Second Irkut MC-21 Airliner Prototype Being Prepared for First Flight

The second prototype of Russia’s MC-21-300 airliner is being prepared for first flight even as the first aircraft has completed more than 30 flights.

Flight tests of MC-21-300, the new medium-range aircraft confirm the correctness of key design and production solutions, Kirill Budayev, vice-president of Irkut Corporation said on the sidelines of the Singapore Air show.

Since the beginning of flight tests in late May 2017 test flights take place at altitudes of up to 12,000 meters and speeds of up to 860 km/h. Maximum flight duration exceeded 6 hours, range - 4500 km.

The second experimental plane of MC-21-300 had been assembled at IAP and is being prepared for the first flight. The third and fourth experienced aircraft are in different stages of production.

To obtain a certificate of the type,  it is necessary that experimental MC-21-300s  to perform about 1000 flights. Applications for aircraft certification were submitted to Russian certification authorities and EASA. According to the current plans, the Russian type certificate for MC-21-300 will be received in 2019, a similar EASA document - in 2020.

A significant volume of tests is connected with the wide use of composite materials in the construction of the MC-21 aircraft. In December 2017, the composite wing caisson successfully passed the static tests, demonstrating a significant margin of safety as per the design loads.