TianjinUniversitycarriesoutoptimaldesignoftheC919airdistributionsystem.DREAM
After10yearsofdevelopment,China’s“jumbojetdream”hasfinallycometrue.
CHINAhaspatenteditsfirstcommercialpassengerjet,theC919.On-boardsystemshavebeeninstalledandstaticandintegratedsystemtestshavebeensatisfactorilycarriedout.TwotaxitestswerecompletedonFebruary28andMarch1.TheC919isexpectedtomakeitsmaidenflightlaterthisyear.
TheC919,designedbytheCommercialAircraftCorporationofChinaLtd.,isacommercialaircraftformediumandshorthaulflights.TheproductionoftheC919signifiesthatChinahasjoinedthesmallgroupofcountriescapableofmanufacturingcommercialaircraftsoutsidetheUnitedStatesandEurope.After10yearsofdevelopment,China’s“jumbojetdream”hasfinallycometrue.Thisdevelopmentprocesswasdeeplyrootedininternationaltechnologyexchange.Chinahasmovedfrombeingasubcontractormanufacturingcomponentstoakeyplayercapableofindependentlydesigningandproducingairplanes,therebychangingitsroleintheglobalaviationindustryandgraduallyacquiringcoretechnology.
CollaborativeInnovationinCoreTechnology
TheC919projectwasfinallyapproved10yearsago,butChinahasactuallybeendreamingofmakinglargeairplanesforthelast46years.
Chinadevelopeditsfirstlargepassengeraircraft,theY-10,in1970.Ithaditsmaidenvoyagein1980,buttheprojectwascanceledin1985.Atthattime,China’sweakindustrialbaseandpoortechnologycouldnotguaranteethesafetyoftheaircraft.Asaresult,theY-10wasnevercommerciallyproduced.
COMAC
COMACcreatedtheChinesejumbomodelinaprocessofcontinuousdevelopmentandtechnologicalexploration,restructuringtheindustry.
Inearly2007,Chinasetitselfthegoalofmakingitsownpassengerplanestocatchupwiththetwomajoraviationgiantsdominatingthemarket–BoeingintheU.S.andAirbusinEurope.TheCommercialAircraftCorporationofChinaLtd.(COMAC),foundedinMay2008,isamajorpartofthenation’slargejetprogram.Thenecessarybreakthroughsintechnologyandequipmentmanufacturing,however,couldnotbeachievedovernight.COMACcreatedtheChinesejumbomodelinaprocessofcontinuousde-velopmentandtechnologicalexploration,restructuringtheindustry.
COMACownstheC919patent,accordingtoChenYingchun,vicechiefdesigneroftheC919.Keyprocesseslikedesign,finalassembly,testflightsandsaleswereallcarriedoutwithCOMACatthecore.Chinaindependentlydesignedandtestedtheaerodynamicconfiguration,alsooverseeingaircraftdesign,performancetests,partsmanufacturingandsystemintegration:C919isliterally“MadeinChina.”
Wingsarenotonlythemajorloadbearersoftheoverallstructure,butalsothemostdifficultcomponentstomanufacture.WithnewlydevelopedChinesesupercriticalairfoiltechnology,theC919maintainsperformancelevelsevenwithtwometersofupturninthestatictest.Thefuelconsumptionoflargepassengerjetsisenormous.Inordertoachievefuel-efficiency,supercriticalairfoiltechnologywasemployed,increasingaerodynamicefficiencyby20percentandreducingdragby8percent.
ThesupercriticalairfoilusedontheC919modelwasdevelopedbytheAviationIndustryCorporationofChina(AICC).However,onecrucialtechnologicalfeatureinthemanufactureofairplanewings–shotpeeningonlargeintegralwingpanels–hadlongbeenaforeignmonopoly,whichrestrictedthedevelopmentoflargeairplanesinChina.Aftermuchresearchandsystematicexperiments,AICCfinallymasteredsupercriticalairfoiltechnologyandappliedforapatent.Itthuscircumventedtheforeignmonopolyandbecameoneofthefewcompaniesintheworldwithintellectualrightstothetechnology.
ThisepitomizesthenatureofthetechnologicalresearchinvolvedinC919development.Westerncountriescontinuetoleadthewayindevelopinglargepassengeraircraftandareveteransontheinternationalmarket,whileChinastillfacestechnicalobstacles.COMACfocusedondeveloping102keytechnologiesduringC919production,notonlyachievingbreakthroughsinnewmaterials,modernmanufacturingandadvancedpower,butalsopromotingthedevelopmentofmechanics,computationalmathematicsandothercoresubjectsinChina.Asaresult,thecountry’stechnologydiffusionratiohasincreasedto60percent.
AnInternationalIndustryChaininAircraftManufacturing
TheC919’sdimensionsareverysimilartothoseoftheBoeing737andAirbusA320.Fuselagelengthis38.9meters,wingspan35.8meters,andheight12meters.Therearetwomodels.Thestandardversionhasarangeof2,200nauticalmiles(NM).Theothermodelhasanextendedrangeof3,000NM.Itcancruiseatamaximumaltitudeof35,000feet.Comparedwithsimilarmodelsonthemarket,theC919haslargerpassengercapacityandlowerfuelconsumption.
BeforeitstartedtodeveloptheC919,Chinawasalreadyanimportantsupplierofglobalaircraftcomponents.Currently,morethan8,000BoeingairplanescurrentlyinservicesportcomponentsmadeinChina.AirbushasfounditmucheasiertoinstallthesecomponentssincethecompanysetupafinalassemblylineinTianjinin2008.
TheseChinesesupplierswerethereforethenaturalchoiceofairframesuppliersfortheC919whenChinalauncheditscommercialairplaneinitiative.AICC,supercriticalairfoilsupplierfortheC919,manufactureswingsfortheAirbusA320andhasmanufacturedtailfinsformorethan3,000newBoeing737s.TheAVICSACCommercialAircraftCompanyLtd.,responsibleforproducingC919tailfins,istheexclusivesupplierofthetailfinsforBoeing787s.
Globalsourcingandcollaborationisanunstoppabletrendintheaviationindustry.HomegrowncommercialairplanesaredesignedinChinaandcompletetheirfinalassemblyhere,butallessentialcomponentsaresourcedthroughinternationalbidding,increasingtheproductioncapacityofdomesticenterpriseswithaninjectionofnewtechnology.
Afterthebidding,GE,Honeywell,CFMand13otherinternationalcompanieswerechosenassuppliersoftheC919’sonboardsystems.Duringthisprocess,Chinapromotedcooperationbetweenglobalsuppliersanddomesticcompanies,establishing16jointventuresintheareasofavionics,flightcontrol,powersupply,fuel,landinggearandotherairplanesystems.
SuchcooperationhasencouragedmoreChineseaviationcompaniestoparticipateincoredevelopmentareas.ChinaplayedapartinkeyareasoftheC919project,suchasavionics,flightcontrolandenginetechnology.ThefuselageandaerodynamicconfigurationwasmostlycompletedbyAICCandCOMAC.Landinggear,auxiliarypower,thehydraulicsandpowersupplysystemswerejointlymanufacturedbyAICCanditsforeignpartners.
ProductionoftheC919highlightstheabundantresourcestobefoundinChina.Twenty-twoprovinc-esandmunicipalitiesandover200companieswereinvolvedinthedevelopmentofthejumbojet,aswellas16materialssuppliers,and54partssuppliersandfinancialinstitutionsprovidingfinancialservicesandleasingcooperation.IndustrialaviationparkswerebuiltinShanxi,JiangsuandHunan,wherehundredsofthousandsofworkerswereemployedinthemanufactureofthejumbojet.
China’sfirstdomesticallydesignedandproducedregionaljetARJ21preparesfortakeofffromShanghaitoChengduwhereitwilljointheChengduAirlinesfleetonNovember29,2015.
ThemodelsofC919andARJ21ondisplayattheSouthAfrica-Chinahi-TechExhibitioninJohannesburgonOctober13,2016.InorderforChinesecommercialaircrafttomeetglobalrequirements,Chinahasbeenworkingonestablishinganinternationalstandardsafetysystemforthecommercialaviationindustry.
EnteringtheGlobalArena
Strictinspectiontomeetinternationalstandardsisrequiredbeforethenewairplaneformallyentersthemarket.
OneoftheremaininghurdlesforChinaisobtainingamarketentrycertificateforitslargecommercialpassengerairplane.TogettheStandardAirworthinessCertificate,allairplanesmustbetestedinaccordancewiththeinternationalaviationsafetystandardsystem,eitherbytheU.S.FederalAviationAdministrationortheEuropeanAviationSafetyAgency.Jumbojetsarenotpermittedtoflyoverforeignter-ritorieswithoutthecertificate.C919iscurrentlyundergoingteststoverifyitssafety.
ChinahassignedbilateralairworthinessagreementswiththeU.S.andafewothercountries.TwentyMA60airplaneshavebeensoldtosevenforeigncountries,includingtheCongo.Ninety-fiveY12airplaneshavebeensoldto20countries,includingUganda.TheapprovalofthesemodelspromptedChineseaviationproductstoentertheinternationalmarket.
TheARJ21regionaljet,developedbyCOMAC,passedtheCivilAviationAdministrationofChinainspectionandwasstrictlyreviewedbytheFAApriortothedevelopmentoftheC919.ChengduAirlinesCo.,Ltd.usedtheARJ21commerciallyforthefirsttimein2015.
WuJian,wholedtheARJ21reviewteam,isformervicedirectorofCAACEastChinaRegionalAdministration.HesaidthatthetimeneededfortheC919toacquiretheairworthinesscertificateshouldbegreatlyreducedafterthetoughinquiriesmadebytheARJ21project.Ittook12yearsfortheregionaljettoqualifyforcommercialaviationtransport.
InorderforChinesecommercialaircrafttomeetglobalrequirements,Chinahasbeenworkingonestablishinganinternationalstandardsafetysystemforthecommercialaviationindustry,butitwillbesometimeyetbeforeChinacatchesupwithitsWesterncounterparts.ThecurrentairworthinesssystemintheU.S.andEuropewassetupoverfivedecadesagoandiscontinuouslybeingimproved.Westerncountries,withtheirwealthoftalentandexperience,haveprogressedbothintermsofsafetyandaircraftmanufacturingcapacity.Incontrast,theairworthinesssysteminChinaisinitsinfancyandneedstobefurtherdeveloped.
ThereisstillalongwaytogobeforetheC919cancompetewithBoeingandAirbus.AccordingtotheExecutiveEditorofAerospaceKnowledgeWangYanan,theC919modelusedintestflightswasthestandardversionanditisimportanttoproduceanimprovedandupgradedmodelinaccordancewiththeinternationalaviationdevelopmentprocess.Thestandardmodelisstillfarfrombeingasuccessontheinternationalmarket.AfteritfirstrolledouttheA320,itwas20yearsbeforeAirbusfinallystartedmakingaprofit.
COMAChasreceived570ordersfortheC919from23customersincludingdomesticairlineslikeAirChinaandinternationalclientssuchasGECAS.COMAChasnotyetconfirmedthepriceoftheC919butitisexpectedtobeunderUS$50million.Similarmodels–theBoeing737andtheAirbusA320–costUS$50-80million.
TheC919isalreadypreparingforitsmaidenflight.ThisyearwillbemilestoneforcommercialaviationinChina.InadditiontotheC919launch,COMACwillcommencedevelopmentofawide-bodyaircraft,andaimstoachieveunitproductionofthenewregionaljetARJ21.Chinaisonthecuspofa“MadeinChina”eraforcommercialaircraft.