A view of the Hall 2 in the Museum in the main building. The Hall houses the HA-31 Basant (Foreground) and the HUL-26 Pushpak (Background).  The design of the Hall is well thought off and has ample lighting for photography to be undertaken.

HAL HA-31 Basant

The Hall 2 of the Museum is a well designed enclosure holding two aircraft, both civilian types manufactured by HAL in the 1960s. A HAL HA-31 Basant agricultural aircraft is on display in this well lit room. The aircraft surprisingly sports IAF roundels and fin-flashes, though no example ever served with the IAF or any other defence force.

The faint outline of the mannequin inside the cockpit can just be made out in this photograph.

This view of the HAL HA-31 Basant shows the excellent lighting conditions inside the hall. There are two skylights on the roof which lets in enough light to help the photographer get good pictures of both the aircraft.

A mannequin is displayed inside the one person cockpit of this low-wing metal monoplane. The aircraft is huge and is in good condition. The Basant does not carry an identifiable markings. It was part of the 'roving' collection of HAL.  

HAL HUL-26 Pushpak

The other civilian aircraft on display in Hall 2 is the HAL HUL-26 Pushpak. The Pushpak on display sports the IAF Markings similar to the one on Basant, even though the IAF never operted it. No clue on the identity of the aircraft is known as no markings in terms of a registration or serial number are visible.

	The IAF roundels and the finflash on the Pushpak  can clearly be seen in this photograph. Note the ejection seat and dummy pilot in the foreground.
The HAL Pushpak is in very good condition.  A Few of the civilian Pushpaks served with the Army during the 1965 War, and a good number are still in service with numerous flying clubs around the country.

The aircraft being close to the huge panaromic window is in an excellent position to be photographed due to the light coming in. The aircraft rests on small metal tripods that are designed to lift the weight off the tyres of the aircraft.

NAL Hansa

The third civilian aircraft on display with the museum was a recent addition. The prototype of the National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) Hansa II , an all composite low wing light plane aimed at flying clubs was recently unvielled in the first quarter of 2002. The NAL is India's premier civil Research and Development establishment for aeronautics. NAL had developed the Hansa which is currently being produced by HAL as the version III. A total of eight examples have been built till date and more are being built.

The NAL Hansa II is an all composite aircraft meant for civilian clubs. The Hansa on display at the HAL museum is VT-XIW. Photo Courtesy : B Harry

The aircraft on display VT-XIW was the first prototype of the Hansa II. It first flew in November 93 and flew a total of 128 hours of test flying before it was 'retired'. NAL then donated the aircraft to HAL for display here. The Hansa is the 'newest' aircraft here.