New Russian Airliner demonstration flight goes awry.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Indonesia - SAR?

There don't seem to be any updates on this, but I guess it is still night over there.

[Silur 3,297]

This is an just another end of Great and Vain Russian dream ...

  Edited May 9, 2012 by Silur  

[husher 18]

i wouldn't be surprised if it fell apart in mid air, knowing the state of russian stuff it doesen't surprise me, doubtless the designer is on a all expenses paid one way trip to siberia courtesy of comrade putin

I once had chance to see some russian fighters at the Farnbourgh air show in 1992, they looked like cardboard held together with sellotape and prayers, typical russian rubbish.

[airman15 4,111]

This is not going to look good on Sukhoi. They were trying to get in on the airliner manufacturing competition and with one of only 12 (4 prototypes, 8 serial production) aircraft already missing, this will really put the hurt on the company amongst airlines who are looking to buy more planes.

[sneakeypete 16]

i wouldn't be surprised if it fell apart in mid air, knowing the state of russian stuff it doesen't surprise me, doubtless the designer is on a all expenses paid one way trip to siberia courtesy of comrade putin

I once had chance to see some russian fighters at the Farnbourgh air show in 1992, they looked like cardboard held together with sellotape and prayers, typical russian rubbish.

yep, an aircraft you saw at an airshow 20 years ago being crap must mean an aircraft they produced now is also crap!

Think its a bit early to go jumping to conclusions myself, best to wait and see what happens, they haven't even found the plane yet.

[hamsterTK 93]

New airliner disappears off Indonesia? Makes me think of this:

(Nobody will recognize this, but if you liked comics as a kid, maybe...)

But no really, sounds awful. Hopefully if it crashed some have survived. It is true that Sukhoi's aircraft have a poor safety record, though this model of aircraft has actually been in operation since last year, right?

Oh well, hope I don't offend anyone. Don't need any bad karma, I'll be riding next month in a seat near the back of a comparable Embraer Regional Jet from Texas to Wisconsin(CLL to MSN) across tornado alley Oh well, at least it's not a Saab turboprop plane like last time(managed to actually get sick on a plane, ugh)

  Edited May 10, 2012 by hamsterTK  

[airman15 4,111]

Indonesia is now saying they found the plane- but wreckage and eyewitness accounts are leading SAR teams to draw grim conclusions about the current status of the aircraft..

[Merlin of Flyote 8]

Oh well, hope I don't offend anyone. Don't need any bad karma, I'll be riding next month in a seat near the back of a comparable Embraer Regional Jet from Texas to Wisconsin(CLL to MSN) across tornado alley Oh well, at least it's not a Saab turboprop plane like last time(managed to actually get sick on a plane, ugh)

Best to sit at the back. You've never herd of a plane reversing into a mountain.

Russian planes on test flights, reminds me of Concordski (Tupolev TU144?)

Seriously though, I used to have a business which carried Russian school-girls from school to and from Heathrow airport. They would try to avoid flying Aeroflot and try to book British Airways mentioning the state of the Russian planes.

  Edited May 10, 2012 by Merlin of Flyote  

[airman15 4,111]

When I look at Sukhoi or any of the other Russian aircraft companies, I think they put quantity before quality on a lot of levels. Russia tries to crank out low-cost jets while struggling to keep up with modern times (SU-27 and MiG-29 came after the F-15 entered service and now they are trying to make an F-22 ripoff). Even if Russia creates a plane that can out-maneuver any of the aircraft we make; our aircraft will fare better because they are given much more maintenance and attention versus a nation that has exports of MiG/Sukhoi. And now that one of their premier airliners is missing, this will jeopardize Russia's chance to compete with the American and European manufacturers.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Looks like they build this with a Five-Year-Plan. Maybe our Russian "allies" should seek some technical help. Canada has just blown its aerospace industry (again!) by canceling the latest satellite program (Harper=Diefenbaker?). We have lots of aerospace engineers looking for work.

[Barbarossa 51]

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  Edited September 9, 2012 by Barbarossa  

[airman15 4,111]

Not to mention, most Russian (or Soviet) built aircraft are aging fast. The MiG-21 used to serve more than 50 countries but now the number is down to around 20. How come the Fishbed is being abandoned? Because it's getting too old and it's no use to keep fatigue and mechanical problems from coming up on a constant basis. This is the reason why the Navy ended up getting rid of the F-14..

[hym 358]

Not to mention, most Russian (or Soviet) built aircraft are aging fast. The MiG-21 used to serve more than 50 countries but now the number is down to around 20. How come the Fishbed is being abandoned? Because it's getting too old and it's no use to keep fatigue and mechanical problems from coming up on a constant basis. This is the reason why the Navy ended up getting rid of the F-14..

According to a friend of mine that does work on Naval aircraft, the main reason for retiring the F-14 was that the retrofit packages were becoming impractical.

[airman15 4,111]

According to a friend of mine that does work on Naval aircraft, the main reason for retiring the F-14 was that the retrofit packages were becoming impractical.

There was at one time a concept made by Grumman that showed a revamped design that showed a modified Tomcat that could have gone into production instead of rehashing older airframes:

According to some sources, one of the changes that was not listed was a redone wing-sweep mechanism which would have made it easier for crews to work with. The retrofit packages didn't work because as stated before they just re-used older Tomcats. By doing this, they didn't resolve either the wing sweep nor fuel efficiency problems.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Too bad in a way. The Tomcat was a great aircraft for its time.

However, a few later words have been spoken.

[krbe 193]

Never trust a Russian plane. Only risk-takers actually want to fly on them.

Barbarossa

There's loads of Russian planes I'd love to take a ride in.

Russian aviation's main problems are not the planes, but rather the rest of the system. For example, despite its record, the Tu-154 wasn't (isn't) a dangerous plane; it's rather the guys that park snow clearing vehicles on the runways that contribute to the type's loss numbers (it should be noted that all "large" operators have pulled this aircraft from their fleets, with ever dminishing numbers vanishing in the hands of small, ex-Soviet carriers with nothing more than a few guys that almost know which levers to pull to get the planes up and down as staff).

Seeing Air Koryo FAs hanging on to strippers' poles in the front and back of an Il-62 during a turbulent approach, would likely be the aviation experience of a lifetime, now that the Concorde is gone.

  Edited May 11, 2012 by krbe  

[Wrightguy0 40]

Have they found any bodies? or is there any news on the plane?

[RipRap 4,400]

This I think should help. and this too

Too bad this happened. The aircraft was fit to fly and experienced no problems ahead of the flight.