May is a special month in the history of MS-21 aircraft. Seven years ago, on 28 May 2017, the first prototype machine (Flight 73051) took to the air for the first time. The duration of the first flight was just 30 minutes and took place at an altitude of 1,000 metres at a speed of 300 km/hour. The flight plan included testing the aircraft for stability and controllability, as well as engine controllability. According to the programme, the flight included a simulated landing approach followed by a pass over the runway, climb and turn.
During seven years, the airliner underwent comprehensive testing. The strength and service life of the wing and the aircraft structure as a whole were tested in TsAGI. The prototypes performed a total of more than 1,000 flights, which tested the aircraft’s units, the software of the integrated control system, the operation of the de-icing system, the operation of the aircraft’s systems in 45-degree frost conditions, stall and ground noise tests, and much more.
At the end of December 2021, the aircraft received a basic type certificate. Why basic? Starting in 2014-2015, Irkut’s former partners began to cut business relations with Russia and, submitting to pressure from Washington, restricted deliveries of components until a complete breakdown of relations in 2022. Experimental aircraft with flight numbers 73051, 73053 and 73054 were equipped with PW1400G engines, a wing made of imported composites and imported avionics. Aircraft 73055 was the first to receive PD-14 engines, while aircraft 73361 (now 73057), which was scheduled for delivery to Aeroflot, had a wing made of Russian composites, but imported engines.
Therefore, it was decided to issue a type certificate for a machine in imported guise, such aircraft became 73054 and 73056. These two airliners have a standard design and comply with the type certificate. Subsequently, 73054 was repainted in the livery of Rossiya Airlines and is used for corporate transport and marketing purposes.
Further approvals are expected to be issued for major modifications to the type design, and such an OGI was issued at the end of 2022 for an aircraft with a PD-14 engine and a wing made of Russian composites. Completion of certification of a version of the jetliner with only Russian components is expected in late 2025.
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On 30 May, the MC-21-300 prototype aircraft, registration number 73053, flew from Zhukovsky to Irkutsk. The aircraft took off at 07:02 (ZIA) and landed at the factory airfield at 17:14 (UTC+8). Before landing, the aircraft made a pass over the runway especially for the factory workers to admire their brainchild, as there has been no MS-21 in the Irkutsk sky for almost a year.
The aircraft will be stored at the Irkutsk Aircraft Plant. This prototype was involved in certification flight tests of MS-21 in imported guise, and also performed flights to test import-substituted avionics elements and new avionics software in general. This aircraft was painted in the livery of Irkut and it is the last one to be painted in Irkutsk, all other prototype aircraft were flown to Ulyanovsk to the enterprise Spektr-Avia for repainting in the corporate livery of UAC.
The flight of 73053 to Irkutsk for storage indicates that the further certification test programme is not designed for it. At present, two prototype aircraft are being modified with Russian components at IAZ: 73055 and 73057. The 73055 is due to resume flights by the end of June and the 73057 by 30 November. UAC and Yakovlev believe that these two machines will be enough to certify the MS-21-310rus version. In addition, 73051 with PD-14 engines, 73056 for ground testing and 73054 remain in Zhukovsky.
Also the 73053, in addition to “running-in” earlier on it domestic components of the avionics, will indirectly serve the upcoming flights of the import-substituted version. A source of Aviation of Russia website in Zhukovsky said that for further certification flights the operator workstations with test equipment will be dismantled and installed on board 73057, which were not originally on it, as the aircraft was a serial for commercial operation.
In addition, this machine may serve as a base for creating a cargo modification of the MC-21, but work on this project can only begin after airlines engaged in cargo transport show interest in such a variant.
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On 23 May in Zhukovsky, as part of flight certification tests, the 73051 performed a fully automatic landing under ICAO Category IIIA. Earlier such operations were performed on MC-21-300 aircraft with PW1400G engines, 73051 is equipped with PD-14 engines, now the software version of the automatic control system is fully adapted for Russian engines. The automatic landing mode was activated before touching the runway. The crew on board included Roman Taskaev, test pilot of PJSC Yakovlev, Hero of Russia, and Igor Chernov, test pilot of GosNIIGA, as well as flight operators Oleg Berezin and Pavel Sokut.
Automatic landing is ensured by the algorithms of the complex control system (CCS) and automatic control system (ACS) regardless of what kind of avionics is installed on the aircraft, Flight 73051 is equipped with imported avionics. In the future, when the avionics will be replaced (on 73057), similar test flights will be repeated to certify the Russian avionics system with Russian software.
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Production of nacelles for MC-21 and SJ-100 aircraft will be organised in the Voronezh Region, with investments in the project amounting to 10.5 billion roubles. This was announced by Governor Alexander Gusev in his annual report to the deputies of the Regional Duma.
Earlier Gusev also informed that a nacelle production centre will be built in the Maslovsky Industrial Park in the Levoberezhny District of Voronezh by 2026. More than 500 jobs are expected to be created, and both state and off-budget investments will be attracted to finance the project. The aim of the project is to meet the demand for nacelles while increasing production volumes of these two types of aircraft: by the end of 2030, 142 Superjets and 270 MS-21 aircraft are forecasted to be produced.
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In April this year TsAGI successfully completed static tests of the MC-21’s vertical plumage. The aircraft keel is made of domestic polymer composite materials using Russian technologies. At the first stage of research, TsAGI scientists conducted an initial cycle of resource tests, during which 10,000 flights were simulated. The keel withstood them without damage. Next, static strength tests were conducted, during which the keel was subjected to two cases of loading: up to the operational level and at loads 1.5 times higher than the calculated ones.
The results will be sent to PJSC Yakovlev for certification. The next stage will include static tests of the horizontal plumage made of Russian materials, as well as imported replacement floors, doors, gangways, windshields and porthole windows in the passenger cabin.
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In May, the MS-21 prototype aircraft performed a total of three flights: two – 73053, including the flight to Irkutsk, and one – 73051 to evaluate the new version of the CSU-SAU with PD-14 and landing in automatic mode under ICAO Category IIIA.
Note: MS-21 and MC-21 designations are equivalent due to pronunciation peculiarities in Russian and English languages
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