After years of delay, China’s first mid-range truck has finally been certified

Cumulative delays tarnished the aura of the C919, the first medium-range aircraft developed by China, but the plane will finally welcome passengers in 2023. The single-aisle plane from Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) received its certification. On the 29th of September.

At the end of July, I completed the six devices used in these tests elephant walking, a staged presentation to celebrate the end of the test flights. But for the company, this first step in adopting the C919, which is designed to carry 158 passengers over 4,075 kilometers, is too late to be successfully achieved.

This delay of more than five years, between the first flight and the possibility of commercializing the device, underscores the industrial difficulties that have been leaked to the media in recent years. Meanwhile, Airbus won major contracts in China.

I stayed on the ground for several months

The history of the certificate owes nothing to chance: it was necessary for this strategic project to obtain a blank check from management 20 years ago.^e The Communist Party Congress, which begins on October 16, and must especially confirm President Xi Jinping at the head of the country for another five years.

The day after the event, COMAC leaders also received encouragement from the Chinese president, during an exhibition about C919 presented at the People’s Palace in Beijing. The development of the first large passenger aircraft is The will of the homeland, the dream of the homeland and the aspirations of the peopleThe Chinese leader said, according to the New China Agency. “ [Le président] He stressed the need to improve the large-scale development of commercial aircraft, move forward with the establishment of a strong industrial country, spare no effort to make China a modern socialist country in all respects, and realize the dream of national rejuvenation”And the state agency says.

When the project was launched in 2008, the aircraft manufacturer was dependent on certification in 2014. An ambitious target in a developing field where China lacks expertise. After a few years of preparation, the C919’s first flight finally took place in great fanfare in 2017.

But single aisle wasn’t at the end of its problems: As of 2018, prototypes have been kept on the ground for several months, making major modifications, notably the engine boost and sweeper (which accommodates the engine), after several modes. Reuters reported in 2020, that the necessary adjustments due to arithmetic errors on the forces that will be made on the device.

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