China’s house- grown C929 widebody customer aircraft has entered” a critical stage” of its development process, according to its manufacturer, amid Beijing’s ongoing efforts for a solid presence in the aviation industry.
Zhang Xiaoguang, director of marketing for Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China ( COMAC ), stated at a science and technology innovation conference in Shanghai on Tuesday that “it’s a crucial stage in the development process, which indicates the overall technical scheme of the aircraft has been determined.
He continued, adding that it would then be followed by the design and production of systems and components.
The release was made in response to ongoing rumors since last year that Russia had abandoned its association with COMAC in order to create the widebody aircraft, which was formerly known as the CR929.
A joint venture between COMAC and Russian aerospace and defense firm United Aircraft Corporation was established in Shanghai in 2017 to concentrate on the construction of the CR929.
Without giving specifics about the specific projects or businesses involved, China and Russia announced in December that they would “actively market participation jobs in the joint development of long-range widebody passenger plane and large planes.”
The C929 had had around 280- 400 chairs and a range of 12, 000km, according to COMAC.
The C929 would include more than 50 % of carbon fiber composite materials and 15 % of metal alloys, according to Li Dongsheng, COMAC’s chief architect of composite materials, according to Li Dongsheng, the Hangzhou-based Dushikuaibao news last month.
Li added that the metal alloys content marked a significant increase over the approximately 10 % found in conventional narrowbody plane, aligning with the requirements of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Airbus A350, and was also higher than the 12 % found in its C919 narrowbody passenger flight.