The new Russian MC-21 aircraft has become largely revolutionary for the aviation industry in the Russian Federation due to the use of composite materials. However, this is not entirely new for aircraft construction, according to Vitaly Naryshkin, chief designer of the new airliner.
He recalled that the practice of using composite materials was already present in military aviation. The "Yakovlev" bureau had also already worked with them.
Plus, by that time, there were already several aircraft in the West, including civilian ones, using composite materials. The all-composite Boeing 787 and Airbus 350 were being released. It cannot be said that this is something completely new to the world. But for our country, it was a bold decision. And it paid off - we got an all-composite wing and empennage.
Initially, imported material was purchased for the aircraft, since there was simply no domestic material of the required quality and in the required quantity, Naryshkin noted.
So the very first thing that hit us was the cessation of carbon fiber supplies. And "Yakovlev", then still the "Irkut" corporation, the "AeroComposit" company, together with "Rosatom", did a tremendous job and achieved the production of material of the required quality and its production in industrial quantities. I believe that this was a technical and technological feat.
Last week, at the Gromov Flight Research Institute airfield in Zhukovsky, the operation of the second MC-21-310 aircraft with domestic control system drives was tested. The crew checked the stability and controllability of the aircraft.