Chinese Aviation Industry

A RX1E-A two-seat aircraft carries out its first flight at Beijing Badaling Airport in Yanqing district, Beijing, Sept 23, 2024. [Photo by Zou Hong/chinadaily.com.cn]

A two-seat electric aircraft, RX1E-A, independently developed by China, carried out its first flight at Badaling Airport in Beijing on Monday, injecting fresh vitality into the city's low-altitude economy, CCTV News reported.

The RX1E-A type, an advanced version of the country's first electric plane, made its maiden flight in 2017 in Shenyang, Liaoning province. It is mainly used for pilot flight training and experience flights. Since obtaining the type certificate issued by the Civil Aviation Administration of China in 2018 and production certificate in the following year, it has accumulated over 10,000 hours of safe flight.

Equipped with an optional whole-aircraft parachute system, the RX1E-A boasts a flight endurance of 150 minutes and a maximum range of 240 kilometers, highlighting its strong safety performance.



People take photos of the two-seat electric aircraft RX1E-A at Beijing Badaling Airport in Yanqing district, Beijing, Sept 23, 2024. [Photo by Zou Hong/chinadaily.com.cn]



A pilot checks the two-seat aircraft RX1E-A for its first flight at Beijing Badaling Airport in Yanqing district, Beijing, Sept 23, 2024. [Photo by Zou Hong/chinadaily.com.cn]



A crew member checks the battery of the two-seat aircraft RX1E-A before flight at Beijing Badaling Airport in Yanqing district, Beijing, Sept 23, 2024. [Photo by Zou Hong/chinadaily.com.cn]

bd popeye said:

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A RX1E-A two-seat aircraft carries out its first flight at Beijing Badaling Airport in Yanqing district, Beijing, Sept 23, 2024. [Photo by Zou Hong/chinadaily.com.cn]

A two-seat electric aircraft, RX1E-A, independently developed by China, carried out its first flight at Badaling Airport in Beijing on Monday, injecting fresh vitality into the city's low-altitude economy, CCTV News reported.

The RX1E-A type, an advanced version of the country's first electric plane, made its maiden flight in 2017 in Shenyang, Liaoning province. It is mainly used for pilot flight training and experience flights. Since obtaining the type certificate issued by the Civil Aviation Administration of China in 2018 and production certificate in the following year, it has accumulated over 10,000 hours of safe flight.

Equipped with an optional whole-aircraft parachute system, the RX1E-A boasts a flight endurance of 150 minutes and a maximum range of 240 kilometers, highlighting its strong safety performance.

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People take photos of the two-seat electric aircraft RX1E-A at Beijing Badaling Airport in Yanqing district, Beijing, Sept 23, 2024. [Photo by Zou Hong/chinadaily.com.cn]

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A pilot checks the two-seat aircraft RX1E-A for its first flight at Beijing Badaling Airport in Yanqing district, Beijing, Sept 23, 2024. [Photo by Zou Hong/chinadaily.com.cn]

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A crew member checks the battery of the two-seat aircraft RX1E-A before flight at Beijing Badaling Airport in Yanqing district, Beijing, Sept 23, 2024. [Photo by Zou Hong/chinadaily.com.cn]

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Damn I had no idea electric planes were that advanced already. 2.5 hours endurance is really good

Not hard to imagine after a couple years of battery advancements we'll have planes that have 5-6 hour endurance. That's perfectly usable for many cases

sndef888 said:

Damn I had no idea electric planes were that advanced already. 2.5 hours endurance is really good

Not hard to imagine after a couple years of battery advancements we'll have planes that have 5-6 hour endurance. That's perfectly usable for many cases

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I don’t know what the appeal of this is over EVTOL, some of which could carry more load and have longer duration.

story right now is that the new CATL battery will allow electric aircraft that can fly 2000-3000 km. It's unclear to me if that will be eVTOL or the conventional plane. But there is plenty of growth in this industry.

My guess is that eVTOL is probably less efficient than electric driven propeller going forward, but it has the added advantage of taking off and landing anywhere. So for air taxis, you'd want to use eVTOL. They are just helicopters really. For longer ranged flight, you probably don't want to use them.

I wonder if you can put some ultra thin blade battery in the wings of the electric aircraft. You can't do battery swapping with that, but it would add to the range. Theoretically speaking, you can also put solar panels on them, lol

bd popeye said:

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A RX1E-A two-seat aircraft carries out its first flight at Beijing Badaling Airport in Yanqing district, Beijing, Sept 23, 2024. [Photo by Zou Hong/chinadaily.com.cn]

A two-seat electric aircraft, RX1E-A, independently developed by China, carried out its first flight at Badaling Airport in Beijing on Monday, injecting fresh vitality into the city's low-altitude economy, CCTV News reported.

The RX1E-A type, an advanced version of the country's first electric plane, made its maiden flight in 2017 in Shenyang, Liaoning province. It is mainly used for pilot flight training and experience flights. Since obtaining the type certificate issued by the Civil Aviation Administration of China in 2018 and production certificate in the following year, it has accumulated over 10,000 hours of safe flight.

Equipped with an optional whole-aircraft parachute system, the RX1E-A boasts a flight endurance of 150 minutes and a maximum range of 240 kilometers, highlighting its strong safety performance.

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People take photos of the two-seat electric aircraft RX1E-A at Beijing Badaling Airport in Yanqing district, Beijing, Sept 23, 2024. [Photo by Zou Hong/chinadaily.com.cn]

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A pilot checks the two-seat aircraft RX1E-A for its first flight at Beijing Badaling Airport in Yanqing district, Beijing, Sept 23, 2024. [Photo by Zou Hong/chinadaily.com.cn]

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A crew member checks the battery of the two-seat aircraft RX1E-A before flight at Beijing Badaling Airport in Yanqing district, Beijing, Sept 23, 2024. [Photo by Zou Hong/chinadaily.com.cn]

Click to expand...

150 minutes is incredible! The Velis Electro is only 50 minutes.

My update on ARJ-21 program. it has really come a long way in the past 5 years.

I could not find a thread for civilian helicopters..so..I'll post this here;





A helicopter is prepared ahead of the inaugural flight of the first helicopter route from Sanya of south China's Hainan Province to Zhanjiang of south China's Guangdong Province, in Sanya, Sept. 29, 2024. The first helicopter route from Sanya to Zhanjiang successfully made its inaugural flight on Sunday. Operated by China Southern Airlines, the route is expected to have a flight duration of 60 minutes. (All photos by Xinhua/Pu Xiaoxu)



Staff members prepare for the inaugural flight of the first helicopter route from Sanya of south China's Hainan Province to Zhanjiang of south China's Guangdong Province, in Sanya, Sept. 29, 2024.



A staff member refuels a helicopter ahead of the inaugural flight of the first helicopter route from Sanya of south China's Hainan Province to Zhanjiang of south China's Guangdong Province, in Sanya, Sept. 29, 2024.



A helicopter takes off for the inaugural flight of the first helicopter route from Sanya of south China's Hainan Province to Zhanjiang of south China's Guangdong Province, in Sanya, Sept. 29, 2024.



Passengers board a helicopter for the inaugural flight of the first helicopter route from Sanya of south China's Hainan Province to Zhanjiang of south China's Guangdong Province, in Sanya, Sept. 29, 2024.



A helicopter prepares to take off for the inaugural flight of the first helicopter route from Sanya of south China's Hainan Province to Zhanjiang of south China's Guangdong Province, in Sanya, Sept. 29, 2024.



A helicopter takes off for the inaugural flight of the first helicopter route from Sanya of south China's Hainan Province to Zhanjiang of south China's Guangdong Province, in Sanya, Sept. 29, 2024.

by78 said:

An aerostat hangar.

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Here's a Google Earth image of possible the same hangar.

THX 1138 said:

When it comes to military aircraft, I feel like a lot of countries are only using China to leverage better terms for arms deals with the U.S.

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That is the initial motive. But after some friendly exchange the interest could grow.

How do you make friend? Do you see a guy and start with "yep he is my best buddy for life". Nobody does that.
You start with "I want a guy to copy homework with" and then turns out he is chill you go "I could have a drinking buddy this Friday", eventually "I need someone to take care of my kid while I am out tonight", then finally you go "I can trust my life to my best buddy".

Relying on a country to supply for air force kind of trusting your life to a country.

Xian AC now built 3rd production line for A320 wing box, up to 9 per month.

Airbus and Boeing actually really helped in building up quality of Chinese aerospace industry and China really successfully leveraged its market to push those two to use AVIC companies to do so.