poised for civil certification in that nation this month, with FAA/ JAA approval expected within the year. And as its creators reveal more details of its design, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.’s (HAL) Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) emerges as a capable, cleverly executed design, clearly able to hold its own against any modern design from the West.
The saga of the ALH began in 1984, when the Indian government decided its home-grown aeronautical industry should cut its teeth on a helicopter that began with a blank sheet of paper. However, the Indian designers knew a good thing when they saw it and weren’t above adapting proven technology, at least when it meant solid engineering around the very heart of their new helicopter. Impressed by the facility, simplicity and toughness of Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm’s (MBB) hingeless rigid rotor system (as introduced by MBB on its widely sold BO 105), HAL contracted with MBB for design support, development and production aid on the ALH design.
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