Sukhoi prepares a number of contenders for airshow (210 words)

Published: 8/10/2001

On 27th July, Sukhoi's Su-38L agricultural aircraft made its first two flights, followed by eight more flights, up to 9th August, and is confirmed as a participant at MAKS. According to Boris Ratkin, Deputy General Designer of Sukhoi, responsible for piston aircraft programmes, the aircraft performed well in its initial flights and will appear alongside Sukhoi's other piston offerings, the Su-31M, Su-31 and Su-29, which also performed well in June at the World Air Games in Spain. The Russian team used three Su-31M aircraft donated by Sukhoi. However, control of Sukhoi's aerobatic aircraft activities remains ambiguous, as recent reports have suggested that these activities, controlled by General Designer, Simonov, are taking place outside the Sukhoi structure and there have even been reports of the operation being refused the use of the Sukhoi name. Sukhoi's other civil offering, the much delayed S-80 twin turboprop, was also reported to have made its first high speed run early this month at the Zhukovsky flight centre near Moscow, powered by two GE CT7-9B engines. According to Sukhoi, it hopes to log the four flights required by MAKS to be included in the airshow.

Article ID: 2699