Apparently it’s moments away from takeoff…

Canopy closed, taxied to runway.

Best wishes to everyone who put their work into this bird.. and best of luck to the pilot! I hope it all goes well.

I’d rather it sit in a hanger for another year than have anything go wrong now.

Gazera.ru, a Russian newspaper claims the first flight of PAK FA would be as early as March citing a high placed source in the ‘military-industrial complex’. The source is cited to be aware of the situation in Sukhoi.

http://www.gzt.ru/topnews/politics/-istrebitelj-pyatogo-pokoleniya-podnimetsya-v-/285716.html

At this point this info should be taken with caution. It’s too early to make any conclusions yet.

Quote from the link:’Истребитель пятого поколения, полет которого был анонсирован в прессе уже на пятницу, на самом деле не поднимется в воздух раньше марта. Как сообщил GZT.RU источник в руководстве российского оборонно-промышленного комплекса, знакомый с ситуацией на ОКБ «Сухой», целый ряд систем самолета еще не протестирован. Напомним, что «Сухой» уже много лет готовит перспективный авиационный комплекс фронтовой авиации (ПАК ФА), также известный как Т-50 и изделие 701.’

A whole range of systems hasn’t been fully tested yet; they also cite the engines as a major cause.

“The engines arrived at the plant in Komsomolsk-on-Amur in December last year, they are installed on the flight model, but it has not been fully tested on the ground. Real time take-off – no earlier than March, “- said the source GZT. RU.

Is this disinformation? Or.. is what we’ve been fed this week been the disinformation?

Oh well.

For idle discussions sake:

If large parts of the manufacturing machinery had been kept to this day – how much would it cost to manufacture new F-104’s in comparison to a modern fighter?

Would it still be considerably cheaper?

http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&sl=ru&tl=en&u=http://www.livejournal.com/poll/%3Fid%3D1517266%26mode%3Denter&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.com&usg=ALkJrhinCSFMc3IUusuJhuICv_0oa4JhRA

lol

Hysteria grabbing the forums me thinks!

Just wait… just wait until the armchair experts see the T-50, if you want to see some hysteria.

X, will infer Y. People will state, with great self importance that they know someone, somewhere, who can state, with absolute authority that Z is wrong. Clearly Z is a fatal flaw.

Then some organisation somewhere, will run a simulation, with data of dubious quality, which states that the airframe, their nation has an interest in, has a capability to detect the T-50 at 75km, quite easily… and journalists from that country will suggest that such a capability is actually quite a conservative estimate.

And their next generation missiles? Wellll… I’m glad you asked. The T-50 wont stand a chance.

And on.

And on.

5th Generation Fighter #3, PAK-FA, T-50… let’s see it Russia – I’m sick with anticipation 😉

Worth noting: Komsolosk-On-Amur is 10 hours ahead of UTC, so a flight at say 1pm there, would be 3am UTC, 4am CET, 10pm EST

http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/city.html?n=261

In other words, it’s possible, if all goes well and the PAK-FA isn’t the greatest hoax of all time – that we could be looking at pictures over breakfast tomorrow morning in Europe.

If it turns out to be an Su-27 with canted tail, or Rafale (lol) – I will quite possibly cry.