On 30 May the MS-21-300 prototype aircraft b/n 73053 made a flight from Zhukovsky to Irkutsk. As it was specified to the site “Aviation of Russia” in LII named after Gromov, the airliner was transferred to the Irkutsk Aviation Plant for storage. Earlier it was reported that this aircraft delivered a team of Yakovlev technical specialists to Irkutsk.
MS-21 b/n 73053 (MS.0003) is the second flight copy, its first flight was performed on 12 May 2018 at the airfield of the Irkutsk Aviation Plant. The flight was accompanied by a Yak-130 combat trainer. The flight duration was 67 minutes and took place at an altitude of up to 3,000 metres at a speed of up to 400 km/hour.
The aircraft was involved in certification flight tests of the MC-21 in imported form, and also performed flights to test import-substituted avionics elements and new avionics software in general. The flight of the aircraft to Irkutsk for storage may indicate that the further certification test programme is not designed for it. By the end of June the MC-21 with b/n 73055 should resume flights.
On 25 April, Anatoly Gaidansky, deputy general director of PJSC Yakovlev, reported that the first flight of the MC-21-310 aircraft b/n 73055 (MC.0012) in partially import-substituted guise will take place by the end of June.
“In May, a delegation of designers will be sent to the aircraft factory in Irkutsk to prepare the machine for presentation to an independent inspection and transfer to the flight test station. The deadline for the first flight is 30 June. Based on the current status of the work, it is a tight schedule, but doable,” said Anatoly Gaidansky.
