Assembly of static test and flying airframes progresses in parallel at KnAPPO plant
Assembly of the first fuselages for the Sukhoi Superjet (SSJ) 100 is gathering pace at the design bureau's Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aviation Production Association (KnAAPO) plant in Siberia.
KnAAPO is mating the wing centre section to the centre fuselage section of the first SSJ airframe to be completed - serial number 95002 - that will be used for static testing. Assembly of the first flying SSJ airframe (95001) is taking place in parallel with 95002, and is now having its centre wing box completed at KnAAPO.
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Construction of early SSJ wing centre-section and fuselage assemblies is well advanced at KnAAPO |
The static test airframe 95002 is in KnAAPO's subassembly shop where the fuselage section is mated to the wing. Other KnAAPO-built subassemblies for the first two SSJs - fuselage and centre wing sections and outer wing subassemblies - are in various stages of completion.
Production is under way of other components for the first two SSJs at Novosibirsk APO (NAPO), which is the other Sukhoi plant involved in SSJ manufacture. NAPO is building the nose and tail cone sections, as well as empennage. Components for the first two aircraft should arrive at KnAAPO by road during November.
The arrival of the NAPO-built sections will enable 95002 to be moved on to the final assembly line in December, with completion due in February. It will then be transferred to TsAGI, Russia's central aerohydradynamics institute at Zhukovsky, near Moscow.
Final assembly of 95001 is due to begin in March, with completion planned for September. Its maiden flight is expected to follow within a month.
KnAAPO has already cut metal for the next four flying SSJs, which are due to be completed between November 2007 and February 2008. Metal cutting on the first series of six customer SSJs (95007 to 94012) is scheduled to begin in September to December 2007, with completion due to take about 12 months.
These aircraft will undergo operational trials with launch customer Aeroflot.
SCAC's director for Komsomolsk branch, Sergei Shkryabun, says the current SSJ production plan calls for the completion of five aircraft in 2007 and nine the following year. All but two of these aircraft will be the baseline 98-seat SSJ, with the others being the short-fuselage 78-seat version (75001 and 75002).
Once certification and operational tests are completed, KnAAPO will complete 30 production SSJs in 2009. From 2010-11 output will swing into full gear and increase to 60-70 airframes annually.
Source: Flight International
