China's own big plane to fly in 2014

China's own big plane to fly in 2014

For the first time, the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China is at the six-day events and showing off Chinese developed airliner, the C-919. Sources say China's first jumbo jet will make its maiden flight in 2014, thanks to some key technical breakthroughs.

Sources say China's first jumbo jet will make its maiden flight in 2014,  thanks to some key technical breakthroughs.

Sources say the substantial progress has been made on aerodynamic and the head engineering prototype.

The prototype was delivered a month ago, and is being used for adjusting arrangement of the cockpit and the electronic equipment cabin.

The designer of the C-919 spoke of the plane's advantages.

Chen Yingchun, vice chief designer of Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China, said, "The head of the C919 adopts an arc windshield and has four windows. The design is good for reducing flight resistance and giving pilots a wider view to enhance security."

Subcontracting is being done through bidding to get quality suppliers within China and abroad.

Last December, China signed a cooperation letter of intent on the powerplant for the C-919 with the French company CFM.

Sources say the substantial progress has been made on aerodynamic and the  head engineering prototype.

Luo Ronghuai, vice general manager of Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China, said, "When the big plane project started, it attracted 300 to 400 Chinese companies to talk about cooperation with us and more than 100 famous overseas companies also travelled to our company. I remember a boss of a very famous company came by his special plane. When the plane was ready to leave, he said the plane could stay and he would rather stay to talk about cooperation with us. This is the charm of the development of our country."

Sources say the total investment on the big plane project will reach 200 billion yuan. The centers for assembly, customer service and research have already been set up. The C-919 is expected to make its maiden flight in 2014 and be ready for delivery 2016.