TU-204-300 JETLINER TESTED

A Tupolev Tu-204-300 passenger airliner performed its first long-range test flight on October 8.

This jet liner (factory number, 26) flew along the Moscow-Vladivostok-Moscow route, RIA Novosti learned at the press center of the Ulyanovsk-based Aviastar-SP aircraft factory, which built the Tu-204 plane's new version. The Tu-204-300, which has a 105-ton take-off mass, covered more than 7,000 km.

The Tu-204-300 still had eight tons of fuel left, after landing in Vladivostok; that was enough to reach Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk or Korea, factory people noted.

Talking to RIA Novosti, Leonid Isayev, the Tu-204-300 project's deputy chief engineer, noted that the plane's rated specifications and performance had been confirmed during the flight.

This passenger airliner should log the required number of hours in mid-air, subsequently receiving its flight-worthiness certificate. After that, it will return to the factory; its compartment will then be fitted with additional equipment. This No. 26 Tu-204-300 will be delivered to a Vladivostok airline in November 2004.

The fuselage of the Tu-204-300 jetliner, which seats 166 passengers, is six meters shorter than that of its predecessor; its smaller mass serves to enhance range.

The Tu-204-300 can spend 11 to 12 hours in mid-air, covering more than 10,000 km with one fuel load. At the same time, it can operate from B-category airfields, which can be found in every Russian and CIS district center.

This aircraft matches international noise-level and toxic-emission requirements.

The Tu-204-300, which was built on the initiative of the Tupolev design bureau and the Ulyanovsk-based Aviastar-SP aircraft factory, is the sixth modified version of Tupolev passenger airliners. Speaking of five previous versions, four plane versions are assembled in Ulyanovsk and one more in Kazan.

The No. 26 Tu-204-300 was displayed at the MAKS-2003 international aerospace show in Zhukovsky near Moscow

Fonte: Agenzia RIA Novosti - 09/10/2004


Foto: Tupolev Design Bureau / Aviastar