Irkut corp. is the prime contractor under the future MC-21 new-generation airliner development and production programme in line with the Russian President's executive order dated 6 June 2010. The Irkut Aviation Plant, a subsidiary of Irkut, will handle the construction of prototypes and production aircraft of the MC-21 family.

The division of labour under the MC-21 programme is as follows. The Irkutsk Aviation Plant is tasked with fuselage manufacture and aircraft final assembly. Aviastar-SP in Ulyanovsk supplies the metal panels of the F1 through F5 fuselage sections, tail section and auxiliary powerplant section as well as the whole set of doors (11 per plane) to the Irkutsk Aviation Plant.

Ulyanovsk also is the venue for the assembly of the empennage, which polymer composite panels and primary structure are made by Obninsk-based ORPE Technologiya, a subsidiary of RT-Chemcomposite holding company. Centre wing section panels, spars and integral wing panels are made of polymer composites by the new AeroComposit-Ulyanovsk plant using a cutting-edge infusion technology, while composite wing leading and trailing edges, wing high-lift devices and elevators are provided by KAPO-Composit in Kazan (the Ulyanovsk- and Kazan-based venues of AeroComposit, a UAC subsidiary).

The MC-21 is to become the first Russian airliner with the all-composite wing. Overall, the polymer composites account for about 30% of the MC-21. Voronezh-based VASO plant is participating in the manufacture of the engine nacelles for the PD-14 engines and is supplying landing gear doors, wing fairings, flaps fairings and other fibreglass parts as well as engine pylons.

Provision has been made for two types of powerplant for the customer to choose from - the Pratt & Whitney PW1400G-JM geared turbofan and the PD-14 high-bypass ratio turbofan from Russia's United Engine Corporation (Aviadvigatel as prime contractor for development and the Perm Engine Plant as prime contractor for production). Hydromash JSC in Nizhny Novgorod makes nose and main gear struts. UAC - Integration Centre, a UAC division, is integrating the avionics suite, which includes both Russian (from Concern Radio-electronic Technologies enterprises) and imported systems, and developing software for it.

To build the MC-21, the Irkutsk Aviation Plant in 2014 assembled the first stage of an advanced automated machine assembly line equipped with positioning and laser measuring systems. The line is used for assembling and mating fuselage sections and for final assembly with the use of up-to-date digital technologies. The plant's latest equipment and premises available will allow it to manufacture up to 70 MC-21s a year.

The manufacture of the parts and units for the first four prototypes (two for flight tests, one for static trials and one for endurance tests) has begun. Numerous structurally similar panels, bays and assemblies have been made for static and fatigue tests. The first MC-21 fuselage panels were manufactured in Ulyanovsk and shipped to Irkutsk in spring 2014. Aviastar-SP had shipped to the Irkutsk Aviation Plant a full set of F1 and F2 fuselage section panels for the first MC-21-300 flying prototype before the end of 2014, a set of panels for the F3 section in March 2015 and another for the F4 section in May 2015. The Ulyanovsk-based plant completed the tails section and was working on the auxiliary powerplant bay this summer. The plant in Irkutsk had assembled the F1 section with the flight deck and then the F2 section by early June 2015. It mated the F1 and F2 in July, which was followed by the mating of the F3 section and wing centre section to them late in the month. The manufacturer was assembling and mating the remaining fuselage section in August.

Complete wing panels for the first flying prototype are due to Irkutsk from Ulyanovsk in autumn. This will allow the first MC-21-300 flying prototype's airframe to be completed on schedule, prior to 31 December 2015. The static test airframe (MC-21-300SI) is to be complete by then, too. The second MC-21-300 flying and MC-21-300RI endurance test prototypes are to be built in Irkutsk in later 2016.

The MC-21-300's baseline model, which flight trials with the use of PW1400G-JM engines are slated for next year, is designed to seat up to 211 passengers on services out to 5,900 km. In the standard two-class layout, the MC-21-300 will seat 163 passengers (16 in business class and 147 in the economy one). The standard single-class layout will allow seating 181 passengers with the 32-inch seat pitch. The design documentation is to be completed until mid-2016 for the MC-21-200 version with the fuselage shortened by 5.5 m. The variant is designed to carry up to 176 passengers to a distance of 6,000 km (135 in the two-class layout, including 12 in business class, and 153 in the standard single-class layout with the 32-inch pitch). The MC-21-300 will have a maximum takeoff weight of 79,250 kg, while the shortened MC-21-200's MTOW will stand at 72,390 kg.

At the MAKS 2015 air show in late August, Pratt & Whitney announced it had provided Irkut with the first PW1400G-JM engine for mounting on the MC-21-300 first flying prototype. The engine was brought to Irkutsk on 23 August 2015 following its assembly and testing by the manufacturer's facility in West Palm Beach, Florida. The delivery of the second PW1400G-JM to fit the first MC-21-300 was slated for this autumn. The engine is to get certificated before year-end. According to Pratt & Whitney, the prototypes of the PW1400G family comprising powerplants for the Airbus A320neo (PW1100G-JM), Bombardier CSeries (PW1500G), Mitsubishi MRJ90 (PW1200G) и Embraer E-Jets-E2 (PW1700G), had logged over 20,000 hors in more than 36,000 cycles, including about 6,000 hr in flight, by the time the first PW1400G-JM was delivered to Irkutsk.

The United Engine Corporation for its part continues to develop and test PD-14 prototypes. PD-14 prototype No. 100-07 is starting its flight trials onboard the Ilyushin Il-76LL flying testbed this autumn, and the manufacture and delivery of the first two PD-14s for tests onboard the MC-21 are scheduled for 2016.

The MC-21-300's certification and the launch of its delivery are planned for 2018. Firm orders for the MC-21 have totalled 175, of which 50 aircraft have been ordered by the Aviacapital-Service leasing company, a subsidiary of Rostec, for Russian flag carrier Aeroflot and 35 more, powered by PD-14s, for Russian governmental agencies. The Ilyushin Finance Co. leasing company has awarded an order for 50 aircraft, and a 30-unit order has been placed by VEB-Leasing. In addition to Aeroflot, another MC-21 launch customer may be the Red Wings airline planning to get the airliners ordered by Ilyushin Finance Co. In addition, Irkut has landed a single source contract from the IrAero carrier for 10 aircraft. Negotiations with many other airlines have been under way, with tentative agreements signed with some of them.

Published in Take-off magazine, November 2015.

(Photo: Irkut)