This week Ilyushin carried out the second test flight of the Il-114-300, a turboprop based on a project launched by the company in the 90s. The takeoff took place more than a month after the inaugural flight, on December 16. In a statement, UAC, the holding company that controls the manufacturer, said the aircraft reached an altitude of 2,000 meters (6,600 feet) and a speed of 290 km/h in a flight of two hours and 47 minutes.
According to the crew report, formed by pilots Nikolai Kuimov and Dmitry Komarov, in addition to test engineer Oleg Gryazev, the systems and equipment were operating normally and the flight mission was completed in full.
“The Il-114-300 turboprop is an extremely demanded aircraft in our country: it is comfortable, reliable and capable of landing even on poorly prepared airfields. It can become the basis for the development of interregional transportation. Our task is to bring it During the flight, the stability and controllability of the aircraft, the operability of systems and equipment, in particular, the power plant, the digital flight and navigation complex, the radio communication system, and so on, All systems worked fine,” said Anatoly Serdyukov, industrial director of the Rostec.
“We will increase the intensity of flights in order to ensure the given dynamism and timing of the flight and certification test program. We hope that due to its simplicity and ease of maintenance, the aircraft will be in demand, including in regions with a difficult climate. Completion of certification and the start of serial deliveries are planned in 2022“, said the chief designer Sergei Ganin.
The Il-114-300 project was officially launched by UAC in the past decade with the first flight planned for 2018 and entry into service in 2022, but development was delayed and the first test plane was only ready months ago. The aircraft is a revamped version of a program that started in the 1990s, but which attracted little interest in the market and was discontinued with only 20 units assembled.
According to the airframer, the final version of the Il-114-300 will be able to carry up to 68 passengers. The aircraft is designed to fly at a cruising speed of 500 km/h at 7,600 meters, with a range of 1,400 km.
