Aircraft
With engines running, Superjet poised for flight
The Powerjet SaM146 turbofan chosen to power the Sukhoi Superjet 100 finished the first phase of flight testing on the program’s Ilyushin Il-76LL testbed e

The Powerjet SaM146 turbofan chosen to power the Sukhoi Superjet 100 finished the first phase of flight testing on the program’s Ilyushin Il-76LL testbed early last month, logging more than 30 flying hours during 14 flights, according to director of SaM146 flight testing Yuri Basyuk. Noting that the program’s various test articles, including engineering prototypes on test stands, had run for more than 800 hours, Basyuk told AIN that the Central Institute of Aviation Motors would issue a permit to fly the engine aboard the first Superjet prototype by the middle of last month.

“We have performed the required number of flights and checked out the engine’s operating modes as specified by the flight program,” he said. “This enables us to decide on the flight tests of the SaM146 engine installed on the Superjet 100.”