Up next in 10
Yakovlev Director Alexander Dolotovsky on Superjet’s Future: Winglets, Cabins & More!
Mar 21, 2025
Alexander Dolotovsky, Deputy General Director of PJSC "Yakovlev" and Director of the Superjet Program, shares details about the certification tests taking place in Komsomolsk and Zhukovsky, as well as the reasons why the Superjet needs winglets and a Russian-made cabin. ✈️
#Superjet #SJ100 #Yakovlev
Be a Member for exclusive privileges - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCviEFTf1xIPKsjmyF_zvFug/join
Twitter : https://x.com/AltitudeAddicts
Website: https://www.altitudeaddicts.com
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
Alexander victorovich please tell us why
0:02
the aircraft are being connected in
0:03
different forms and stages and how will
0:05
this speed up the testing program good
0:08
question well let me remind you that yes
0:10
the aircraft import substitution program
0:12
is about to escape 100 started in the
0:15
second half of 19 the main task was
0:18
actually to expand markets for exporting
0:20
our aircraft to those countries that at
0:22
that time were under quite harsh
0:24
conditions as it seemed to us in Western
0:26
sanctions where it was impossible to
0:28
deliver aircraft with a large content of
0:31
dual foreign Technologies therefore from
0:33
the very beginning the option of an
0:35
alternative power plant was considered
0:37
that is from two versions of the Russian
0:40
French Sam 146 engine and the all
0:42
Russian pod A8 some components in the
0:46
aircraft system so to speak could also
0:48
be replaced by them their
0:50
interchangeable imported analogs are
0:52
actually one aircraft which we lifted in
0:54
August 239 721 which is now flying
1:00
program of cardiac test flights in
1:02
Moscow in zukovsky it is built on this
1:05
concept it has engines Sam 146 some
1:10
components in some systems are not
1:12
replaced with imported counterparts yes
1:15
they are in fact original for the
1:17
originally lowered car today this
1:19
machine is performing flights for
1:21
certification of the systems that are
1:23
part of the aircraft we plan to
1:26
practically complete the series testing
1:28
program in the first half of the year
1:30
year this machine will be connected to
1:32
the next stage of service testing the
1:34
so-called test to extend the expected
1:36
operating conditions as a rule the
1:39
climate is high low temperatures at the
1:41
nipple and so on we are now standing
1:43
with you in the production center of our
1:45
Enterprise and kolski on the armor where
1:47
we have our main assembly
1:50
plant also there are now two additional
1:52
test aircraft here which we connect to
1:54
the program of the test Council
1:56
literally in the next few months right
1:58
behind me is a complete the import
2:00
substituted machine 97203 which is now
2:02
in the final stage of production and we
2:05
plan that it will also be equipped with
2:06
a PD engine we have completely import
2:09
substituted systems on the axis we plan
2:11
to connect it to testing literally in
2:13
the near future here and behind the
2:16
Gates of this hanger at the gas station
2:17
stands
2:20
himself 5 the 157 this is a classic as
2:23
we often call the superjet but
2:25
refurbished to a power plant with a pd8
2:28
engine this machine will begin to fly
2:30
serial test programs specifically in
2:32
terms of installing the pd8 engine into
2:35
our standard design thus connecting a
2:38
total of three experimental aircraft to
2:40
the test program we are very tight on
2:42
this
2:44
program by the end of this year we plan
2:46
to complete certification ground flight
2:48
tests in order to obtain approval having
2:51
received approval of the main change we
2:53
will begin delivering serial aircraft to
2:55
our customers here in our production
2:57
Center in varying degrees of readiness
3:00
the first 22 cars here are the first 22
3:03
of which have already been tested at the
3:05
flight test station according to our
3:08
production Center together with the
3:09
engine pd8 here and now the heart tests
3:12
are being
3:14
completed on experimental aircraft in
3:17
order to advance further in the cycle of
3:18
transfer to the customer so in the tests
3:21
we'll take part three aircraft one with
3:23
Russian systems but with an imported
3:25
engine the other repaired with the
3:27
Russian engine pd8 but also with
3:29
standard system systems and three
3:30
completely Russian
3:31
board how will all this affect the
3:34
progress of the test program in terms of
3:35
quality necessary inspections Etc work
3:38
is in fact a process of integrating
3:41
tests this is when you and I are able to
3:43
localize the influence of a particular
3:45
system on the final characteristics of
3:47
the
3:48
aircraft here when demonstrating the
3:50
compliance of the required basis saluta
3:53
9557 is ordinarily the same as aircraft
3:56
97201
3:58
97203 the actual ual import substitution
4:00
of the superjet as I said implied
4:03
precisely the import substitution of its
4:05
systems basically the design of the
4:07
glider its aerodynamic characteristics
4:09
remain at the same high level as those
4:11
flying now in Russian Airlines super
4:12
jets here as fundamental differences
4:14
will not notice neither Pilots nor
4:16
passengers service Personnel thanks to
4:19
this we were able to spread the test
4:20
program to three machines which by the
4:22
way look very similar to each other this
4:25
is despite the difference in internal
4:27
content the aircraft which is now Moniz
4:30
for the engine pd8 has curved wings and
4:33
the same ones what will be installed on
4:36
future production cars how these
4:38
Hungarian endings affect this is an
4:40
Innovative development which we have
4:42
done together with the central or
4:44
hydronic Institute and Nikola yor
4:47
zukovsky she allowed the exploitation
4:49
she confirmed she allowed it
4:52
significantly improved the fuel
4:53
efficiency of our aircraft so improve
4:55
its takeoff and Landing as well as
4:57
acoustic characteristics the therefore
5:00
we decided for the superjet new aircraft
5:02
as we called it and the superjet as it
5:04
is called after the rebranding to apply
5:06
this optional ending already in the
5:08
basic configuration which affected the
5:10
assembly line our wingspan has increased
5:13
now so to speak a horseshoe that has
5:15
served its
5:16
time our famous horseshoe shaped
5:19
diagrams of aircraft movement through
5:21
the final assembly shop it is already
5:23
becoming too cramped for these machines
5:25
so we have launched a large program to
5:27
restructure the final assembly shop note
5:30
without stopping serial production it is
5:32
a very complex project but which is now
5:34
in the final stage we are unwinding our
5:36
horseshoe moving to direct flow movement
5:38
of the conveyor what will be experienced
5:41
on an aircraft with a bd8 engine because
5:43
replacing the power plant is one of the
5:44
serious changes in the composition of
5:46
the aircraft as a horse please explain
5:48
what the difficulty is and what
5:50
specifically you will check not just big
5:52
but main from the point of view of
5:53
Aviation authorities this is called the
5:55
main change that is significantly
5:57
affecting the characteristics despite
5:59
the fact that that Pon 8 is a harmonious
6:01
development of the Russian French Sam
6:02
146 and still let me remind you that 146
6:06
itself did with the joint venture power
6:07
Gadget this is where the Russian share
6:09
was significant in rybin design
6:11
manufactured serially all the so-called
6:13
cold part of the engine actually that
6:15
part of the engine that creates
6:18
thrust uh here are my colleagues from
6:20
cap uh it had to be redesigned that is
6:23
uh the gas generator is the most complex
6:25
part of the engine Frankly Speaking it
6:27
was a very difficult task for them to
6:29
achieve this result in such a short time
6:31
in principle they are now in the final
6:34
stage but nevertheless since the engine
6:36
is the only source of thrust on the
6:38
aircraft we as Pilots are already
6:40
obliged to demonstrate how well so to
6:42
speak our engine married to our aircraft
6:44
to demonstrate the flight
6:46
characteristics of the aircraft both
6:47
with normal operation of the power plant
6:49
and in all failure situations that are
6:52
provided when demonstrating the
6:54
requirements of Aviation authorities
6:56
this is a fairly large flight program
6:57
more than 50 flights only to demonstrate
6:59
the characteristics of the aircraft plus
7:02
it is also necessary to conduct a fairly
7:04
large volume of ground flight tests
7:06
confirming the
7:07
integration yes that is the correctness
7:09
of interaction news of the power plant
7:12
with the systems of our aircraft this is
7:15
despite the fact that as I said myself
7:17
the 146 and Under The Willow were
7:19
considered from the very beginning as
7:21
optional power plants on the same car at
7:24
the same time we are obliged to
7:25
demonstrate that the introduction of the
7:27
new Power Plant into the thermal design
7:29
fully satisfies the requirements of
7:31
Aviation authorities for safety and of
7:34
course to demonstrate characteristics
7:35
that I assure you will be no worse and
7:37
even slightly better than those aircraft
7:39
that are flying now we carry passengers
7:41
throughout the country rebuilding of
7:44
pylons was necessary no we just accepted
7:47
and made certain design efforts in order
7:49
to preserve the power design of the
7:51
glider as much as possible practically
7:54
our aircraft in terms of power plant is
7:56
Unified at engine mounting points yes
7:59
that is we take off 146 ourselves and
8:02
hang it under a willow tree this was
8:04
done including and in order to reduce
8:06
the number of structural changes in the
8:07
power design of the glider reduce the
8:10
volume strength and resource tests
8:13
however we still conduct such tests we
8:16
have two specially built aircraft one is
8:18
located in Sidia and two are located in
8:21
zukovsky atag so they are now going
8:24
through a cycle of static resources
8:26
testing this is to demonstrate that
8:28
those changes that have been made to the
8:30
design of the glider also meet the
8:32
requirements of the aviation
8:35
authorities so the active pumping of the
8:37
glider resource has already begun this
8:40
means our plane is in
8:42
zukovsky now in the aircraft which will
8:44
be completely in the Russian appearance
8:45
installation of the interior decoration
8:47
of the passenger cabin Begins for people
8:49
who will fly this aircraft Comfort
8:51
tactile beauty of the cabin are
8:52
important and from the point of view of
8:54
Engineers how fundamental is it to
8:56
replace the interior from imported to
8:58
Russian how does the quality of the
9:00
Russian interior correspond to imported
9:02
analogs well I'll remind you that
9:05
superjet is
9:06
placed serial operation for more than 15
9:09
years we have accumulated a lot of
9:11
experience during this time including
9:13
thanks to our colleagues from the
9:14
airline that operates our planes yes we
9:17
have collected so to speak a large
9:18
amount of knowledge related to the need
9:20
to improve the operational and
9:21
technological feasibility of the design
9:23
and increase operational reliability
9:25
this is so to speak knowledge that we
9:26
try to implement as much as possible not
9:28
only in the interior but also in all
9:30
other systems of our
9:32
aircraft so we tried to make it even
9:34
more convenient for Airlines to maintain
9:36
and operate it and even more so to speak
9:39
safely here are absolutely four planes
9:42
that are flying now well as for the
9:44
specific interior we try to ensure that
9:46
passengers entering the cabin of an
9:48
import substituted superjet do not feel
9:51
any difference compared to the cabin of
9:53
a classic superjet which has an interior
9:56
developed by the American company bear
9:58
Spay Now it's is a Russian company
10:00
Aviation interior here is the quality of
10:03
the development of this interior believe
10:05
me corresponds even in something
10:07
superior to the original American analog
10:10
at least based on the experience of the
10:13
initial training let's call the interior
10:14
assembly that we carried out here like
10:16
this I can say that the number of
10:18
comments that the production collected
10:19
when working out the interior was
10:21
several times less than we received with
10:23
our American colleagues which suggests
10:25
that in general we are not burning God's
10:27
pots and we are also learning something