The Russian PD-8 engine went from development to serial production faster than classic civil engines, but now the most telling stage begins for it – operation. The most likely source of problems in the power plant was named to "Pervy Tekhnichesky" by Andrey Patrakov, founder of the flight safety service RunAvia and former Airbus auditor.
According to him, in the original Russian-French SaM146 project, on the basis of which the PD-8 was built, the French side was responsible for the hot section of the engine.
The part that we have now made independently – this is the hot section, which the French used to make. This is where most of the risks are.
Patrakov added that the hot section operates under the most severe temperature and mechanical loads. He suggested focusing particular attention on the combustion chamber and turbine blades.
Aviation expert Roman Gusarov told "Pervy Tekhnichesky" that the PD-8 differs from previous generation power plants not only in efficiency but also in a fundamentally different control system.