Aircraft
First PD-14-powered MC-21 Takes Shape
China has also expressed interest in the Aviadvigatel engines as an alternative to the Leap-1C.
The fuselage for the fifth MC-21 undergoes assembly in Irkutsk. (Photo: Vladimir Karnozov)
The fuselage for the fifth MC-21 undergoes assembly in Irkutsk. (Photo: Vladimir Karnozov)

Russia's Irkut has completed the fuselage for a fifth example of the MC-21-300 narrowbody airliner—the first to be powered by the Aviadvigatel PD-14 turbofans—amid persisting calls for complete indigenization of the 164-seat twinjet. The move follows rollout late last month of the fourth prototype and the last powered by Pratt & Whitney PW1400G engines ahead of flight tests scheduled to begin by year-end.


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