04 November 2010, Komsomolsk-on-the Amur - Today the first Sukhoi Superjet 100 SN 95007 production aircraft intended for Armavia took to the skies.
The aircraft was piloted by Sukhoi Civil Aircraft’s test pilots Alexander Ivanov and Alexander Kochetkov.
During the 3 hours. flight, the pilot crew checked the overall engines, systems and equipment performance having confirmed the aircraft characteristics within operational range.
“The premier flight of the first serial aircraft Sukhoi Superjet 100 is an important milestone of the program. We are now really starting the ramp-up of production. There are 17 serial aircraft in production, 5 of which are at the final assembly shop,” said SCAC’s President Vladimir Prisyazhnyuk.
After a series of factory checks, the SSJ100 SN 95007 will fly to Moscow for operational route proving tests. Ground handling at the airports will be performed in full compliance with the operational documentation. Route proving tests are aimed at confirmation of reliability of onboard systems in operational environment and feasibility of aircraft handling with standard airport on-ground devices.
ALEXANDER IVANOV
Test-Pilot
A graduate of the Chernigovsk Higher Military Aviation Pilot School, Alexander Ivanov started his flight career in 1979. In the year 1986 he graduated from the Akhtuba Test Pilot School and set to work at the State Flight Test Center named after Chkalov.
Having joined the Sukhoi Superjet 100 team in May 2006, Mr. Ivanov initially dealt with avionics development and returned to his flight test activity at the turn of the year 2007 with elaboration of the SCAC’s flight operations.
Throughout his flight career, Alexander has piloted more than 30 aircraft types; he was a pilot instructor on four of them.
Alexander Ivanov has spent more than 3,500 hours in flight, including 1,000 hours in test flights.
In 1995 he became Holder of the Order of Courage for ship-based aircraft testing in the Polar Region.
ALEXANDER KOCHETKOV
Test-Pilot
A graduate of the Borisoglebsk Higher Military Aviation Pilot School. Kochetkov graduated from Test-Pilot School in 2003.
He has joined the SSJ100 project in 2010 after being A.S.Yakovlev design bureau test pilot.
Throughout his flight career, Alexander has piloted more than 20 aircraft types including fighter jets, commercial and cargo airplanes. In addition to his test-flight activity Alexander Kochetkov worked as a commercial pilot.
He has accumulated 2700 flight hours, of which more than 1000 hours have been in test-flights
About Sukhoi Civil Aircraft:
The Company’s shareholders are the Sukhoi Holding owing 75% - 1 share and the Italian Alenia Aeronautica, a Finmeccanica Company, holding 25% + 1 share since April 7, 2009. Sukhoi Civil Aircraft was founded in 2000 to develop new regional aircraft projects. Headquartered in Moscow, the Company enjoys several production branches seated in the cities of Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Novosibirsk and Voronezh. Today the company employs over 2,000 people.
Sukhoi Superjet 100 – a new family of regional jets – is the Company’s major project. The aircraft was rolled out on September 26, 2007 in Komsomolsk-on-Amur. On May 19, 2008, the first Sukhoi Superjet 100 performed its maiden flight there. On October 24, 2008, after successful completion of factory flight tests, the aircraft emerged into certification flight campaign.
