Indonesia flies first N219 light transport

2337

The Indonesian Aerospace Industries N219 twin turboprop light transport aircraft has made its successful first flight.

The aircraft took off and landed from the Husein Sastranegara Airport, Bandung, West Java, on 16 August, LAPAN, the Indonesian Institute of Aeronautics and Space, said. It carried two pilots and a flight engineer. The flight lasted 30 minutes and reached an altitude of 8 000 feet. It paves the way for further testing and certification, after months of delays.

The N219 is a 19-passenger aircraft designed by LAPAN and manufactured by PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PTDI – Indonesian Aerospace). It has been designed to be economical to operate in a wide variety of roles, including cargo, medical evacuation, passenger transport and troop carrier.

The N219 is designed from the CASA/Airbus Military C212 Aviocar. It was conceived in 2007 and presented to potential customers in 2010. A prototype was unveiled in December 2015, and funded by Indonesia’s Ministry of State-Owned Enterprises, the Ministry of Research, Technology, and Higher Education, and LAPAN.

The N219 is 16.7 metres long, 6.2 metres high and has a wingspan of 19.5 metres. Maximum take-off weight is 7 030 kg and payload is 2 313 kg, according to PTDI. It is claimed that it will have the largest cabin volume in its class (6.50 x 1.82 x 1.70m). The aircraft is powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-42 turboprop engines producing 850 shp each and giving a cruising speed of around 390 km/h.
“This success proves that this nation is capable of independently designing, testing, certifying and producing national aeronautics products,” LAPAN said after the N219’s first flight.