Chapter 263 - 257: Ballot_1

"The C822 main wing spar was successfully prototyped at Plant 132, fully meeting operational requirements."

"Chief Designer of C822: The maiden flight of the domestic regional jet will take place no later than December 2017."

Southwest Commercial Aviation Company, which is COMAC, had been established for over half a year, but so far the Yizhou Manufacturing Base has only completed its foundation, with no production capability whatsoever.

The production base of COMAC is huge, and even with strong government support, it would take at least three years to be fully operational.

As a super production base built to compete directly with Boeing and Airbus, it was unquestionable that it could produce hundreds of passenger jets annually, a capability that far exceeded military aircraft production.

The development work for the C822 and C832 jets was essentially completed by Institute 611 and New Yuan jointly, with only the final assembly taking place at the Yizhou Manufacturing Base, nominally launching the two jets. However, mass production at the Yizhou base would not happen until the end of 2018.

Aircraft development is very different from military aircraft. Besides technical factors, the focus of design is more on reliability and economy, ultimately for the sake of cost reduction, to significantly ease the pressure on airlines.

Since the Middle East conflicts, oil prices have been rising year after year, leaving airlines with increasingly narrow profit margins, hence the pursuit of better fuel economy in passenger jets is also escalating.

The new generation of jets must be more fuel-efficient, easier to maintain, and safer, with far more factors to consider than military aircraft.

Institute 611 obviously lacked experience in passenger jet development; their R&D teams for the two types of jets also included personnel from Honda Aviation and COMAC (that’s right).

But the main design work was still carried out by New Yuan, relying heavily on the System Research Institute to meet these requirements much more easily, thus holding a dominant position.

Manufacturing, on the other hand, was a minor issue. The initial prototyping was a political project; real mass production for cost reduction was the responsibility of the Yizhou Manufacturing Base, and a slightly higher budget for the first few Super Ones was acceptable.

Now, the basic design work for the C822 and C832 was almost completed, and the ground static test aircraft had entered the manufacturing phase.

Such progress was simply incredible in the eyes of some people,

such as COMAC.

At Modu City Pudong Airport, the project leader of COMAC’s C919, Li Jing, personally welcomed the Rockwell Collins executive, McPherson.

The latter, accompanied by seven or eight technical staff, got into the sedan that had driven into the airport, lowered the car window to take a look at the brightly lit runway, and said eloquently in Mandarin,

"Li, in a few days, the C919 will make its maiden flight here. Congratulations, you now have your own domestic jumbo jet."

"Heh..."

Li Jing didn’t know what to say and felt somewhat awkward. There had been domestic jumbo jets before; the Y-10 was still on display at a museum.

Rockwell Collins, General Electric, and Safran were providers of the avionics and engines for the C919 and were some of the most important partners.

Due to the government’s renewed investment in a completely domestic commercial jet program with the establishment of Southwest Commercial Aviation and the strong technical support from New Yuan, the C919 unexpectedly and smoothly received cooperation and support from foreign manufacturers.

CFM International, a joint venture of America’s General Electric and France’s Safran, provided the Leap-X1C turbofan engine for the C919, which was finalized in 2009.

Domestic alternatives still in development but close to success were the WS-20 and Russia’s RD-14, though in terms of economy, neither matched the Leap-X1C.

Whether it was engines or avionics, the majority were controlled by America, with a small portion in cooperation with France. Hence, the path for the C919 was extraordinarily difficult.

In the original timeline, the C919 had its maiden flight in May 2017, but due to the delay in finalizing a stable supply contract and the issuance of related certifications, it was only in 2022, five years after the first flight, that it could begin commercial operations, not to mention the complications that ensued.

But at the beginning of the year, COMAC suddenly made its debut, and along with the AN-1250’s display of formidable technical prowess, foreign suppliers became more anxious than COMAC itself, urging the latter to hasten the C919’s maiden flight.

Li Jing naturally knew these manufacturers had ulterior motives, aiming to sideline domestic production through joint ventures, but after nearly ten years of working for the C919, how could he resist such temptation?

Technologically, the C919 was not a particularly challenging model, especially with key subsystems provided by foreign suppliers as mature solutions. This directly advanced the first flight by half a year.

The C919 was scheduled for a maiden flight on November 5, and today was November 2. A minor issue had been discovered in the avionics system, and Rockwell Collins immediately sent a technical team to resolve it, an efficiency that would have been unthinkable in the past.

CFM International also agreed with COMAC that as long as the C919 received orders, there would be no restrictions on the supply of parts. They could even sell 40 engines in advance to COMAC for their peace of mind.

Such favorable conditions were hard to imagine, but the more Li Jing thought about it, the more unsettled he felt because, according to the negotiations between COMAC and these suppliers, the C919’s biggest competitor was not the Boeing 737 or the Airbus A320, but its own kindred C822.

They had calculated that the fully indigenous C822 and C832 could not achieve the same low costs by using mature subsystems like the C919, so their strategy was to start a price war from the get-go, aiming to strangle the C822. Even if that was not feasible, they sought to force COMAC to sell very few.

If they couldn’t gain a cost advantage, orders would decrease and with fewer orders, costs would rise, creating a vicious cycle.

Even if domestic airlines wanted to support the initiative, they couldn’t possibly spend money indefinitely, especially since the C919 could make its maiden flight this year, with full support from foreign subsystem suppliers, obtaining critical type ratings, production permits, and individual flight certification at any time.

With at least a one-year lead over the C822, grabbing orders for a hundred or even two to three hundred jets was entirely possible, while the C822 faced the predicament of entering the market lacking demand. It should be noted that while the C919 could be marketed abroad, the C822 would not have it as easy.

As the project manager for the C919, Li Jing naturally hoped that his "child" could take to the skies earlier, but as a Chinese person, the national sentiment behind the C822 was truly disheartening.

In such a mix of joy and concern, on November 5, the day the American presidential election officially started, the C919, China’s domestic wide-body regional jet, took its maiden flight at Modu City Pudong Airport.

At this moment, the Zhuhai Airshow still had two days to go, but the media immediately heaped praise on the maiden flight of the C919, propelling the domestically produced passenger jet to the top of the hot search alongside the Warrior No.1 robot.

On the same day, the Comac group blocked the entrance of the Civil Aviation Administration, demanding the immediate issuance of a certificate of airworthiness for the C919.

...

"The maiden flight of the domestic passenger jet, how the C919 honed its edge over 9 years."

"Eastern Airlines signs a purchase agreement with COMAC for the first 5 C919 jets, with delivery expected to be completed by 2017."

"The C919’s unit price is about 600 million yuan, with a clear competitive advantage."

"Which parts of the C919 used domestically produced components?"

"The Civil Aviation Administration issues certificates of airworthiness for three domestic passenger aircraft models: C919, C822, and C832."

"..."

Among the "big three carriages" of domestic passenger jets in the media, the C919 took the lead by an edge, making its maiden flight first.

From 2007 to 2016, the C919 project accelerated in unexpected ways, becoming the second domestically produced large passenger jet after the Yun-10 — though it’s a bit inflated.

Airplane three major components: fuselage, avionics, engine. The C919 had completed only one third of its indigenization, but it indeed accounted for the highest quality share, and the manufacturing technology of the fuselage was genuinely not low.

The news of the C919’s maiden flight almost overshadowed the airshow, and that night CCAV specifically praised it, giving it due recognition.

But in Lin Ju’s eyes, the treatment of the C919 was much poorer compared to the original timeline, lacking that star-studded atmosphere.

After all, it was no longer the only option, and although everyone was quite happy, they were looking forward more to the C822 and C832.

Even the attitude from above reflected this, with only Eastern Airlines buying an initial 5 jets, and even more absurd was the Civil Aviation Administration.

The certificate of airworthiness for the C919 was indeed issued right away, but at the same time, they also issued it for the C822 and C832, which hadn’t even left the factory?

Issuing certificates of airworthiness without the planes even being ready?

This blatant favoritism revealed the attitude of the authorities, treating the C822 and C832 siblings as the successors to the Yun-10, regardless of anything they would be supported.

Facing this skewed favoritism, COMAC dared not speak out in anger, focusing instead on promoting the C919 and trying to capture as much market share as possible, which was also in the combined interests of the suppliers.

...

Late at night, Claire sat behind the desk, watching a recording of the C919’s maiden flight on the computer.

The C919, though an international joint venture project, was indeed an important step for China’s civilian aviation manufacturing industry. They were not lacking in technology and talent and would sooner or later drive indigenization.

C822 and C832 were examples, with equally astonishing progress, and COMAC was also promptly pushing the development of a large long-distance wide-body passenger jet: CR929.

The C919 and CR929 were projects established at the same time. The C919 used engines and avionics technology from Europe and America, while the additional "R" in CR929 represented a joint development with Russia, sharing the benefits.

Of course, the main reason was that there were still considerable restrictions on wide-body airliner technology from Europe and America, so COMAC turned to look for a breakthrough in Russia.

C919, CR929, C822, C832. Two aviation companies, each with two types of aircraft in the same category, this was very fitting with China’s style of not putting all eggs in one basket, and the domestic market could certainly sustain four types of aircraft.

However, Claire only saw the rise of China’s aviation industry as a matter of interest and kept his attention on his peers.

In November, New Yuan was stirring.

According to their plans, this month the H2M spaceplane was set to make its maiden flight; although it would be using conventional power instead of the nuclear power version claimed at the time, it was still far ahead of NACA.

Compared to that, the FATS project was at least 8 months behind, a gap that was still unbridgeable, simply unacceptable.

The Forward Space Station was intensely undergoing tests, with frequent communication with the ground. This first human-centrifugal space station was constantly challenging NACA’s nerves.

There had to be an area where they could take the lead!

This was the thought of everyone at NACA; they couldn’t accept the prospect of always being behind. Even if they were temporarily a few steps behind due to various factors, they had to have an advantage elsewhere to ensure a tit-for-tat competition.

Claire knew that Turnad had been frequently contacting various space projects recently, and personally he was rather inclined towards Golden Hair.

After all, as the head of NACA, regardless of how much longer he would serve, it was his duty to solve the employment problems created by the industry chain established after the Artemis project.

A situation like Saturn V, where the project ended and the technology was then lost, couldn’t happen again.

Although he knew Turnad would not be elected, Claire still decided to cast his vote for him, as an expression of NACA’s stance.