SSJ 100 Maiden Flight

In keeping with the topic of this month's poll, we'll take a look in the next few articles at recent aviation developments in the emerging markets.

With an aviation tradition than spans over many decades, Russia is taking steps towards rebuilding its presence on the global civil aviation market with the successful first flight of its SSJ100 prototype on May 19, 2008.

According to the company website, the Sukhoi Superjet 100 took off from Komsomolsk-on-Amur airport for a 65 min. flight during which time the aircraft flew over the runway four times at various elevations, completed a box pattern span, and reached the mission's maximum altitude of roughly 4,000 ft.

Chief Pilot, Alexander Yablontsev, expressed satisfaction with the airplane's handling and compared it with piloting Airbus or Boeing aircraft.

The SSJ100 is the first of a planned family of regional jet aircraft seating 75-95 passangers that will compete against established players, such as Brazil's Embraer and Canada's Bombardier family of airplanes. Sukhoi forecasts a global demand of 5,400 such aircraft through 2024, of which it targets to capture 800 aircraft or roughly 15% of the market. Similar market studies from other OEMs seem to validate Sukhoi's forecast.

SSJ100 is a global program that relies on a network of 30 western system and component suppliers and counts Alenia Aeronautica and Snecma as risk sharing partners. Boeing Commercial Airplanes group offers consultancy support.