Posted on 12/06/2010 9:32:01 PM PST by ErnstStavroBlofeld
Italy is ready to buy a significant number of Russian-made Sukhoi Superjet 100 medium-haul airliners, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Monday.
"This is our first civil aircraft... which corresponds with the most recent civil aviation requirements, and our Italian partners are now ready to buy them in quite large numbers," Putin said during a United Russia party congress in the Far Eastern city of Khabarovsk.
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, accompanied by Putin and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, inspected a Superjet aircraft in Sochi last Friday. The plane arrived in the southern Russian city on a test flight from northern Siberia's Yakutsk.
(Excerpt) Read more at en.rian.ru ...
Do the Italians have something against Boeing?
What the heck kind of dope is Italy smoking?
Uh,....nyet. Not a good idea. And with one of those crazy Eye Talian pilots,....maybe even worse. Mama mia!
I’d rather walk than fly on a Russian aircraft or airline.
You did not read the recent Wikileaks document?Silvio Berlusconi and Putin have very strong diplomatic ties.
I was watching one of those Russian planes on tv, the entire roof came off while they were flying it.
There were two Russian planes in Kent, WA. They were huge but when I asked what do they use them for, the guy working at the field said the owner just leaves them parked.
He purchased them cheap but they are so expensive to fly that he leaves them parked. On top of that, the FAA won’t cert them for passengers, and no insurance company will insure them more than their scrap value.
I think Italy doesn’t know what they are getting into, there is a lot needed even in Italy for these planes to take to the sky.
ALITALIA:
Always
Late
In
Takeoff
Always
Late
In
Arrivals
The first thought that occured to me.
And now another reason not to book a flight with them.
Aloha Airlines Flight 243 was a Boeign 737.
I don't understand why the strength of a tie would matter, unless they are going to strangle each other with them :-)
Whenever I see that pic, I am amazed that the pilots got the bird back on the deck. That was a miracle.
Honeytrap?
The other thing I wonder about is the passengers ....I think half of them must have dropped choco torpedoes in their pants, while the other half simply didn't register any emotion because their minds convinced themselves it was a dream (as in, seriously - the roof just comes off!!!!! For some it would seem like it HAS to be a dream). Nonetheless, that is an experience one can go through several entire lifetimes without wanting to know 'how it feels.' After such an event I doubt anything could every frighten a person again. Anything.
Whenever anyone posts about the Superjet, the moron brigades come marching out. I wonder, do they have service numbers issued to them by the commander moron?
I don’t suppose that any of them know or care that the Italians OWN 25% of the manufacturer and 49% of the distributor - or understand how that just might make them a willing customer. Or that Boeing was a major partner in the design of the aircraft. All we get is a recitation of how “OH, I would never fly on a Russian airplane” and other such xenophobic silliness.
The fact is that the Superjet will be seen in Western skies, and if airlines are smart, somebody will bring it to the USA. I’d have no more problem flying on a Russian aircraft (and I have flown on Soviet era designs - and the Superjet is worlds away from those) than on some plane designed and built by half-naked samba dancing Brazilians! Oh, and I have flown on lots of those Jungle Jets too - they are all over the place in the US.
I agree completely.
I can’t imagine what must have been going through the heads of the passengers — or the pilots, for that matter — when the bird rolled to a stop.
I’ve often thought we need a medal for people like this. Something of the same order as the Congressional Medal of Honor for civilians who perform heroically, above and beyond the call of duty, in life or death situations.
There are quite a few firefighters, policemen, ambulance drivers and yes, airline pilots, who would qualify.
These two certainly would.
Didn’t realize Italian aircraft requirements want to actually kill passengers in russian made crapjets.
While the Soviet era civilian aircraft lacked a lot of the fit and polish that make Western aircraft so nice, they did design birds that were rugged and for the most part reliable. Given the shoddy maintenance they often received, not to mention the haphazard construction processes, it’s actually pretty much a miracle than more of them didn’t crash.
Taking that argument further, better designed Western aircraft, in the hands of Soviet era pilots and maintenance, might have actually suffered worse accident rates because they were not designed to be flown in the extreme conditions Russian pilots faced, and would probably be more unforgiving of sloppy maintenance.
These days, Russian engineers are still producing world class designs, and are marrying them with top quality western avionics much better fabrication processes and skilled, reliable workers.
Two new designs, in particular, are my favorites. They are the BE-200 and the AN-70. Both are easily good enough for the export market, and I expect we are going to be seeing a bunch of them flying around the world soon.
The BE-200 would have been an excellent choice for Israel as a fire-fighting aircraft. Something they have recently discovered the really need.
“International certification is expected by mid-2010. Sukhoi, part of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), plans to manufacture at least 700 Superjet 100s, and intends to sell 35% of them to North America, 25% to Europe, 10% to Latin America, and 7% to Russia and China.”
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