China’s first homegrown commercial aircraft

As an aerospace engineer myself, I can tell you first hand, that building a commercial airplane (airliner) is not a stroll in the park. It is difficult. Moreover, the human costs of a serious mishap in the operation of an airliner can have a serious consequence, immediately for the government and the families of those […]

As an aerospace engineer myself, I can tell you first hand, that building a commercial airplane (airliner) is not a stroll in the park. It is difficult. Moreover, the human costs of a serious mishap in the operation of an airliner can have a serious consequence, immediately for the government and the families of those involved in a crash, and for generations of these direct victims. You need to tread very carefully when you attempt to build commercial airplanes. Manufacturing satellites that orbit the earth, or similar machines, is, in a sense, a child’s play, compared to building a commercial jetliner.
The foregoing partly explains why China and many other developing countries have not been able to build and fly their own homegrown commercial airplanes. Other factors that contribute to the delay in China’s ability to build an airliner include the understandable obsession by the Chinese government with getting it right the first time.
Aerospace projects – be it civilian or military, tend to be highly protected by the inventors, and the very strict export control laws that are in force in developed countries, limit accessibility of others to the technologies. There are obviously political, military, as well as economic reasons for wanting to be tight-fisted with aerospace technology. You can now understand why countries like the U.S. have deployed commercial jets as far back as more than 60 years ago, whereas China is still trying to build its first in 2015, with projected deployment in 2018.
As you can imagine, it is not for lack of trying on the part of China. In fact, building a commercial airliner has been a priority of the Chinese government for at least 40 years. Something I can tell you for sure is this: When it comes to aerospace technology, China has no friends! That is, no company or country wants to help China develop its aerospace technology – not even China’s friend, Russia. With China’s huge population – over 1.3 billion people – and the burgeoning middle class, with the money to fly – no country or aerospace company can afford to willingly cede that humongous business opportunity in China to anyone – especially to aspiring Chinese competitors. Another thing to note: Unlike many developing nations whose citizens tend to prefer imported things, the average Chinese is highly patriotic, preferring local brands, even when they are not necessarily the best. This disposition is not good for international businesses that want to do business in China, and it should bother them.
And it does. With the impending success of COMAC (the Chinese-government-owned Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China Limited) in building the C919, the 168-passenger jetliner, Boeing (U.S.) and Airbus (Europe), hitherto the incumbents in world commercial aircraft manufacturing, have a lot to worry about. The C919 is now scheduled to enter into service in 2018, after several delays – of course. In particular, the C919, which is “single-aisled” and “twin-engined,” will take on the famous Boeing 737 and Airbus 320 jetliners. In fact, it has been reported that more than 450 orders have already been placed for C919 by 18 airline companies worldwide. These are businesses that might have gone to Boeing and/or Airbus.
How about some specs for C919 versus Boeing 737? Wingspan – or the length of the wing (35.4 meters, 35.8 meters), cruise speed (903 km (564 miles) per hour, 879 km (550 miles) per hour), maximum altitude (12.1 km, 12.5 km), number of passengers (168, 210). So the two vehicles are neck-to-neck in these specs. Moreover, the C919 may cost significantly less, in China’s aggressiveness to enter the market.
China has also been dabbling into other aspects of aircraft manufacturing – the least of which is not the building of a regional airliner, the ARJ21-700 Jet. It is the plan to put this jet into service in November of this year, according to COMAC, who is also the manufacturer. The jet boasts of a capacious cabin, with 8 deluxe seats and 70 Economy Class seats. Another Chinese company, Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) has built a 19-seat turboprop, helicopter basically, called Y-12. Ironically, an American company has actually placed 20 orders for this vehicle, making it the first time in history that any Chinese-made planes will enter the U.S. market, even though no Chinese-made cars have been able to do so perhaps because of the U.S.’s inordinately high standards.
This demonstrates that China is achieving quite a lot in its efforts to compete in aerospace. I know this for sure, since my own daughter, who is also an aerospace engineer like me, is an aircraft designer and analyst for a Chinese-government owned business-jet company in the U.S. The company was originally an American company, but it got into financial problems, and, not finding a savior in the U.S., looked out east for redemption, which it found in China!
In concluding, I can only say congrats to China for the C919 prospect. I am confident that China will exercise some modesty in the early years of deploying C919, to enhance the chances of success as COMAC joins the extremely selective class of commercial aviation manufacturers. That is, COMAC should not be too aggressive in marketing the C919 in the first few years of launching. In particular, many developing countries – especially in Africa, some of whom might want to place orders for C919, may not have the expertise or rectitude to assess the situation very well before making a commitment. Unfortunately for China, in aviation, experience in the air is what counts, and this takes decades. Remember that the much technologically simpler Y-12 plane has crashed numerous times outside China. In the aerospace business, there is probably nothing as reliable in the air as a time-tested vehicle!