Completed Tested And Fit To Fly, The N219 Aircraft Will Be Made An Amphibious Version

JAKARTA - The N219 Nurtanio aircraft, the result of research and collaboration between the National Aeronautics and Space Agency (Lapan) and PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PT DI), has been tested and obtained a Type Certificate to be airworthy.

"The achievement of the N219 certainly makes us all proud of our efforts to revive the aerospace technology flight technology that was pioneered when the N250 first flew in 1995, August 10," said Minister of Research and Technology (Menristek) Bambang PS Brodjonegoro in the Type Certificate Handover ceremony Aircraft N219 and Aero Summit 2020 quoted from Antara, Monday, December 28.

The Type Certificate (TC) is the airworthiness certification of an aircraft manufacturing design. The certificate is issued by the civil airworthiness authority. The certificate was obtained from the Directorate of Airworthiness and Aircraft Operations (DKPPU) of the Ministry of Transportation (Kemenhub).

The certificate was handed over by the Secretary of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation Nur Isnin Istiartono in the Mataram Room of the Ministry of Transportation on Monday, witnessed by the Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi.

"Today we are witnessing another historic moment, because for the first time the Ministry of Transportation through the Minister will give the first Type Certificate to an aircraft that is 100 percent designed, designed and finally made by the best sons and daughters of our nation. Of course this is a moment. historic which should be the starting point for us to develop aerospace technology and industry in the future, "said the Minister of Research and Technology.

This activity also became the core event at the Aero Summit 2020 which was initiated by the Lapan Aviation Technology Center (Pustekbang). Nurtanio's N219 aircraft have met CASR Part 23 (Airworthiness Standards for Aeroplanes in the Normal, Utility, Acrobatic or Commuter Category).

"Today's event is not only in the form of handing over the first certificate and revival of aviation technology, but also providing various other positive energies," said the Minister of Research and Technology.

Menristek Bambang said the Domestic Component Level (TKDN) is expected to increase, which is currently at 44.69 percent.

He said the National Research Priority Program (PRN) of the N245 and R80 aircraft was expected to be a substitute for foreign or imported aircraft. The market for drones is predicted to reach hundreds of billions by 2040, therefore the direction of Indonesian research and aviation is to trend in the world.

"It is expected that the contribution of the aviation industry in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will be 3.6 percent," said Minister of Research and Technology Bambang.

At the same event, Minister of Transportation (Menhub) Budi Karya Sumadi appreciated the successful development of the N219 aircraft.

"The world of aviation challenges us to be persistent. The Ministry of Transportation appreciates N219 with its economical fuel and of course competes with foreign aircraft. This aircraft is the pride of the nation because it is able to compete with foreign countries," he said.

He said that his party plans to buy an N219 aircraft for calibration activities and urges transportation stakeholders to use N219 for use in disadvantaged, frontier and outermost (3T) areas.

Budi also hopes that the amphibious version of N219 will be available to support transportation in the archipelago, so there is no need to build an airport. In his report on N219, the Head of Lapan Thomas Djamaluddin said the N219 aircraft which was initiated in 2009 was appointed as a national program.

The idea was initiated by the Aviation Council of the Republic of Indonesia (Depanri). The chairman of Depanri daily is the Minister of Research and Technology (Menristek) with the Secretary, the Head of Lapan. Depanri tries to make N219 a national program.

Support from the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas), the Ministry of Finance (Kemkeu) and the House of Representatives (DPR) is very important to realize the N219. Then in 2012, it was determined that the N219 program was implemented by Lapan and got the budget.

2014 was the beginning of the N219 aircraft development and manufacturing program led by Lapan and PT DI. The N219 aircraft first flew in August 2017 and was named Nurtanio by the President of the Republic of Indonesia Joko Widodo on November 10, 2017.

Since 2017, the aircraft certification program has been running. During that time, the idea emerged to form an aviation ecosystem. In 2018, the Aero Summit was held, a forum for gathering practitioners and academics in the aviation industry.

Director of Technology and Development of PT DI Gita Amperiawan said the prototype of the first aircraft (Prototype Design 1) Nurtanio had undergone a Flight Cycle of 250 cycles and Flight Hours of 275 hours, while the prototype of the second aircraft (Prototype Design 2) N219 had undergone a Flight Cycle of 143 cycles. and Flight Hours totaling 176 hours.

Thus, in total the N219 aircraft have completed 393 Flight Cycles and 451 Flight Hours in the certification process. The N219 aircraft is then planned to enter the commercialization stage in 2021.

The process of certifying aircraft, especially N219 aircraft, is indeed complicated and long, including Document Certification, Conformity Inspection, Laboratory Test, Ground Test, Flight Test System & Performance. N219 will be a matter of pride for Indonesia, because for the first time Indonesia has successfully completed the certification of an aircraft which is entirely the work of the nation's children.

The N219 aircraft will also be made a seaplane version that can take off on the surface of the water other than at a regular airport. Currently, the development of the N219 amphibious aircraft is in the Preliminary Design stage, then proceed to the Prototyping and Structure Test and Development Flight Test stages.