Maiden flight for Russian plane

Maiden flight for Russian plane
Aeroflot sign at airport in Russia

Russia's first entirely new commercial plane for some time, the Superjet 100, has completed its maiden flight.

The plane, which will be able to carry between 75 and 110 passengers, must make about 100 incident-free journeys before being deemed to be airworthy.

Built by Russian manufacturer Sukhoi, the first planes are due to be delivered at the end of 2008 but the project has been hit by delays.

China, Japan and India are all seeking to become mid-range planemakers.

Industrial prestige

The manufacturing market for so-called "regional jets" is dominated by Brazilian firm Embraer and Canada's Bombardier.

The Superjet project was championed by former President Vladimir Putin as a way of displaying Russia's industrial sophistication and technical knowhow.

Hopes are high for the Superjet, with Sukhoi seeking to ramp up production by 2010 and ultimately sell more than 800 planes, more than half to foreign airlines.

Vladimir Putin before boarding a Tupolev plane in 2005

It currently has 73 confirmed orders, the bulk from Russian airline Aeroflot.

But the maiden flight had been delayed by more than six months, raising concerns about whether the first planes will be finished on time later this year.

"The plane took off... flew for an hour and then landed," a spokesman at Sukhoi told the Reuters new agency.

The Superjet is designed to replace the Tupolev 134, which entered service in the 1960s, and the more modern Yakovlev 42, which was introduced in 1980.

Foreign assistance

Sukhoi has welcomed foreign assistance to develop the plane, using European sub-contractors and bringing Boeing on board to advise on testing and after-sales support.

Italian aerospace firm Alenia Aeronautica has taken a 25% stake in the holding company responsible for the new plane.

"We are looking at a very highly developed aircraft which the Russian industry probably would not be able to build on its own," a spokesman for Flight International magazine said.

"It fills a gap in the market and it is going to have a lot of support from Russian airlines, it goes without saying."

Several of the world's most powerful economies are intent on becoming forces in commercial plane manufacturing to exploit the growing global demand for air travel.

China recently launched a new company to develop a mid-sized passenger jet capable of carrying up to 150 people and backed by nearly $3bn in initial funding.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries confirmed in March that it was going ahead with a $1bn project to develop Japan's first home-grown passenger jet aircraft.

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First Sukhoi Superjet 100 rolls out
19.05.2008 Source: URL: http://english.pravda.ru/business/companies/105254-Sukhoi_Superjet_100-0

The hope of Russian air industry, the fly-by regional jet, Superjet 100 successfully made its first test flight on Monday, says the spokesman for Sukhoi Civil Aircraft. "It rose into the sky like a blue bird, performed all tests and landed," says the official, who watched the flight in Komsomolsk-on-Amur.

The Superjet 100 project is a family of medium-range passenger aircraft developed by the Sukhoi Design Bureau in cooperation with major American and European aviation corporations, including Boeing, Snecma, Thales, Messier Dowty, Liebherr Aerospace, and Honeywell, says RIA Novosti.

See also: Sukhoi presents SuperJet-100

This is a regional jet in the 75 to 95-seat category. The Superjet100 airliner family is being developed based on the principle of maximum standardization of frame assemblies and systems, via: wings, fins, chassis, engine unit, crew cabin, basic aircraft systems and component parts. The standardization of the design will make it possible to improve the economic performance of the aircraft family operation with expenditures kept at a rational level. The aircraft is equipped with the major systems, for instance, auxiliary power unit and landing gear. Avionics blocks installation is under completion and pilot cockpit holds all panels, indicators, side-sticks, thrust levers and pedals.

The Sukhoi Superjet 100 is to be remembered as the first aircraft designed and produced in the new Russia. The company plans to manufacture at least 700 Superjet 100s, and intends to sell 35% of them to North America, 25% to Europe, 10% to Latin America, and 7% to Russia and China. The list price of a 95-seat base model is $28 million, but the company is currently working on both smaller and larger capacity modifications. The market for the Superjet 100 is estimated at around $100 billion for around 5,500 planes, up to 2023, says RIA Novosti.

Translated by Lena Ksandinova