Irkut MS-21: the plane that wants to compete with Airbus and Boeing

Today we present the Irkut MS-21, the grandfatherón Russian who wants to compete head-on with Airbus and Boeing in a corridor segment. Photos press Irkut

Post written by: Capturesán Rodolfo Estrella
FAA Commercial Pilot
Twitter: @rodo_estrella

The díto of Christmas from 2021, without much pomp or recognition on this side of the world, realizedó the first flight the Irkut MS-21-300, the new aviónumber of passengers 100% Russian that is projected as the new standard of aviationón and Russia. Although in 2017 a prototype of the avión voló for the first time already, this was not 100% russian and teníto North American powerplant.

Así It is the Irkut MS-21

Although on the western side it is known as MC-21, it is actually MS-21 since in Russian the C is the S in our language, the MS-21 (Магистральный Самолёт 21 века») the translated: Avión of Líline of the century 21. It is a project developed by the aeron conglomerateáRussian utico UAC (United Aircraft Corporation), whose origin and designñor originate in the Design Officeño Yakovlev, the famous builder of civil and military aircraft dating back to the early 1920sños 20 of the last century with its famous Yak airplanes and the Corporación Berriesáutica Irkut.

as background, afterés of the relative ésuccess in the Russian domestic market Sukhoi Superjet SSJ100 (The first civil project of the UAC), the aero industryáutica rusa, decides to enter the market for narrow-body, single-aisle aircraft capable of competing with the Boeing 737, al Airbus A320, and the similar yet to enter service, the Chinese COMAC C-919.

DiseñO

He saysñor MS-21 is one of the más currently advanced, with a fuselage built in almost a 40% in carbon fiber and airfoils 100% made of this material, they also constituteáIt's a milestone in Russian industry, and they are one of the main charactersístatics of the new avión.

It has the fuselage más spacious in its class, since the designñor was it focused on the comfort and space to enjoyán the passengers, enjoying a width between 10 and 30 centímetros más that its competitors. The configurationónumber of seats clá3X3 sica remains.

cockpit

cockpit, developed jointly between the Russian company Avionika and the American Rockwell-Collins make it a very modern and advanced cabin, comparable to that of its peers Airbus and Boeing. With 5 l glass screensífluid and two side screens as “Electronic Flight Bag” for pilots, some avi componentsónica, are supplied by Honeywell and Thales Aerosystems. Additionally, they can also be installedén HUD displays. This beingá the first grandfatherón Russian whose command will be carried outá through lateral Sidesticks as in the Airbus.

engines

The power plant of the MS-21, initially and in the prototype that I builtó flight for the first time in 2017, They are Pratt engines. & Whitney PW1400G de 30.000 pounds of thrust and alsoás the alternative is offered of being equipped with the new and revolutionary Russian Aviadvigatel PD-14 engines. 35.000 pounds of thrust. In this way, different types of motors and prices can be offered according to the needs of the client..

The Aviadvigatel PD-14 engine, that was certifiedó the AñO 2021, It is another of the milestones of aviationón Russian, developed by the successor of the former Shvetsov piston engine producerón like those of the venerable Antonov An-2 and later the Soloviev producer of engines like those of the Tupolev 154. Aviadvigatel has been upgraded to offer a modern and efficient powerplant for the MS-21.

The PD-14 is an advanced fifth-generation high-bypass type turbofan engine.ón that takes advantage of the benefits of components that Russia has in large quantities such as titanium, have also developedás 20 types of new materials and has also been usedén the light and strong properties of alloys of other metals and cerámicas, which has enabled the Aviadvigatel engineers to achieve that, together with the aerodynamics,ávery advanced avi micaón a reductionón of fuel consumption between 10 and 16% in comparisonón with similar engine manufacturers such as CFM así like a drástatic reductionón emissions of around 30%. It is expected that derivatives of the PD-14 can additionally repower other aircraft of the Russian industry such as the Ilyushin IL-76., the Tupolev TU-204, and the Antonov AN-124.

A very curious fact about the certificationón of this new, reliable and powerful engine, is that at raíz of the eruptionón of the volcanoán Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland in the añO 2010 which causedó the closure of spaceéguilty of much of Europe, Unprecedented engine tests have been carried out under flight conditions in volcanic ash.ánica real, which is usually a conditionón catastrófica for aviation enginesón.

Yes OK, the UAC conglomerate – Irkut who are the manufacturers, eventually they have a product to beá badge on Russia, They have a great challenge in achieving what they did not achieve.ó el Sukhoi Superjet SSJ100, this is to enter the market outside of Russia (más allá of what Interjet was in México) despite economic sanctionsóactions that have been applied to RussiaíEuropeans and USA untilíz of the always delicate tensions that exist with Ukraine since 2014.

For this, It is not only necessary to offer a great product at a good price but alsoás manage to improve the aspect where Russia has always failed in its entire industry and this is customer service and after-sales.

The MS-21 should come with a long líline of additional products and services that manage to maintain the operational costs of the aircraftón short and attractive, spare parts supplies, maintenance centers, training and various services must come hand in hand with the avión so that potential clients can support their fleets at a low cost and without the need to go to Russia for services or wait for spare parts from such a distant place..

It is very likely that the MS-21 and its variants, arrive at a very attractive price, but everything that surrounds the operation must be seen as a whole.ón of the avión, We will see if Russia has learned from its mistakes and eventually its industry really manages to reach highly competitive Western markets where a new optionóIf it is feasible, you caníto get great benefits.

For now, in the local market, the UAC has already had firm close to 200 requests, mostly from Russian operators and paíare close like Azerbaiyán.

Comparison with Airbus, Boeing y COMAC

¿They think this birdón managed to revolutionize the industryébad russian? we read them…