First Flight: Sukhoi Superjet 100

Russia's Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company (SCAC) conducted the first flight of it's new SuperJet 100 (SSJ100) on Monday. We've been looking forward to this for a long time. This modern aircraft should go a long way toward advancing civil aviation in Russia, a country that still relies on trains more heavily than the US relies on air travel.

Test pilot Alexander Yablontsev was very pleased and said that the SSJ100 is as easy to fly as Airbus and Boeing jets that he's flown. A press release with several pictures shows that everyone involved was pretty excited. While this aircraft is sure to bring a lot of changes in Russia, it also has the potential to shake up aviation markets in other countries. Congratulations Sukhoi! We're looking forward to hearing about the further development of the SSJ100 and see who decides to put it into service.

(Please excuse the speed of the Russian servers when clicking on links to Sukhoi. The data has a lot of wickets to get through between Komsomolsk-on-Amur and your house. They will load up eventually.)