The Su-80 program was supposed to start in the late 1990s, but due to lack of funds, it was postponed for several years. A prototype of the combined Freight/Passenger Su-80GP was built and its first flight was planned for early 1998, but the program was delayed again. The first flight of the prototype was at the 2001 MAKSinMoscow issued Zhukovsky.
On 4 September 2001, Igor Wotinzew started with the prototype, 82911, on his first flight. In early 2006, the Su-80 entered production in the KnAAPO factory in Komsomolsk-on-Amur.
The first model of the turboprop transporter Sukhoi S-80 was shown at the 46th Paris International Air and Space Show, 2005.[1] The plane is being developed by Sukhoi OKB and the aircraft factory in Komsomolsk/Amur under the "konversija" program. The aircraft is intended to replace the An-24/26, An-28 and Yak-40, and to compete with the Antonov An-38 . The design of the machine is very similar to the Scaled Composites ATTT and the Rockwell OV-10. It has three lift-generating surfaces: the primary wings; two fins at the rear of the fuselage which join the booms to the fuselage; and the horizontal stabilizer which joins the two vertical fins at the rear of the booms. Two General Electric CT7-9B turboprop engines are housed in bays at the front of the tail booms.
The sleek hull offers space for 30 passengers, and a "beaver-tail" cargo ramp is fitted at the rear of the fuselage, which allows for easy loading and unloading of cargo.
There are two different models of the Su-80. The four pre-series aircraft were of a short-fuselage design, while the fifth, sixth and seventh prototypes were stretched by 1.4 m (4 ft 7 in) allowing an extra row of passenger seats.[2]
^ abcdeAir International, August 2006: "Pre-series Su-80GP First Flight"
^Jackson, Paul, ed. (2003). Jane's all the World's Aircraft 2002–03. Coulsdon, Surrey, United Kingdom: Jane's Information Group. pp. 412–413. ISBN0-7106-2423-9.
