China Civil Aviation Industry, Technology, Infrastructure: News & Discussions

[TaiShang]

China's C919 Plane to Roll Off Assembly Lines This Year
2015-02-23 Xinhua Web Editor: Yangyang

China's C919 large passenger aircraft will roll off assembly lines this year, the manufacturer announced today.

The Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China has completed basic assembly of the aircraft, the company said.

Earlier this month, the C919's vertical fin and the back end of the rear fuselage were delivered to the state-owned aircraft maker from domestic manufacturers.

The company has secured orders for 450 C919 planes from 18 customers.

With 168-seat and 156-seat layouts, the C919 will compete with Boeing and Airbus in the medium-range aircraft sector.

The C919's first test flight is planned for this year.

China will become the world's largest domestic aviation market in the next decade, an Airbus forecast said.

The country will need more than 5,300 new passenger aircraft and freighters between 2014 and 2033, with a total market value of 820 billion U.S. dollars or 17 percent of total global demand, in the next 20 years, the forecast said.

 

[JSCh]

PICTURES: C919 takes shape in Shanghai - 3/3/2015 - Flight Global
By: Mavis Toh, Singapore

Final assembly work on the Comac C919 has kicked into high gear, with assembly of the first prototype airframe almost complete.

Pictures released to Flightglobal show an almost complete airframe joined from nose through to the tail. Wing-to-body join has also been done, with the vertical and horizontal stabilisers already attached to the aircraft's tail.

The aircraft is still resting on struts, although the main landing gear and forward landing gear appear to have been installed. The aircraft's wingtip devices have also yet to be installed. No other aircraft are pictured in the final assembly centre area.

A Comac spokesman tells Flightglobal that no systems have been installed on the aircraft.

Over the last six months the Chinese aircraft manufacturer has been taking delivery of the jet's major structures, with final assembly work officially started last September.

Comac has publicly stated end-2015 as the aircraft's first flight target, and the spokesman says the goal remains to strive towards that timeline.

He adds however that major works such as the installation of the avionics, flight control and hydraulics systems still remain to be done. The various systems also have to be integrated and tested.

Tests are however ongoing at full-swing on the C919 iron bird test rig, with more than 50 test engineers and technicians involved.

An official on the indigenous Chinese programme told Flightglobal last September that the iron bird is scheduled to undergo two cycles of tests before the C919's first flight.

Delays on the aircraft's first flight are however expected since system integration will be complex for Comac, another official says.

Comac has so far secured 450 commitments for the in-development narrowbody from 18 companies, most of which are local airlines and leasing firms.

 

[nomi007]

looks beautiful

 

[cnleio]

C919 is a good platform for future China AWACS plane, China anti-sub patrol plane, China fuel tanker etc to replace current Y-8/Y-9 medium-size platform.

 

[BoQ77]

We are keen to see C919 first flight.

 

[TaiShang]

China-developed C919 to have ‘most powerful brain’
2015-04-07 13:37 Ecns.cn

File photo shows technicians installing rivets on fuselage of C919 airliner in the assembly base of the Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China (COMAC) in Shanghai, Sept 19, 2014. (Photo/Xinhua)


(ECNS) - The first prototype of China's homegrown passenger jet, the C919, will be equipped with "the most powerful brain" the world aviation industry has ever seen, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Monday.

Aviage Systems is the supplier of the avionics systems for the C919 and a joint venture between the General Electric and Aviation Industry Corp of China. It announced that it has delivered the avionics system integration testing platform and the first set of products for ground testing to the Commercial Aircraft Corp of China, the C919's manufacturer, marking the beginning of software and hardware integration testing for the narrow-bodied airliner.

Alan Jones, the president and CEO of Aviage Systems, said the system for the C919 prototype will be "the most powerful brain" to date. Aviage Systems has provided the C919 with an expandable and easy to configure framework platform, which makes future plane design optimization and performance improvement possible, he added.

The technological platform is similar to that of the Boeing 787 and 777-X, and represents the future of avionics systems, Jones said.

The avionics system is dubbed an aircraft's "brain," as it takes on important tasks such as core data processing, signal transmission and signal function logic conversion. Through the avionics system a pilot processes complicated data, and connects and interacts with flight control systems and other systems to have full control of the plane and fulfill flight missions.

The C919 will make its maiden test flight before the end of the year, and assembly of the first prototype is progressing well, Chinese media quoted the country's civil aviation authority as saying last month.

 

[Pulsar]

The avionics system is dubbed an aircraft's "brain," as it takes on important tasks such as core data processing, signal transmission and signal function logic conversion. Through the avionics system a pilot processes complicated data, and connects and interacts with flight control systems and other systems to have full control of the plane and fulfill flight missions.

So what's the big deal? All modern aircraft have these advanced avionics like the Airbus 380 and Boeing 777.

 

[Beast]

So what's the big deal? All modern aircraft have these advanced avionics like the Airbus 380 and Boeing 777.

Becos its avionic will be the most powerful of all commercial plane to date.

 

[Pulsar]

Becos its avionic will be the most powerful of all commercial plane to date.

So what's it gonna do? Probably the 'advanced' avionics will even be able to serve the passengers tea! Duh!

 

[Beast]

So what's it gonna do? Probably the 'advanced' avionics will even be able to serve the passengers tea! Duh!

For your ignorant sake. Power avionics mean more raw processing power. With so many airline flight depending on auto pilot, power avionics will make faster, better decision in flight , helps pilot planned the best route , faster communication in terms of emergency.

Something which low IQ cannot comprehend and can only think of serving tea.

 

[Pulsar]

For your ignorant sake. Power avionics mean more raw processing power. With so many airline flight depending on auto pilot, power avionics will make faster, better decision in flight , helps pilot planned the best route , faster communication in terms of emergency.

Something which low IQ cannot comprehend and can only think of serving tea.

If you think your IQ is at the level of Einstein's, why don't you just summarize your mile-long explanation for these so called advanced avionics in one word, and that is 'situational awareness'. But, alas! It seems your high IQ cannot comprehend modern terminology! Duh!

 

[Beast]

If your IQ is at the level of Einstein's, why don't you just summarize your mile-long explanation for these so called advanced avionics in one word, and that is 'situational awareness'. But, alas! It seems your high IQ cannot comprehend modern terminology! Tch! Tch!

That is a too advance term for someone who only think powerful avionics means serving tea.

With your comprehension in that level, will I dare to use it?

 

[SOHEIL]

New Pics !?

 

[TaiShang]

Maiden flight of C919 jet may be delayed to 2020
Shanghai Daily, May 14, 2015

The maiden flight of China's homegrown commercial jet, the Comac C919, is behind schedule and delivery could be pushed back as much as two years, sources familiar with the program have said.

The maiden flight of China's homegrown commercial jet, the Comac C919, is behind schedule and delivery could be pushed back as much as two years, sources familiar with the program have said.

The narrow-body aircraft, which will be able to carry 156 to 168 passengers and aims to compete with the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737, was originally scheduled to fly by the end of this year, but two sources said it will be delayed until the first half of next year.

Delivery of the first plane, scheduled for 2018, is also likely to slip, perhaps to as late as 2020, the sources said.

That means the C919 will be later and a technologically inferior product than the re-engined and improved variants of the 737 and A320 that will enter service in the next two years.

State-owned Comac, which is leading the design, development and production efforts into the C919, declined to comment.

China has high hopes for the C919 in the lucrative narrow-body market, which accounts for more than 50 percent of the aircraft in service.

The final assembly of the first aircraft is taking longer than expected at the production facility in Shanghai, said the sources, who declined to be identified as they are not authorized to speak to the media.

"Comac is proceeding extremely cautiously with the aircraft. It is deliberately checking everything ... to ensure there are no safety issues," one said.

Comac has commitments for 450 C919s, mainly from Chinese airlines and leasing firms. Further delays will make it harder for the plane to make an impact beyond its home market.

China has said the development of an aerospace industry is central to economic growth, and the C919 and acquisition of the associated technological know-how is key to that goal.

While Comac executives and government officials are concerned about the impact of the delays on the image of the C919 and the country, safety is a priority, the sources said.

"Any delay is unfortunate, but it is far more important to have an aircraft that's safe and reliable. China is developing the C919 with long-term goals in mind, and it must be patient," said one of the sources.

The first aircraft is in its sub-assembly facility and will be rolled to the adjacent final assembly plant once the tail, vertical stabilizer and horizontal stabilizer are fixed. Two CFM International Leap 1C engines will then be fitted.

"There is still a lot of work to do. At the pace that Comac is proceeding, they will only complete the systems integration around the end of 2015," one of the sources said.

The aircraft will then undergo ground tests, which could take several more months.

Subsidiaries of AVIC, China's state-owned aerospace conglomerate, are manufacturing the major components of the C919, but Comac is dependent on global suppliers for many of the aircraft's systems.

Many of the suppliers have been asked to form joint ventures with Chinese firms, with the government hoping China will eventually have the capability to produce the systems and components at home.

While Chinese designers and engineers conceived and developed the C919, Comac has hired several former employees of American and European aerospace companies to help with the program.

The company will be hoping to learn from its much-delayed 100-seat ARJ-21 jet, which received its type certification in December, six years after its first flight and more than 12 years after it was conceived.

The first plane is due to be delivered to launch customer Chengdu Airlines in the coming months.

 

[Aepsilons]

Well, better to push it back when everything is ready. We had to do the same for the MRJ as well , in years past.