New Irkut Management Sends MC-21 into Colder Climes

Russia’s Irkut has planned 15 test flights for the MC-21 narrowbody out of Talagi International Airport near Archangelsk in northern Russia to evaluate cold-weather performance from March 24 to April 9. The trials will add to tests already done on four prototypes toward type certification to Russian national requirements, which developers originally hoped to gain in late 2020. Missing that target appears to have prompted 76-year-old Oleg Demchenko, who supervised the MC-21 since its inception,… (www.ainonline.com) Altro...