NM5 or C-NM5 was a multi-role, multi-mission

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines ...

being jointly developed by National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) and

Mahindra Aerospace Mahindra Aerospace is an Indian aerospace company, part of the Mahindra Group. It is the first Indian private firm to make smaller civil aircraft for the Indian general aviation market. It is an AS9100 Rev.D certified design organization. Acqui ...

. It is a 5-seater civil aircraft and an extension of the Hansa project. The NM5 was entirely designed and developed by NAL and Mahindra Aerospace on a 50:50 partnership basis. The NM5 can be used as a trainer, for transporting cargo, medical evacuation, tourism, VIP travel and for training pilots.

General Aviation aircraft programme

This new 4/5 passenger General Aviation aircraft programme was launched as a part of the 10th FYP network programme. Following the successful certification of HANSA-3, NAL proposed the development of a 5-seater

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

aircraft to be carried out during the 10th Plan. However the proposal was approved only in May 2005 and thus spilled over into the 11th Plan. Work on preliminary design of the aircraft commenced in October 2006.

Private Public Partnership

This programme is unique in the sense that NAL has started work for creation of an airplane, in equal partnership with a private production agency cum development partner, M/s Mahindra Plexion Technologies Private Ltd., a unit of the reputed

Mahindra & Mahindra Mahindra & Mahindra Limited (M&M) is an Indian multinational automotive manufacturing corporation headquartered in Mumbai. It was established in 1945 as Mahindra & Mohammed and later renamed as Mahindra & Mahindra. Part of the Mahindra Group, ...

industrial house. NAL signed an MoU with M/s Mahindra Plexion Pvt Ltd (MP) to jointly develop the 5 seater general aviation aircraft, NM5 (Figure 5) and to undertake its production and marketing. This represents the one of the recent public-private partnership programmes in aircraft design for NAL and in the civil aviation sector in

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 ...

Public Appearance

At the Indian Civil Aviation Airshow (2008) held at

Begumpet Airport Begumpet Airport in Hyderabad, also known as Hyderabad Old Airport, is a civil enclave located in Begumpet. The airport is home to the Rajiv Gandhi Aviation Academy (RGAA), the Telangana State Aviation Academy and the Begumpet Air Force Statio ...

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

between 15–18 October 2008, the 5 seat NM5 aircraft (general aviation aircraft) attracted a lot of interest in business visitors and the general public. The NM5 was exhibited during

Aero India Aero India is a biennial air show and aviation exhibition held in Bengaluru, India at the Yelahanka Air Force Station. It is organised by the Defence Exhibition Organisation, Ministry of Defence. Organisers The Defence Ministry of India, Indi ...

for people to see. The NM5 and the Saras models were the biggest attractions in seventh edition in the 160 square metre Indian stall at the Aero India was held from February 11–15, 2009.

Prototype

The engine, propeller and certified seats of the aircraft have been imported also the raw material like aluminium alloy sheets and hardware such as, nuts, bolts, washers and rivets. Prototypes of NM-5 are ready and the certification will take a year. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation is expected to certify the aircraft by December next year. The first prototype of the 5-seater civil aircraft made its maiden flight on 1 September 2011 at GippsAero's flight testing facilities near Melbourne, Australia.

Price

An NM-5 is expected to be priced around $400,000; between Rs 1.2

crore A crore (; abbreviated cr) denotes ten million (10,000,000 or 107 in scientific notation) and is equal to 100 lakh in the Indian numbering system. It is written as 1,00,00,000 with the local 2,2,3 style of digit group separators (one lakh is e ...

and Rs 1.4 crore. M&M intended to start sale of aircraft by the middle of the year 2010. However, besides the prototype no further planes were made. According to the Australian CASA website, only one NM5 appears to have been registered in 2011, VH XNM. There are no certification details listed for the aircraft

European EASA has no mention of a type certificate for the aircraft.

References