Irkut is targeting the completion of the wing to body join of its first MC-21 narrowbody flight-test aircraft by early 2015 and hopes to roll it out by the end of that year. At a programme briefing at the show, Irkut's vice-president of sales and marketing, Kirill Bu-daev, said the programme is progressing as scheduled and that it is working towards an early 2016 first flight. "We're trying our best on the schedule, but let's be realistic, all programmes shift a little," he says. Budaev says the design for the 160- to 211-seat -300 variant of the MC-21 has been finalised, and that tests done on its wings and fuselage so far "fit within calculations". The Russian air-framer is not expecting further deisgn changes.
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