Chinese-Made Large Passenger Aircraft C919 Plans Maiden Flight in First Half

After facing several delays in its manufacturing, China's state-owned aerospace manufacturer Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) is all set to make maiden test flight of its narrow-body aircraft C919 in the first half of this year, the People's Daily reported Monday.


The Shanghai-based airframer has almost completed the onboard systems installation as well as major static and system integration tests since it was built on Nov. 2, 2015.


"COMAC is working round the clock, the February target is challenging but realistic... major experiments before the debut flight had already been completed."


The static test simulates the pressure of flight on the aircraft.


"We tested the whole aircraft, its key components and connecting parts," said Li Qiang, an expert at the Design and Research Center of COMAC.


In early November, COMAC ran the CFM International Leap-1C engines on the C919 for the first time. The engine was also certificated by the European Aviation Safety Agency and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration last week.


On December 25, 2016, the C919 prototype was moved to the trial flight center.

The aircraft 101 conducted its first low-speed taxi test on December 28, and that the jet has reached a state where it is fully preparing for its first flight.


Meanwhile, the wide-body aircraft project between COMAC and UAC will start early this year.Jianzhong SHI, Vice President of COMAC and Chief Commander of wide body aircraft project , will share the experience of C919 first flight test and the progress of wide-body aircraft project as the Chairman on “Civil Aircraft Industry International Forum 2017” which is hosted by Chinese Society of Aeronautics and Astronautics and held on May 10th -11th, 2017 in Shanghai China.


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News Source:Aviation Daily