China's C919, C929 to take on Boeing, Airbus
By Guo Yiming
October 23, 2015
A prototype of China’s homegrown passenger jet C919 makes a debut on Nov. 15, 2010. [Photo/Chinanews.com]
China's homegrown passenger jet C919 will roll off the production line on Nov. 2 and be put into operation on the third quarter of next year, and its wider "successor" C929 has entered the vital stage of research and development, according to Wang Jian, president of AVIC Electromechanical Systems Co., Ltd. at the Aero Electromechanics China 2015 held in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu Province on Oct. 22.
The C919, built by state-owned enterprise Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), is a single-aisle commercial liner designed to compete with the Boeing 737 and the Airbus A320. As the second homegrown passenger jet, after the Y-10, the jet has been favored by 21 clients worldwide and COMAC has received orders for a total of 514 jets.
Experts predict that the 156-seater single-aisle commercial liner will have a deep influence on China's big plane manufacturing and even high-end manufacturing industry as a whole. The total sales volume is expected to reach 2,000 after the jet hits the market.
In addition, research and development of the long-range, wide-body airliner C929 has now entered the critical stage with most of its technology breakthroughs credited to organizations based in Nanjing. Much larger than its predecessor, the C919, the 300-seater plane will adopt a homegrown engine and aims to replace the Boeing 777, aka the Jumbo Jet.
Wang said the C919 will make its maiden flight in Shanghai during the third quarter of next year, but may be delayed until 2017 due to safety concerns.
Great answer to the Chinese report even though web translation is people's best friend
Here is another report:
Comac C919 Nears Roll Out
Jun 15, 2015
Bradley Perrett | ShowNews
Industry officials with good insight into the
C919 program think that achieving a 2018 first delivery will be challenging.
Maybe in three months, Comac will show the first C919 narrowbody airliner to the world. Like any manufacturer, the state organization will seek as much publicity as it can from the roll-out – though, unlike others, its main target audience will be government leaders whose backing is needed to sustain the program.
Continued funding is not really in doubt, however. Having come so far, Comac will almost certainly get the C919 into service. What is in doubt is when it will happen.
A year ago, when Comac last stated a target for first delivery of the 158-seat airliner, the date was set as 2018, but by October the state organization was declining to confirm that key detail of the schedule. Industry officials with good insight into the program now think that putting the C919 into service in 2018 will be challenging.
The exact timing is hard to predict, say some. It will depend on progress in building the six flight-test aircraft and then the results of testing. They suggest that 2019 is most likely, while 2020 is possible. “Only when we see the sixth aircraft in the air will we have a good idea of when the first delivery will be,” says one official.
Another points out that that flight-testing itself could reveal problems. “It could take two years, or maybe three or more” from the time the first aircraft flies next year, says one source, noting that Comac’s first aircraft, the
ARJ21 regional jet, needed more than six. Another industry official fully expects a first C919 delivery in 2020. It was due in 2016 when the Chinese government launched the program in 2008.
The first flight test aircraft is being assembled at Comac’s new Shanghai factory. In April the structure had progressed well, but reportedly very little equipment had been installed. By August this aircraft should be ready for rolling out, though two industry officials expect the ceremony to be conducted in September. Around the end of the year it is due to be ready for taxi tests, propelled by
CFM Leap 1 engines. Though Comac has said it is doing its best to fly the aircraft this year, it clearly will be unable to do so – a date well into 2016 is likely.
The main assemblies of the wing and fuselage for the first C919 were delivered to Comac’s Pudong site in 2014. Deliveries of smaller items have continued this year. The tailcone arrived in February. Unusually, its maker, Aerospace Haying (Zhenjiang) Special Materials Co., belongs not to Avic but to China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp., a manufacturer of weapons and solid-propellant space launchers. The fin, made mainly of composite, arrived in February from Avic’s Shenyang works in the same month, followed in April by the forward and aft cargo doors from the group’s Hongdu Aviation at Nanchang.
In January Huaxia Financial Leasing signed a letter of intent for 20 C919s. Though not an order, the deal is included in Comac’s tally of 450 orders, which actually means orders and options. Use of such loose definitions mean that Comac’s order book is not at all comparable with the contract records of Western manufacturers. Like almost all C919 customers, Huaxia Financial Leasing is Chinese. The exception is Gecas, which is owned by CFM partner
General Electric.
The ARJ21 was certified in December. Its first operator, Comac subsidiary Chengdu Airlines, should put it into service this year, from which point the carrier help the manufacturer gain experience in supporting a commercial aircraft.
Comac C919 Nears Roll Out | Paris Air Show 2015 content from Aviation Week
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