The N219 made its maiden flight on Aug. 16, 2017 and was named “Nurtanio”by President Joko Widodo on Nov. 10, 2017.

A type certificate indicates the airworthiness of an aircraft type and model, and is issued by the Airworthiness and Aircraft Operation Directorate, which falls under the Civil Aviation Directorate General at the Transportation Ministry.

PT DI manufactured two prototypes of the N219 to expedite its certification.

“We can optimize the flight tests [for the N219] because we are not relying on just one aircraft [prototype]. We can probably obtain the type certificate [for N219] by the end of 2020,” N219 program head Pakmana Banandhi said on Tuesday.

Pakmana said the that the first prototype was used for tests on the aircraft’s performance, stability, control and structure, as well as for flight tests. The first prototype had completed 231 flight cycles and clocked 256 flight hours 

Meanwhile, the second N219 prototype was used for tests on the aircraft’s avionics system, electrical system, flight control and propulsion, and had recorded 139 flight cycles and 170 flight hours.

A flight cycle typically consists of a single takeoff, cabin pressurization and a single landing. The N219 does not have a pressurized cabin, but has a passenger capacity of 19 people.

Airworthiness and Aircraft Operation Director Dadun Kohar said that the N219 would have to pass an inspection of its technical documentation, a ground test and a flight test. It must also pass an aircraft conformity inspection to verify that the N219 conformed to its type design.

Dadun said that the N219 must comply with Part 23 on small aircraft of the Civil Aviation Software for Regulators (CASR), and that the flight tests would gather data on the aircraft’s capabilities to fulfill one of the requirements of CASR Part 23.

PT DI president director Elfien Goentoro said the company had designed the N219 as a follow-up to Presidential Regulation No. 70/2017 on public air cargo services to and from underdeveloped, isolated, frontier and border areas. 

He added that initial production output was four aircraft per year using PT DI’s existing facilities. “We will upgrade our production facility with an automated system to increase our delivery capability gradually to fulfill market share,” he said.

Elfien added that the N219 could reach hilly terrain with short and unpaved runways, and that PT DI was also planning to develop an amphibious variant of the aircraft capable of taking off from and landing on both land and water.

“The amphibious N219 will be able to take off from airports with limited infrastructure,” he said, and would save airport development costs.

The two aircraft variants would thus be able to reach all tourist destinations across the Indonesian archipelago.

The N219 is expected to enter the market in 2020 at a starting price of US$6 million per aircraft. Several domestic and foreign buyers have expressed interest in the N219 aircraft, including the provincial administrations of Aceh, North Kalimantan and Papua. (ami)

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