First serial MC-21 with substituted imported parts performs maiden flight

MOSCOW. Aug 3 (Interfax) - The first serial MC-21-310 aircraft with fully substituted imported parts has performed its maiden flight, Rostec's United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) said.

The aircraft operated by test pilots took off from the airfield of the Irkutsk Aviation Plant. The flight lasted for one hour and 23 minutes on altitudes of up to 6,000 meters at instrument speeds of up to 600 kilometers per hour and tested the plane's stability and controllability in various configurations and functioning of locally made plane systems.

"Alongside the tight schedule of MC-21 certification test flights, we have practiced key procedures of the final production stages and test flight station operations. Later on, that will reduce the time between the certificate issuance and the beginning of MC-21 serial deliveries," the statement quoted MC-21 chief designer Vitaly Naryshkin as saying.

About half of the certification test-flight program has been completed by now, and the delivery of serial planes to operators will begin upon certification, Russian Deputy Industry and Trade Minister Gennady Abramenkov said.

The completion of certification flights and the beginning of serial production of MC-21 aircraft are scheduled for 2027, Rostec CEO Sergei Chemezov said earlier.