A Russian airliner can be created faster than its engine. It is the power plant that can become one of the main limiting factors in scaling up the production of domestic aircraft, Honored Pilot of the USSR Oleg Smirnov told “Pervy Tekhnichesky”.
According to him, after the creation of prototypes, the engine undergoes prolonged testing in various modes. The manufacturer needs to confirm its performance and service life, including a large number of operating cycles.
The technology for manufacturing an engine is significantly more complex than that of an aircraft. And why? Because all parts there operate at temperatures of 2,000 degrees and more, so appropriate metals, materials, and alloys are needed that can withstand these temperatures.
This primarily refers to the hottest zones of the engine. Rostec indicates a temperature of up to 2000 K for the operation of the PD-14 turbine; this is about 1727 °C.
Smirnov estimated the development time for a new power plant to be approximately 10–12 years — from the start of development to readiness for operation. At the same time, the aircraft can complete its journey faster.
Therefore, the production of MS-21, SJ-100, and other Russian airliners cannot be separated from engine building, Smirnov emphasized. The aircraft may be ready for production, but without a serial power plant, scaling up deliveries is impossible.