Hydroplanes to land on Chao Phraya as offering to King
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Four Thailandmade hydroplanes will soon land on Chao Phraya River right next to Siriraj Hospital as an offering to His Majesty the King if a Royal Thai Navy (RTN) plan goes as planned.
The Navy team is hoping to present the twoseat vehicles to the muchbeloved monarch, who has been undergoing treatment at the hospital.
Vice Admiral Sommai Prakarnsamut, who heads the naval hydroplanedevelopment project, disclosed that he looked up to His Majesty every time he ran into problems and felt discouraged.
“Now that we have successfully created these efficient hydroplanes, we really wish to present them to His Majesty,” Sommai said.
He said Thailand was awarded the right to conduct research on the twoseat hydroplanes in 2007 under a multinational effort. Other countries are engaged in the project for different sizes of hydroplanes.
“We started this research project with an initial budget of Bt500,000,” he said. “The project was progressing quite well until we found out that no pilot wanted to steer our prototype for test flights”.
In 2008, Sommai decided to take a pilot course himself even though he was already 57 at that time. “I spent Bt500,000 from my own pocket on the course,” he said.
Sommai was the first pilot to conduct test flights for this project.
With his fierce determination, the project has finally taken off. Now, the project has attracted three more willing pilots. The Thailand Research Fund and the Defence Ministry have also allocated Bt12 million and Bt15 million to the project respectively.
“His Majesty’s selfreliance philosophy inspired me to join this project,” Captain Kritchaphon Rianglekjamnong said.
His Majesty has encouraged the Navy to develop patrol boats and more equipment on its own instead of importing the supplies. “I’m so proud that this hydroplane has been completely invented by Thais,” Kritchaphon said.
The research team has named its invention, Naval Aircraft Experimental or NAX.
Each NAX hydroplane weighs 360kg, with the maximum test load of 600kg. It flies at a maximum speed of 90 knots and up to 10,000 feet above ground. It can take off and land on either ground or water surface.
The NAX 01 and the NAX 03 have already been flown with great efficiency.
On May 19, they will carry out their first mission to survey seatransport spots for the Transport Ministry.
“These Thailandmade vehicles can be used for coastal patrols and rescue operations, too,” Sommai said.
The construction of NAX 2 will be completed in less than two weeks, while NAX 4 will be ready to take off before the end of 2012.
Although the construction cost of each hydroplane is now about Bt5 million, the cost will drop if more hydroplanes are manufactured.
“If we have adequate budget for research and development, we won’t have to spend a lot of money on importing boats and aircraft anymore. Please don’t think that Thais won’t be able to provide quality products,” Sommai said.
Kritchaphon said he had flown many types of aircraft before, including those made by foreign countries. “I can tell you that the Thailandmade hydroplane is second to none. It is even better in terms of durability, easytouse functions and maintenance, and also lower production cost.”
