VLADIMIR KARNOZOV / MOSCOW
Successful completion of flight testing paves way for Russian AP-23 certificate
The Myasishchev Experimental Machinery Building Plant has completed flight testing of its M101T Gzhel single-engine business turboprop, and says that it is on target to receive Russian AP-23 type certification by the end of the year.
"Certification work is 95% complete, with three instrumented aircraft having performed over 200 certification flights," according to deputy chief designer Valentin Spivak. The Gzhel development programme has suffered a number of setbacks since its inception in the late 1980s. A redesign of the airframe following preliminary flight test results and a crash-landing of a flight-test aircraft have contributed to the delays.
The six-seat Gzhel is powered by the 560kW (750hp) Walter M-601F turboprop and is designed to operate from short unpaved airfields. Spivak says that the design target is 0.28kg/km (0.62lb/0.55nm) fuel consumption and 230kt (430km/h) cruise speed at 19,670ft (6,000m). The standard version will have a 3,000kg take-off weight and a 1,200km range with full payload at 25,000ft cruise altitude. The Russian company also plans a freighter version capable of flights at 26,000ft altitude and above and a 3,270kg airliner derivative with a 2,000km range.
The first VIP-configured aircraft is being used by Myasichev as a corporate demonstrator. Zhukovsky-based Myasischev is forecasting a market for around 100 Gzhels in Russia.
Meanwhile, Myasichev has commenced full-scale development of the M201 Sokol, which is a 14-seat twin-engined derivative of the Gzhel.
Source: Flight International
