The Hindustan HUL-26 ''Pushpak'' was a 1950s

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n two-seat cabin monoplane designed and built by

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is an Indian state-owned aerospace and defence (military), defence company, headquartered in Bangalore, India. Established on 23 December 1940, HAL is one of the oldest and largest aerospace and defence manuf ...

, based on the

Aeronca Chief The Aeronca K series, Aeronca Chief, Aeronca Super Chief, Aeronca Tandem, Aeronca Scout, Aeronca Sea Scout, Aeronca Champion and Aeronca Defender were a family of American high-winged light touring aircraft, designed and built starting in the ...

Construction and operation

The Pushpak was a high-wing braced monoplane with a fixed

tailwheel Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms ...

landing gear Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for takeoff or landing. For aircraft it is generally needed for both. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, such as the Glenn L. Martin ...

. The fuselage was built from metal tubing, the wing aluminum ribs on a wooden

spar SPAR, originally DESPAR, styled as DE SPAR, is a Dutch multinational that provides branding, supplies and support services for independently owned and operated food retail stores. It was founded in the Netherlands in 1932, by Adriaan van Well, ...

, all covered in

fabric Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...

. The ''Pushpak'' first flew on 28 September 1958 and was powered by a 90 hp (67 kW) Continental flat-four engine. Around 160 aircraft were produced for Indian flying clubs for use as basic trainers. Two examples were gifted to Malaysia and were later sold to private pilot owners in the United Kingdom. These examples remained in active operation in 2013.

Operators

Hindusthan HUL-26 Pushpak G-AVPO Chester 29

Current

;

Former

; ;

Specifications (HUL-26)

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * * {{HAL aircraft 1950s Indian civil utility aircraft

Pushpak ''Pushpaka Vimana'' (; a reference to ) is a 1987 Indian black comedy film written and directed by Singeetam Srinivasa Rao, who co-produced it with Shringar Nagaraj. The film, which has no dialogue, stars Kamal Haasan leading an ensemble cast th ...

Single-engined tractor aircraft High-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1958