Quickie
Colonel
Development of domestic alternatives has always been ongoing. Also, in that article, CFM has said everything is as scheduled in the supply of the LEAP-1C engines for the C919.
Chinese Aviation Industry
- Thread starter FriedRiceNSpice
- Start date
Development of domestic alternatives has always been ongoing. Also, in that article, CFM has said everything is as scheduled in the supply of the LEAP-1C engines for the C919.
another victory for protectionism... in the aviation industry the west still has china by the balls. what china needs is its own air consortium to start imposing its own regulatory standards that affect market entry. that'll bring 'em down a few notches, maybe then these western firms will be more willing to cooperate
Pointblank
Senior Member
The question is, why should GKN and CFM/GE make a loss for the Chinese? The Chinese like to play by their own rules, including schedules. Why should CFM/GE employ a large number of individuals in an idle factory? If China wants the engine, they'll still buy them.
There is no business case, until the C919 is in production, for another engine factory. Coupled with the ongoing concern over IP theft (there are many closely guarded secrets in the aviation industry, especially around engines), companies are voting with their feet. If Pratt and Rolls Royce both refuse to do the same, what choice with the Chinese have if they want any kind of credibility? The Chinese aren't in the position to be making demands here, and if they can't lure these big three OEM's to China on the basis of lower production costs, they only have themselves to blame for past behaviour and business practices. This is when your past behaviour bites you in the rear.
Also, it's not just COMAC, it's the entire regulatory process in China that's broken as shown by the ARJ-21. Neither COMAC or the CAAC know how to certify an aircraft; the engineering justification, flight testing, and data analysis is a very complicated process, which in many respects is actually considerably more complicated than the actual design process. It's gotten to the point where the CAAC has pulled in outside experts to assist them from the US FAA to help the process. You also can't do certification process on the cheap for a new design of a large jet; Airbus for example will invest in and will be running 6 telemetry rooms concurrently for the A350 certification. Boeing has their own massive telemetry room and a van that they used for the 787 and 747-8 certification process, and also has a large backup facility if multiple tests and aircraft are being conducted at the same time.
Lets face the reality: C919 is just china´s learning step. The C919 project itself is/will be a disaster, but what matters is china learning how to build large passanger planes.
asif iqbal
Lieutenant General
To be honest the guys doing the certification and the guys getting certified are both new to this procedure so the delays
The orders are from state owned company's with government backing, so no need to worry about order cancellations
Just look at the Dreamliner issues, these things happen main thing is nothing is cancelled and no long term issues have raised
China needs to invest more and dig deeper to get this aircraft to get it back on track, better delays than compromise safetly
Anyhow ARJ-21 is now very close to certification, between them C919 and ARJ-21 have close to 700 units on order, that's huge
AssassinsMace
Lieutenant General
Yes, I was just remembering how the Dreamliner was suppose to be flying people to the Beijing Olympics.
Engineer
Major
Issues regarding intellectual property are only excuses. It is obvious from day one that the West is not going to assist in creating of a rival to Airbus and Boeing. So, western companies backing out of their "promises" shouldn't be surprising at all.
broadsword
Brigadier
MiG-29
Banned Idiot
The project is not doomed, the C919 is not a disaster.
fitting western equipment actually improves its odds of being sold abroad, in Mexico Sukhoi Superjet got sales thanks to its general performance and technology, it was chosen despite in that niche E-170 is more popular, If C919 has more western equipment many airliners will accept it easier, and its overall performance is good, it could give a good run for its money to other aircraft
[video=youtube;ZsWHhIhWIPU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsWHhIhWIPU[/video]
You can see here the first superjet in livery of interjet.
You do not need to be pesimist, competition is a natural thing, in civil aerospace is economic efficiency and safety what it counts.
C919 is not doomed, for Sukhoi having engines in partnership is helping in Mexican sales, C919 could do the same, because interjet chose Sukhoi not because it was russian but because it was the best for their needs.
C919 needs tof offer the same