The Aeroflot’s pilots will be trained to operate MS-21 aircraft using state-of-the-art trainer manufactured under a contract with Irkut Corporation. It was stated by Russian Minister of Industry and Trade, Denis Manturov, during his visit to Irkutsk Aviation Plant.

«Taking into account the fact that Aeroflot will be the largest MS-21 customer and operator, the carrier’s pilots have already started preparation using the new trainer manufactured under a contract with Irkut Corporation. This will help decrease the time needed to complete the pilot training by at least 6 months,» Denis Manturov said.

The PT-MS-21-300 trainer was designed for training of pilots for MS-21 aircraft. It is also being used as a test bench for validation of equipment and preparation for flight testing. Recommendations of Aeroflot were taken into account during development of this trainer. The algorithms used by the trainer will be updated in the course of the jet’s flight test program and will meet the operating conditions of the real aircraft six months before the delivery of the first production MS-21 jet to a customer, the Ministry of Industry and Trade noted. 

The trainer helps save time needed for pilot training and decrease the expenses of the carriers by 30-40%. The cost of one flying hour spent at the Cockpit Procedure Trainer is four times lower compared to the cost of one flying hour at a Full-Flight Simulator.  The trainer is the first part of a large system of training aids, which will be installed at the Aeroflot’s training center.