The Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute plans to start resource tests of the SSJ-New airframe in May. The journalists were told about it in TsAGI at the press day held on April 26. Now the stand for the endurance tests is in the final stage of installation.
“At the beginning of May, we plan to start resource tests [of the SSJ-New]. This aircraft incorporates a number of new Russian technologies. This is the domestic landing gear, fasteners, glazing, composites and other solutions that we plan to check in the tests on the stand”, said the head of the aircraft structural life department of the FAU TsAGI Center of Flying Vehicles Strength, candidate of physical and mathematical sciences Stanislav Dubinsky specifying that the initial life of SSJ-New is estimated at 10 000 flight cycles.
The SSJ-New prototype fuselage with serial number 97002 was delivered by An-124 from Komsomolsk-on-Amur to Zhukovsky on July 29, 2022. Irkut specialists completed the connection of the wing and center section, assembled the vertical and horizontal tail, and mounted the attachments.
In the upcoming certification tests of the airframe and landing gear will be subjected to repeated cyclic loading to experimentally confirm the intended life of 54,000 flight hours. During the tests TsAGI specialists will receive data on the fatigue strength and operational survivability of the airframe, it is also planned to confirm that the design meets the requirements of aviation standards.
Earlier, it was reported that the qualification tests of the first set of domestic cockpit information display system (CIDS) will be held in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, from March 30 to April 12, 2023 on the SSJ100 prototype aircraft № 97001. An informed source in the aviation industry told the Aviation of Russia website that the first flight of this aircraft was postponed to the end of May, the exact date will be determined based on the readiness of the aircraft and the weather conditions in Komsomolsk-on-Amur and may be shifted to the right.
The PD-8 engines for the flight certification tests will be installed on aircraft 95157. The second set of avionics suite will also undergo certification testing on the SSJ100 aircraft, 97003, in Komsomolsk-on-Amur in the first half of the summer of 2023. This aircraft will also be equipped with Russian engines.
The first production SSJ-New (97004) will be built using the SSJ100 fuselage, which was left at the production center of Irkutsk Regional Aircraft Production Branch after the completion of the SuperJets construction in a foreign guise. The fuselage will undergo the necessary modifications, a new wing will be docked to it. It is planned to be ready for handover to the customer, as well as board 97005 at the end of this year.
