Roman Taskaev is a test pilot, Hero of Russia, and Honored Test Pilot. He is best known as the commander of the crew that flew the first production fully import-substituted aircraft, the MS-21-310.

Biography

Roman Petrovich Taskaev was born on October 14, 1954, in the city of Khilok, Chita Region; from 1967 to 1971 he practiced gliding and parachuting at the Chita Aero Club.[1] In 1975 he graduated from the Kharkov Higher Military Aviation School for Pilots and served as a pilot in Air Force units, including in the Northern Group of Forces and the 642nd Guards Fighter-Bomber Aviation Regiment of the 5th Air Army of the Odessa Military District; he was discharged into the reserve in 1981.[1]

In 1983 he graduated from the Test Pilots' School and began test-flight work at the A. I. Mikoyan Design Bureau, where he participated in testing the supersonic combat aircraft MiG-29, MiG-29M, MiG-29K, MiG-31, and MiG-31M.[1] In 1992 he was awarded the title Hero of the Russian Federation.[1] In 1995 Taskaev set a world aviation altitude record in the MiG-29.[1] Taskaev made the maiden flight of and conducted tests on the MiG-AT jet trainer in 1996–1998; he was awarded the title Honored Test Pilot of the Russian Federation in 1998.[1]

First Flight of the Production MS-21-310

On August 3, 2026, Roman Taskaev commanded the crew that performed the maiden flight of the first production fully import-substituted passenger airliner MS-21-310 from the airfield of the Irkutsk Aviation Plant — a branch of PJSC Yakovlev, part of the United Aircraft Corporation of the Rostec state corporation.[2] The crew also included test pilots Sergey Mikhaylyuk and Andrey Voropayev, as well as flight test engineer Nikolay Fonurin.[3]

The flight lasted 1 hour and 23 minutes; the aircraft reached an altitude of 6,000 meters and an indicated airspeed of 600 km/h. During the tests, the aircraft's stability and controllability in various configurations were evaluated, along with the operation of Russian onboard systems. The aircraft is equipped with PD-14 engines developed by UEC.[4]

After the flight, Taskaev, as crew commander, reported: "The first production aircraft performed well; the flight mission was completed in full."[2]

References

Sources

  1. Wikipedia (ru) — Taskayev, Roman Petrovich — Roman Petrovich Taskaev was born on October 14, 1954, in the city of Khilok, Chita Region; from 1967 to 1971 he practiced gliding and parachuting at… (archive)
  2. Vzglyad-NN — First production import-substituted MS-21-310 makes its maiden flight
  3. aif.ru — Footage from the maiden flight of the import-substituted MS-21 published (archive)
  4. aif.ru — First production MS-21 completes successful flight (archive)