Sukhoi SuperJet-100 (SSJ), the first plane designed in Russia after collapse of Soviet Union, took off in the city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur last Monday, six months after the planned date. Next day Sergei Ivanov, the deputy prime minister, stated that the supplies of the new airliner to the companies would have started by the end of the year. 

SSJ spent 1 hour 5 minutes in the air. It got to the altitude of 1,200 m and performed some simple flying exercise.   

Olga Kayukova, PR director at the Sukhoi Civil Aircraft told to a Novaya Gazeta correspondent that all the systems had worked properly and the plane had obeyed well in all the modes. The pilot Alexander Yablontsev said piloting SSJ had coincided fully with that made on the simulation facilities. In terms of easy and convenient control the SuperJet turned out to be like A320.  

The Central Aero-Hydrodynamic Institute said to us that before the first flight all the elements of the plane had been subject to static test.    

Nonetheless, the experts do not jump to conclusions about flying quality of SuperJet. “It has not proved itself yet” considers Ruben Esayan, test pilot, Hero of Russia, deputy general director and the chief of the Test Center. “You can’t make a judgment of a car, after having wheeled it out of the garage only once”.    

The Sukhoi Design Office affirms that SSJ is safer and more reliable, easier in maintenance and more economic in fuel consuming. It also meets the international noise standards. And its flying resource of 70,000 hours is going to become a record for the civil aviation.       

However, skeptics say that SuperJet’s flight characteristics are pulled out of a hat, while dates for entering the market are not real. Sukhoi Design Office is reproached for the fact that most part of the components is produced by foreign companies - Boeing, SAFRAN-group, Snecma Moteurs and others – and with foreign technologies. Magomed Tolboev, the honorable pilot of Russia, and the Honorable President of MAKS said that “SSJ is an excellent plane, meeting the international standards and is competitive in the market. Unfortunately, it’s not ours. It’s only metal that is produced in Russia for SuperJet, while the “intellect” used is foreign.”    

Designing of this first Russian regional plane was started in Sukhoi Design Office in 2001 with participation of Boeing and Aviation Complex after Ilyushin. After creation of the United Aircraft Building Corporation the SSJ was laid hopes on for restoration of the Russian aviation industry. SuperJet, designed for carrying 75-95 passengers, is to replace the outdated Tu-134, Tu-154, and Yak-42, and to become a competitor to Canadian Bombardier and Brazil Embraer. 

It was planned initially that SuperJet-100 would take the first flight at the end of last year. Then the date was postponed to March. At the end of March the head of the United Aircraft Building Corporation Alexei Fedorov admitted officially that possibly the first supplies would be delayed with indefinite term. The explanation is banal: the matter was let down by the suppliers of components.

First displaying the plane to the public was made in September 2007 when it was wheeled out, clapped by Sergei Ivanov and placed back to the shop. In February 2008 its engines were tried first, and last week the plane made first passings on the strip with the speed up to 162 kph which is close to the liftoff speed of the nose landing gear.   

The first flight was held in the atmosphere of secrecy without the press invited. Ekaterina Byushgens, the chief of the PR department at the Sukhoi Civil Aircraft explained to a Novaya Gazeta correspondent that any first flight is “a nervous and responsible matter and public is usually not invited to see it”. Mikhail Pogosyan, General Director of Sukhoi stated to the Vedomosti newspaper that “a pregnant woman would never invite press and guests to be present at birth labours”.    

Now SuperJet will be tested for getting certification in the near-Moscow city of Zhukovsky, as it must have 600 hours of test flying time. Ruben Esayan explained that now the minimal flying speed is to be defined, after which other flight and take-off and landing characteristics will be established. As a rule, such tests result in sending the aircraft for some improvements, so the process of certification takes about a year.  

Due to competent management, PR and active state support the supplies of SuperJet-100 are scheduled up to 2014. The Sukhoi Company has had 73 orders for SSJ since last autumn. The general cost of the project comes up to $1.4 billion.   

It was planned initially that the ready airliners would be supplied to the customers in November this year. However, it’s clear that this deadline is impossible to be met. Besides, it has been much talked about the fact the airplane’s engines are situated just 47 sm from the ground, which means the plane will be able to take off only from ideally even surface. There are few such strips in Russia. Probably, this is why it was announced by Sergei Ivanov that soon additional means will be allotted for reconstruction of the Russian airports, after which the regional-designed SuperJet will really get to fly.