http://www.airlinerworld.com 37Irkut MC-21 Family Technical Specifications:
Variant MC-21-200 MC-21-300
Seating
132 (2 class) 163 (2 class)
165 (Single-class) 211 (Single-class)
Length 120ft 8in (36.8m) 138ft 5in (42.2m)
Wingspan 117ft 8in (35.9m) 117ft 8in (35.9m)
Overall height 37ft 8in (11.5m) 37ft 8in (11.5m)
Fuselage width 13ft 3in (4.06m) 13ft 3in (4.06m)
Cabin width 12ft 5in (3.81m) 12ft 5in (3.81m)
Cruising speed Mach 0.85 Mach 0.85
Maximum take-off Weight 159,967lb (72,560kg) 174,716lb (79,250kg)
Maximum payload 41,667lb (18,900kg) 49,824lb (22,600kg)
LD-3 containers 5 9
Range 3,456nm (6,400km) 3,240nm (6,000km)
Engine (x2)
PW1428G-JM (28,000lb) PW1431G-JM (31,000lb)
UEC PD-14A (27,500lb) UEC PD-14 (30,800lb)and UAC
wanted to
master lightweight
composite technology for
the MC-21’s wing.
In 2008, UAC and Sukhoi formed
a new company, JSC AeroComposite
based at the Aviastar-SP plant in
Ulyanovsk. Instead of the traditional
way of ‘baking’ wings in huge auto-
claves, they opted for a technology
called vacuum infusion. Polymer is
placed into moulds and a vacuum
applied before a resin is added at
ambient temperature and atmospheric
pressure. The resin is then almost
literally sucked into the laminate.scratch. And like its competitors, Airbus
and Boeing, it is having to manage
many partners and suppliers from
Russia and abroad.
Fabrication of the aluminium-
lithium fuselage panels, building
of the six fuselage sections and
final assembly is being undertak-
en at the highly automated Irkutsk
Aviation Plant in Siberia, but many
other parts are coming from differ-
ent regions. The company’s sub-
unit at Voronezh in central Russia
makes the belly fairing, flap fairings
and leading edges of the vertical and
horizontal tail fin. More work is c
arried out by Aviastar-SP at Ulyanovsk
on the Volga River, where the Tu-204
and Il-76-MD are also built. Smaller
fuselage panels and doors are manu-
factured here and the tailplane is also
assembled before integration with the
empennage and rear fuselage section.
JSC AeroComposite produces the
wings and other parts from carbon
fibre reinforced plastic. While the land-
ing gear (two or four-wheel main gear
as an option) are manufactured by
Hydromash in Nizhny Novgorod.
When final assembly is completed,
each MC-21 will fly to Ulyanovsk for
interior installation and painting
before being handed over to the
customers
from a
new
delivery centre constructed
there. Irkut says it is targeting an
initial production rate of ten per
year in 2019, raising to 70 by 2024.Composite Wings
Right from the start of the project, the
Russian government and UAC speci-
fied that design should be a huge leap
forward in innovation. The MC-21 fully
implements this and is, the Russians
say, technologically more advanced
than its competitors from Airbus
and Boeing. Indeed, Irkut
suggests the A320neo and
73 7 MAX families are, in
many ways just re-
emgined versions of tried concepts.
Innovation is most evident in the
design and construction of the MC-21’s
wings. As the Yak-242 concept had
shown, the Russians wanted a super-
critical wing, meaning it had to be
highly efficient, with low-drag and
high-lift as well as being compact. Irkut
With development
flying now taking place
at Zhukovsky near
Moscow, Irkut says
the jet’s certification
programme will involve
more than 1,000 sorties.
AIRTEAMIMAGES.COM/
ARTYOM ANIKEEV