HAL Basant

HA-31 Basant
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Role	Agricultural/utility aircraft
Manufacturer	Hindustan Aeronautics
First flight	1972 (Mark II)
Produced	1972-1980
Number built	39

The Hindustan Aeronautics HA-31 Basant (en: Spring) is a 1970s Indian agricultural monoplane built by Hindustan Aeronautics.

Hindustan Aeronautics started to design an agricultural aircraft in 1968 designated the HAL-31 Mk 1 with a cockpit directly over the wing leading edge. It was re-designed as the HA-31 Mk II Basant and first flew on the 30 March 1972. The Basant is a conventional braced low-wing monoplane with a fixed tailwheel landing gear and powered by a 400 hp (298 kW) Avco Lycoming IO-720 piston engine. It had a raised cockpit to give the pilot a good all-round view during spraying operations. Production ended in 1980 after 39 aircraft had been built.

Specifications (Mk II)

Data from The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985), 1985, Orbis Publishing, Page 2160

General characteristics

• Crew: One
• Length: 29 ft 6¼ in (9 m)
• Wingspan: 39 ft 4½ in (12 m)
• Height: 8 ft 4½ in (2.55 m)
• Wing area: 251.23 ft² (23.34 m²)
• Empty weight: 2645 lb (1200 kg)
• Gross weight: 5000 lb (2270 kg)
• Powerplant: 1 × Avco Lycoming IO-720-C1B flat-eight piston engine, 400 hp (298 kW)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 140 mph (225 km/h)
• Cruise speed: 115 mph (185 km/h)
• Range: 400 miles (645 km)
• Service ceiling: 12,500 ft (3,800 m)
• Rate of climb: 750 ft/min (3.8 m/s)

See also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

• Piper PA-25 Pawnee

References

Bibliography

• Taylor, J.W.R. (ed.) Jane's All the World Aircraft 1980-81. London: Jane's, 1981. ISBN 0-531-03953-6.
• The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985), 1985, Orbis Publishing, Page 2160