NM5 or C-NM5 is an Indian multi-role, multi-mission aircraft being jointly developed by

National Aerospace Laboratories The National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) is an aerospace research institution in India, established by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in Delhi in 1959. NAL collaborates with organizations such as Hindustan Aeronaut ...

(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 except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other ...

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 is an Indian automobile manufacturing company headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It was established in 1945 as Mahindra & Mohammed and later renamed Mahindra & Mahindra. Part of the Mahindra Group, M&M is one of the lar ...

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

Public Appearance

At the Indian Civil Aviation Airshow (2008) held at

Begumpet Airport Begumpet Airport is an airport that serves Hyderabad in Telangana, India. It is located in Begumpet and caters to general and military aviation. The airport is home to the Begumpet Air Force Station of the Indian Air Force. Begumpet was built ...

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

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 Ministry of Defence, Indian A ...

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 Crore (; abbreviated cr) denotes the quantity ten million (107) and is equal to 100 lakh in the Indian numbering system. In many international contexts, the decimal quantity is formatted as 10,000,000, but when used in the context of the India ...

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...

Specifications

References

{{Reflist NM5