The 100th birth anniversary of the legendary test pilot Valery Chkalov (b.1904-d.1938) is marked this year.
The aircraft will take off on August 2 in Johannesburg (South Africa) to cover 11,000 kilometres.
"Continuing the tradition of transcontinental expeditions, the Johannesburg-Nizhny Novgorod flight honors the great Russian pilot Valery Chkalov, born in the Nizhny Novgorod region, and Sergo Ordzhonikidze, which did a great share in establishing the Nizhny Novgorod aircraft-building factory", its representative said.
"This plane is one more time to prove its export trademark M-101T Expedition", he specified.
Russia's first multipurpose plane with a turboprop engine and an air-tight cabin, the M-101T Gzhel can base on unpaved airfields. Seating up to seven passengers, its maximal speed is 430 kilometres per hour.
The first flight was made on March 31, 1995. The total flying time in tests is over 1,000 hours.
Specialists spoke high of the M-101T at international air shows, such as Le Bourget and the International Aerospace Show in Zhukovsky near Moscow.
