China’s first homemade C919 passenger airplane completes flight test
The first flight test of C919, the first large aircraft developed by China’s state-owned Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) was successfully completed.
During the flight of 3 hours and 2 minutes, the test pilot coordinated with the flight test engineer to complete the scheduled tasks, and the aircraft was in good condition and performance. At present, the data collection of the test flight and the preparation for the delivery of the C919 large aircraft are progressing in an orderly manner, said COMAC.
According to the Chinese specialized media, due to the large-scale use of advanced materials, the overall weight of C919 is reduced by about 7%. The global amount of composite materials is an important symbol for assessing the advanced nature of civil passenger aircraft.
On the “skin” of the C919, the amount of advanced composite materials is 12%, while it was only 1% on the smaller ARJ airliner. Also developed by COMAC, ARJ aircraft uses composite materials for non-load-bearing structures, while C919 uses them in load-bearing parts such as the rear section of the fuselage and the flat tail.
The Chinese media also said that C919 is considered as “a milestone in the field of materials in China”. According to them, the C919 large passenger aircraft is the first civil aircraft model in China to use T800 high-strength carbon fiber composite materials, which has higher strength and modulus, stronger toughness, and better impact resistance than the T300 carbon fiber.
