On December 26th, the world’s first large domestic C919 aircraft will start its 100-hour verification flight. After the successful completion of the verification flight, the first C919 is expected to meet the requirements of the Civil Aviation Administration as early as the spring of 2023 and put into commercial passenger operation.
As a new generation of large aircraft independently developed by China, what tests has C919 experienced? When can I take it?
Project establishment → First flight → pay
The "big plane dream" is gradually realized
In 2007, a major special project for large aircraft was formally established. After many years, step by step, the "big plane dream" is gradually realized.
It is expected to break the market monopoly pattern.
For a long time, the global civil large passenger aircraft market has been monopolized by Boeing and Airbus. With the delivery of C919, the monopoly pattern of the global civil large passenger aircraft market is expected to be broken.
Wu Guanghui, chief designer of C919, said, "It is estimated that in the next two decades, the number of aircraft in China will double, and the number of aircraft in the world will probably double. In this incremental case, it can fully accommodate our third and fourth markets. The market is win-win cooperation, and our customers need more choices. "
△ On November 8, 2022, in Zhuhai, Guangdong, C919 appeared at Zhuhai Air Show and performed an air show.
On November 8th, C919 made its first flight show at the 14th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition. This wonderful appearance also ushered in an order for 300 aircraft. As of December 12th, C919 has won 1176 orders from 28 customers at home and abroad.
Explore the road of independent innovation
Large aircraft is the symbol of high-end manufacturing industry, and the industrial chain involves nearly 300,000 industrial personnel from more than 1,000 domestic enterprises, universities and research institutes.
The research and development of C919 has achieved 163 key technological breakthroughs. With the use of many new technologies and materials, C919 is expected to lead the rise of domestic high-end manufacturing industry after commercial delivery.
△ Aircraft landing gear requires extremely high material strength and toughness, leading the industrial development of ultra-high strength steel.
In terms of shape design, unlike the six windshields of traditional aircraft, the C919 only uses four windshields and adopts curved surface design. This can provide a broader vision for the pilot, and smoother nose lines can help the aircraft reduce air resistance and make the aircraft more fuel efficient.
Moreover, the C919 is equipped with the supercritical airfoil independently developed for the first time in China, which can effectively reduce the flight resistance compared with the traditional airfoil.
The key core technology "can’t come, can’t get it, can’t buy it". The successful development of C919 has explored the development path of China design, system integration, global bidding and upgrading localization. Independent innovation makes us more confident!
15 years to overcome difficulties and achieve national success.
Behind the blue sky of C919, the R&D team has experienced many tests.
Race against time! They implement the "611" and "724" working modes.
Since 2008, Wu Guanghui, the chief designer of C919, has led the team to race against time from scratch. He took the lead in implementing the working modes of "611" and "724": "611" means working 6 days a week and 11 hours a day; "724" refers to working 7 days a week and 24 hours a day during the critical period of tackling key problems.
Working hard day after day, the staff provided a solid guarantee for the independent innovation and research of China’s large aircraft and the safe flight of the C919.
The young team independently tackled the C919 and had the "China brain".
During his 14 years as chief designer of C919, Wu Guanghui led the team to overcome more than 100 key technical problems, among which flight control law is one of the most difficult projects.
The flight control law is equivalent to the "brain" of the aircraft, which fundamentally determines the degree of control of the flight process and helps pilots to operate the aircraft.
Zheng Xiaohui, head of the control law research team, said that in the early stage of research and development, the team was composed of young members with an average age of only 30 years old. They resisted the pressure and faced the difficulties.
Ten years later, the control law has finally changed from technical indicators and three-dimensional drawings to a complete system, and the C919 has the "China brain".
After five years of flight test, C919 was qualified for delivery.
Type certificate, production license and single-machine airworthiness certificate are required for the delivery of an aircraft. At present, C919 has obtained three certificates issued by the Civil Aviation Administration of China.
C919 has been tested and tested for five years from its first flight to delivery.
It needs to explore the risks of the new aircraft during the flight test, find out the performance limit of the aircraft under special conditions or conditions, and determine the boundary "red line" for safe flight.
For example, pilots need to fly in high-risk subjects such as stall and minimum ground speed. If they are not careful, the consequences will be unimaginable. This test flight verification is also called "dancing on the tip of a knife".
Take advantage of the wind and flap your wings in the blue sky.
Looking forward to the domestic large aircraft C919
Verify that the flight trip was a complete success!
Producer Tang Yi
Producer Wu Huifeng Wang Shuo
Planning Wang Danni
Editor Yan Jun
