Dornier Aircraft

Why in news?

• Made-in-India aircraft, the Dornier-228, take to the skies on its maiden commercial flight to Arunachal Pradesh from Assam.
• With this flight, Alliance Air has become India’s first commercial airline to fly the Indian-made aircraft for civil operations.
• Dornier-228 aircraft has been used by the armed forces till now.

More about the news:

• The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) recently handed over the first multi-purpose Dornier-228 aircraft to Alliance Air, months after the Centre-run airlines entered into an agreement with HAL under the UDAN scheme to boost connectivity in the northeast.

About Dornier 228:

• The Dornier 228 is a twin- turbodrop utility aircraft of the STOL (Short-Take off and Landing) variety.
• With its STOL capability, it is capable of operating on short runways as well as in hot environments.
• It was designed and first manufactured by DASA Dornier (Germany), from 1981 until 1998.
• In 1983, a production licence was bought by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) who set up a manufacturing unit of these aircrafts in Kanpur.  About 124 aircrafts were built here.
• The fuselage, wings and tail units are manufactured by HAL in Kanpur while its assembly is done by RUAG aviation in Germany.

About Dornier 328:

• The Dornier 328 is a larger version of the Dornier 228.It also has a jet version known as the Fairchild Dornier 328JET. It is used for both civilian and military purposes in many countries such as Australia, Canada, United States etc.

Add ons:

• In March 2022, the Indian and Sri Lankan government signed a Memorandum of Understanding to provide two Dornier 228 aircrafts to the Sri lankan Navy.

PRACTICE QUESTION:

Consider the following statements regarding ‘Dornier 228 aircraft’:

1. It was designed and first manufactured DRDO

2. It is used for both civilian and military purposes

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer