Tupolev has performed a series of wet-runway tests with its Tu-204SM twinjet as the type nears certification.
It conducted the tests with aircraft 64151 at Moscow Zhukovsky's Gromov research centre, monitoring the jet with video cameras.
Tupolev says the Tu-204SM carried out eight runs, on a runway coated with a layer of water, at speeds from 27kt (50km/h) to near-rotation, with positive results.
It states that the tests aimed to demonstrate that the aircraft could operate safely in harsh rain conditions, "close to tropical", by analysing the path of water spray thrown up by the landing gear.
The aircraft, whose test regime has covered some 285 flights by the end of October, is also to undergo wet landing tests.
Tupolev says the Tu-204SM, which recently completed radiation field testing, has also been subjected to more than 44h of high-temperature operations and ground-based failure mode analysis.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
