Kaveri Testbed Airborne

摘要

Flight tests of the Kaveri K9 (GTX-35VS) engine began on November 3 at Zhukovsky outside Moscow, the powerplant taking the place of one of the existing D-30s under the wing of an Ilyushin II-76LL testbed (RA-76492, c 0043452549). The trials are being undertaken by the Gromov Flight Research Institute on behalf of the Indian Gas Turbine Research Establishment of the Defence Research and Development Organisation, which is responsible for development of the Kaveri. The flight tasted over an hour during which it was flown at an altitude of 18,230ft (6,000m) and Mach 0.6. The engine was controlled by the Il-76LL's pilot, but its performance and health were monitored during the flight by a mission crew in the cabin, while telemetry was also transmitted to a ground station.