Thursday, July 3, 2014

Combat Aircraft Monthly 08/2014

Sukhoi's T-50 fighter program suffered a setback when the fifth flying prototype. Bort '055 Blue', suffered heavy damage at the M. M. Gromov Flight Research Institute airfield at Zhukovsky near Moscow on June 10. According to Sukhoi. smoke was seen above the starboard air intake on landing, before a local fire broke out. This was quickly extinguished and the manufacturer has said that the aircraft will be repaired. Sukhoi also states that the incident will not affect the timing of the T-50 test program. However, conflicting reports suggest that the prototype was actually damaged beyond repair. In one account, the T-50 was flying a demonstration for an Indian delegation before losing contact with the ground. After an engine failure warning, the pilot shut down the appropriate starboard engine, but. without communication, was forced to waggle his wings in a pass over the runway to alert the emergency services. After landing on one engine, he turned on to the nearest taxi way, and shut down the port engine. At this point the pilot noticed smoke pouring from the starboard engine, and a pool of fuel beneath the aircraft. He managed to escape unhurt. T-50-5 first flew at at Komsomolsk-on-Amur on October 27. 2013 and was delivered to Zhukovsky in November 2013. Dedicated to testing the mission avionics suite and initial weapons separation trials, it features numerous modifications to the airframe (including the moving leading-edge design) and on-board equipment. It was the first to be fitted with side-looking radar antennas and has a differently configured electro-optical suite.

No comments: