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First flight with Russian hybrid aircraft engine scheduled for 2019

The engine will be the first step on the way of developing a fully electrical airplane, he added

MOSCOW, November 20. /TASS/. The first flight with a new 500 kW hybrid aircraft engine is scheduled for next year, CEO of the Zhukovsky Institute National Research Center Andrei Dutov said on Tuesday.

"A 500 kW electrical engine has been developed. Next year, we hope to carry out the first flight. This is a hybrid engine. In this area, we are even outpacing such rivals as Siemens and Airbus," the chief executive said.

The engine prototype was demonstrated at the Hydro-Aviation exhibition in the Black Sea town of Gelendzhik and at the MAKS air show outside Moscow, he said.

The engine will be the first step on the way of developing a fully electrical airplane, he added.

A technological breakthrough is expected in aircraft-building in about 2025. Specifically, aircraft producers plan to develop a 50-seat fully electrical regional plane by 2035, Dutov said.

The Zhukovsky Institute is also carrying out work on the concept of a fully electrical plane, he said.