During a media briefing held at Farnborough, Irkut‘s vice-president Konstantin Popovich recounted a funny episode that had occurred during the Yakovlev Yak-130 combat trainer first flight at the Airshow 2012.
The Russian aircraft is equipped with shields that close the air intakes for FOD (Foreign Object Damage) prevention. The system is intented to enable the Irkut-built Yak-130 to operate from unpaved/unprepared runways.
“You can not taxi because the air intakes are closed” Farnborough ATC controllers told the Yak-130 aircrew. Even after explaining that the engine-shields were a normal feature of the plane, the Tower asked if they were sure to be able to take off with the closed intakes.
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