European Aviation Safety Agency personnel have completed initial certification testing of the Irkut MC-21, during which the organisation’s pilots assessed the aircraft’s handling characteristics.
Irkut says the MC-21-300 was flown under various conditions – including high angle-of-attack and stall onset – during flights ranging from 2.5-4h.
Flights were conducted at altitudes of 3,000-10,000m (10,000-33,000ft), with an EASA test pilot at the controls assisted by a Yakovlev design bureau pilot who served as monitoring crew.
Irkut disclosed last September that the MC-21 was undergoing evaluation flights by EASA, after the agency’s crews were taken through a training course for the Pratt & Whitney PW1400G-powered twinjet.
The airframer says the test crews also featured both EASA and Russian engineers tasked with analysing the flight parameters.
Irkut is striving to certify the MC-21 both in Russia and Europe. The flight-test fleet comprises three completed aircraft, two of which have been flown.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
