The fully import-substituted Russian short-haul aircraft "Superjet" with serial number 97003, equipped with domestic PD-8 turbofan engines, made its first long flight and arrived at the airfield of the M.M. Gromov Flight Research Institute in Zhukovsky. The aircraft covered about 6 thousand kilometers from Komsomolsk-on-Amur with landings in Irkutsk and Novosibirsk. The flight took place at altitudes of up to 12 thousand meters and at a speed of up to 0.78 Mach (approximately 950 km/h) and lasted about 9 hours.
The crew consisted of test pilots Dmitry Demenev, Alexander Verkhov, Igor Grevtsev and flight test engineer Maxim Gryukanov. According to the pilots, the flight proceeded normally: all aircraft systems worked without failures, and landings at major airports confirmed the readiness of the aircraft for the next stage – certification flight tests.
This is the first time that the "Superjet" has made a long flight on fully Russian PD-8 engines developed by the United Engine Corporation (UEC). The PD-8 engine was created as a domestic alternative to the French SaM146, which were used on early versions of the SSJ-100. The flight became an important stage in testing the new aircraft configuration.
The SJ-100 97003 itself is named after Yuri Ivashechkin, the first chief designer of the SSJ-100. It became the third aircraft in the certification testing program for the new version of the airliner. The aircraft was developed at PJSC "Yakovlev" (part of the UAC of the Rostec State Corporation) as part of a full import substitution program.
As part of these works, the aircraft received new Russian versions of all key components: power plants (main and auxiliary), avionics (all on-board electronics), landing gear, control systems, power supply, climate control, fire protection, etc. The airframe was also modernized — this is the load-bearing structure of the fuselage and wing, which is now simplified to improve assembly and maintenance.
Aircraft 97003 is one of four experimental aircraft named after the founders of the company "Sukhoi Civil Aircraft" (now a branch of the company "Yakovlev" under the brand "Regional Aircraft"). Along with Yuri Ivashechkin, Alexander Yablontsev, Viktor Subbotin and Igor Vinogradov became names for other experimental aircraft.
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