From HenriK 5th J20 start flying. production rate of 1J-20 every month and half
A new photo recently posted on a Chinese forum shows a
J-20 yellow paint flying. According to its author, it is the "13th J-20", without giving further explanations.
Rumors have been raging since, many believe that the 13th series aircraft is out of the assembly line in Chengdu and is already in flight.
This statement, although very "sexy", is however little credible given the rate of production observed so far. The most plausible explanation is that this is the 13th J-20 since the start of the program, in other words, since the first technology demonstrator flew for the first time on January 11, 2011.
This J-20 would thus be the 13th aircraft (in flight) of the 718 program, but simply the 5th aircraft of series production, after the two technological demonstrators and the six prototypes.
The 13th J-20 fighter jet in flight (Source: 背心 背心)
And we can reasonably think that this picture would not have been taken very recently.Indeed, the other spotters of Chengdu had indicated at the end of May last year that "the 5th of series is out of assembly line", and so it is exactly the same camera that we have on the picture.
Assuming that this fifth aircraft is out of the chain at the end of May 2016, and based on the duration of the six J-20 prototypes between their first flight and the date of delivery to the test center, Flight, which is 112 days (~ 4 months) on average, it seems excessively long that a series or pre-series aircraft takes more than 4 months to prepare for the ground before the first flight, Delivered today.
Be that as it may, we can be certain that at least four J-20s of series have been photographed with a registration, ranging from 78271 to 78274. This new bird in yellow should therefore receive the official registration 78275.
The J-20, registered 78271, the first series aircraft having been delivered to the Chinese Air Force (Source: 中保镖 保镖)
The second J-20 series delivered to the Chinese Air Force, registered 78272 (Source: 背心 背心)
The J-20 registered 78274 (Source: 娃 娃)
The fact that the 5th J-20 series is in flight - 13th overall - suggests that the production of this unique Chinese Very Low Observable (VLO) aircraft is going well.
, which would allow the Chinese Air Force to equip at least one new regiment and position the front line, on the east coast of China.
To be continued.
Henri K.