RuAviation

After a year and ten months, the MC-21-310, tail number 73055, which was the first aircraft to receive PD-14 engines, has returned from Irkutsk, completing a flight from Irkutsk Aviation Plant airfield to Ramenskoye airfield in Zhukovsky. This was reported by the press service of the United Aircraft Corporation.

The aircraft was piloted by a crew consisting of the Captain, Hero of Russia, and Director of Flight Testing at PJSC Yakovlev, Roman Taskayev, and Honoured Test Pilot of the Russian Federation, Andrei Voropaev. Take-off from Irkutsk occurred at 06:05 UTC, and landing in Zhukovsky at 12:14 UTC, with the 4,100-kilometre distance being covered in 6 hours and 09 minutes. The flight took place at an altitude of 10,980 metres (Flight Level 360) at a speed of up to 800 km/h. UAC reported that the flight proceeded normally, and all systems and engines operated reliably.

“The Irkutsk-Ramenskoye flight was completed, lasting 6 hours and 09 minutes at Flight Level 360. Remaining fuel on landing was 4.5 tonnes. The aircraft endured the long flight well. Everything worked perfectly, so we are satisfied with the flight,” reported Roman Taskayev to the management of PJSC Yakovlev after landing in Zhukovsky.

On 7th July 2023, tail number 73055 arrived in Irkutsk to carry out work on replacing foreign systems. This aircraft has undergone partial import substitution. The most complex and time-consuming task during the replacement was the electrical power supply and distribution system. It was these systems that were the subject of increased attention from the crew and flight test engineers during the first flight on 29th April. Virtually all avionics, including control, radio communication, and navigation systems, have been replaced with domestic analogues. Furthermore, a Russian air conditioning system has been installed.

Now, at the Flight Test and Development Complex of PJSC Yakovlev, tail number 73055 will be prepared for certification tests, which will take place in the Moscow region. During the summer, the fully import-substituted MC-21-310 – tail number 73057 – will join them. To conduct certification and obtain approval for the main change to the standard design, 220-230 flights of the two MC-21-310 prototype aircraft will be required. PJSC Yakovlev plans to complete all work and begin deliveries of the aircraft to airlines by the end of the summer of 2026.