Chinese airliner

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China takes to the skies!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-39814146

Quote:

China's first large domestically made passenger aircraft has completed its maiden flight, mounting a major challenge to Boeing and Airbus. After about 90 minutes in the air the plane landed safely back at Pudong airport in Shanghai. The plane is a key symbol of Beijing's soaring ambitions to enter the global aviation market.

Made by state-owned firm Comac, it has been in planning since 2008 but the flight was repeatedly pushed back. For Friday's maiden flight, the plane carried only its skeleton crew of five pilots and engineers and took off in front of a crowd of thousands of dignitaries, aviation workers and enthusiasts.

Ahead of the flight, state television said the plane would fly at an altitude of only 3,000m (9,800 feet), some 7,000m lower than a regular trip, and reach a speed of around 300km/h (186mph).

The C919 is designed to be a direct competitor to Boeing's 737 and the Airbus A320.

In an interview carried out in March but released on Chinese television shortly before the launch, test pilot Cai Jun said he had full confidence in the plane. "A pilot knows clearly the condition of a plane. He knows very well whether it will work. So I'm not afraid at all, but focusing more on whether the plane is in its best shape now," he said. He also described halting an earlier taxiing test in late 2016 because of a problem with the brakes. "It's just like driving a car. I put the brakes on, and the plane started to shake," he said.

He said he had had to argue with the plane's engineers help refine the design. "For the designers, the plane is their baby, which they believe is perfect. But our task is to tell them that their baby is not perfect, it has strengths and weaknesses, and they have to make improvements," the pilot said.

The C919 is a single-aisle twin-engine plane with a capacity to seat up to 168 passengers.
It will have a range of between 4,075 and 5,555km (2,532 - 3,452 miles).
According to Chinese media, it will cost around $50m, less than half of a Boeing 737 or Airbus A320.


The plane still relies on a wide array of imported technology though, it is for instance powered by engines from French-US supplier CFM International.

Orders have already been placed for more than 500 of the planes, with commitments from 23 customers, say officials, mainly Chinese airlines. The main customer is China Eastern Airlines.

Europe's aviation safety regulator has started the certification process for the C919 - a crucial step for the aircraft to be successful on the international market.

China has had ambitions to build its own civil aircraft industry since the 1970s, when leader Mao Zedong's wife, Jiang Qing, personally backed a project. But the Y-10, built in the late 1970s, was impractical due to its heavy weight and only three of the aircraft were ever made.

It's estimated that the global aviation market will be worth $2tn (£1.55tn) over the next 20 years.
 
I saw that yesterday and was going to post.

Looks like they borrowed technologies from Airbus and Boeing to make their own plane
 
Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
I saw that yesterday and was going to post.

Looks like they borrowed technologies from Airbus and Boeing to make their own plane


Yeah, 'borrowed'. Outright stolen more likely
 
It seems they have a home grown stealth fighter. Talk about moving at an accelerated pace. I hate to admit it but within 50 years I suspect they will be what the USA once was.
Its a horrible thought but once the stigma of Made in China is gone and like Japan it will be then its game set match, the US and Europe will be relegated to almost third world status. Thank God I wont be around to see that.

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-37831714
 
Russia also rolled their own for years and they have dismal record. Not sure id trust a Chinese airliner given they just started. Their automotive industry was a joke in crash tests but improving. Not sure id want to be part of the joke part of an starting an airliner....it will improve obviously but I guess they have a domestic market with 1 billion to try it out with.
 
My memory is foggy on this but I think they may have had a cooperative working relationship with Boeing at one time. The article I saw yesterday called out the large content of foreign (mostly US) suppliers from engines to avionics. Those are the "keys to the kingdom" (especially engines) the Chinese wish to replicate and will steal every iota of info they can Hoover up from whatever source at whatever cost.
 
If you were China, how would you play in the world market... USA dominates anything (militarily) that hints of crossing our "National Interests". The EU has VAT and other taxes that keep outsiders from having "free" market access.

I flown Bazillion airplanes, Canadian airplanes, EU contraptions, have not flown Russian (yet). Just one more competitor. If they are problematic, they will be stuck in home market. If they are not fuel efficient - ditto. So let the games begin...
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: DeepFriar
My memory is foggy on this but I think they may have had a cooperative working relationship with Boeing at one time. The article I saw yesterday called out the large content of foreign (mostly US) suppliers from engines to avionics. Those are the "keys to the kingdom" (especially engines) the Chinese wish to replicate and will steal every iota of info they can Hoover up from whatever source at whatever cost.


As would anyone. It just makes common sense.
 
Originally Posted By: Trav
It seems they have a home grown stealth fighter. Talk about moving at an accelerated pace. I hate to admit it but within 50 years I suspect they will be what the USA once was.
Its a horrible thought but once the stigma of Made in China is gone and like Japan it will be then its game set match, the US and Europe will be relegated to almost third world status. Thank God I wont be around to see that.

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-37831714


A dictatorship won't lead the world. People don't want to live under that system.

I'll be taking road trips instead of flying, for this and other reasons.
 
Originally Posted By: BrocLuno
If you were China, how would you play in the world market... USA dominates anything (militarily) that hints of crossing our "National Interests". The EU has VAT and other taxes that keep outsiders from having "free" market access.

I flown Bazillion airplanes, Canadian airplanes, EU contraptions, have not flown Russian (yet). Just one more competitor. If they are problematic, they will be stuck in home market. If they are not fuel efficient - ditto. So let the games begin...


How does VAT keep anyone from free market access?
 
Originally Posted By: 55Test
Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
I saw that yesterday and was going to post.

Looks like they borrowed technologies from Airbus and Boeing to make their own plane


Yeah, 'borrowed'. Outright stolen more likely
+1 That which a certain "administration" didn't sell them a while ago.
 
That's the same common sense that says I should write checks against your account instead of my own. I assume you're OK with that.


Sorry, that was meant as a reply to wemay.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: HerrStig
Originally Posted By: 55Test
Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
I saw that yesterday and was going to post.

Looks like they borrowed technologies from Airbus and Boeing to make their own plane


Yeah, 'borrowed'. Outright stolen more likely
+1 That which a certain "administration" didn't sell them a while ago.


Unfortunately, neither stripe of administration has done well in this regard. VWe've been giving it away for over 30 years in a forlorn hope that China will someday sing cumbaya with the other airheads. That ain't political, that's a fact.
 
China will dictate domestic airlines use domestic planes. That will hurt Airbus & Boeing from a market standpoint.
It will give them a chance to work out the bugs and employ a lot of people.
They don't play by the same rules.

They will eventually make a decent plane and eventually sell worldwide.
The only question at that point will be whether their offering is competitive.
 
I hear it's equipped with a transponder that always squawks 7700.
laugh.gif
 
Good luck competing on a cost per seat/mile basis with Boeing and Airbus over the life of the airplane. If the airplane lasts 30 years then cheap labor and appropriated technology and development won't be enough to make up the difference.
 
Originally Posted By: KD0AXS
I hear it's equipped with a transponder that always squawks 7700.
laugh.gif



The verbal annunciation, "Bomb Taiwan, Bomb Taiwan" triggered by easterly headings near the coast will be inhibited on export models.
39.gif
 
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