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China's first home-grown regional jet rolls off production line

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China's first home-grown regional jet rolls off production line

(Xinhua)

Updated: 2007-12-22 10:33

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China's first fully homegrown commercial aircraft, the ARJ-21, rolls off the production line and is towed into a hangar at the Shanghai Aircraft Manufacturing Factory on Friday.

 

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A MAJOR LEAP: The Xiang Feng or "Flying Phoenix" is towed into a hangar at the Shanghai Aircraft Manufacturing Factory amid flashing laser lights and rousing band music unveiling ceremony in Shanghai on Friday.

 

China's first home-grown regional jet, ARJ21-700, rolled off the production line in Shanghai Aircraft Manufacturing Factory on Friday afternoon, said a spokesman of the producer.

 

The first ARJ21-700 jet, powered by a turbofan engine, can carry 90 passengers with a maximum range of 2,000 nautical miles.

 

The ARJ21 jet's name, "Xiang Feng," meaning "Flying Phoenix" was also unveiled on the roll-out ceremony. The name was chosen in a global competition via the Internet, said a spokesman of the China Aviation Industry Corporation I (AVIC I), the jet's designer and producer.

 

It is planned to make its maiden flight in March and be delivered to the first customers in the third quarter of 2009 after it gets airworthiness certification in the first half of the same year.

 

Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan and Shanghai Party chief Yu Zhengsheng were present at the ceremony.

 

"By adopting mature technologies, the regional jet is reliable on safety and it sells well, which will definitely promote China's aviation industry and its civilian aircraft industry to step onto a new stage," said Zeng.

 

The Vice Premier also encouraged the jet producers to work hard to ensure a successful maiden flight of ARJ21-700 jet next year and to meet the needs of the market.

 

"Ten candidate pilots have been selected for the ARJ21. They are attending training courses at the Chinese Flight Test Establishment of AVIC I. One of them will be selected for the maiden flight next March," said Luo Ronghuai, general manager of the AVIC I Commercial Aircraft Co Ltd.

 

"Although their average age is below 30, they have been flying passenger airplanes for quite a few years," Luo said.

 

Vice chief designer Chen Yong said the jet will go through more than 170 tests before it gets the certification.

 

"The ARJ-21 also focuses on comfort. The passenger cabin is 123 inches wide, 15 to 25 inches wider than Bombardier's CRJ700 and CRJ900, and Brazil's ERJ170 and ERJ190. The seat is 0.9 inch wider than that of the Boeing 737," said Chen. "It's one of the amplest cabins of any regional plane in the world."

 

"We aim to provide regional air passengers with the service comparable to trunk line airplanes," he added.

 

AVIC I has received orders for 171 "Xiang Feng" aircraft, of which two are from a Laotian airline company, said the spokesman at the ceremony.

 

The latest order for 100 ARJ21 jets were inked on Friday by Shenzhen Airlines based in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen. It is the largest single order that AVIC I have ever received.

 

The manufacturer also received orders for 71 jets from other domestic airline companies, including Shandong Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, Xiamen Airlines, Shenzhen Financial Leasing Co Ltd and Shanghai Electric Leasing Co Ltd.

 

"Some foreign companies show increasing interest in the ARJ21 jets these days. We expect to receive more overseas orders in the first half of next year," said a source with the AVIC I Commercial Aircraft Co Ltd at the ceremony.

 

AVIC I plans to begin mass production in 2009 and expects to realize an annual output of 50 aircraft by 2011.

 

At present, China uses foreign-made Boeing, Airbus and Bombardier planes on domestic air routes. The ARJ21 is expected to grab up to 60 percent of the domestic market for mid-size regional airliners over the next 20 years, said AVIC I.

 

The ARJ21, a regional passenger jet with 70 to 110 seats, is the world's first plane designed to take into account to China's natural environment. The plane will be capable of landing and taking off at airports in western China's plateau in high temperatures.

 

The ARJ21 program was formally approved by Chinese authorities in 2002, with a first-stage investment of 5 billion yuan ($667 million) from the government.

 

ARJ21, short for "Advanced Regional Jet for the 21st Century," is featured for its safety and low price. It is the first regional jet that China has fully developed on its own, in accordance with the standards set by General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (GACAC), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA).

 

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2007...ent_6341102.htm

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erm ...not a bad looking aircraft :lol: , maybe FY should consider this :D , ( ops it is not turboprop :p ) .....

 

anyone can gimme the real chinese name of it ?? i mean in chinese character since i cannot relate "xiang feng" with "flying phoenix" .......sorry :sorry: chinese not that good :p

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Like Proton, ARJ-21 is not a truly China ‘home grown’ regional jet.

 

The ARJ21 is built with MD-90 tooling, has identical cabin cross section, nose profile and tail as DC-9. However, the supercritical wing with winglets is designed by Antonov. Engine is by GE CF34-10A turbofans.

 

:drinks:

 

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The question is - will you dare to travel on a made-in-china aircraft?

 

 

Why not? They've send people to space so I don't see why they cannot make good, safe aeroplanes. I do hope they'll give the established manufactures a run for their money in the not to distant future.

 

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Good spot, KK Lee, it does have heavy MD influence in terms of design. Hopefully in time they will have the technology to manufacture their 100% homegrown a/c. This is like Japan in the 1960s when Japanese car design borrowed from US technology.

 

By the time it has clocked up some hours of test flight, it should be okay to fly with.

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The ARJ21 is built with MD-90 tooling, has identical cabin cross section, nose profile and tail as DC-9. However, the supercritical wing with winglets is designed by Antonov. Engine is by GE CF34-10A turbofans.

 

 

It looks similar to a B712...

 

Was gonna say exactly the same: carbon-copy of the Boeing 717 :blink:

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The question is - will you dare to travel on a made-in-china aircraft?

 

If ACAC to export ARJ-21, it will seek for FAA type approval. As ARJ-21 fuselage is basically DC-9, powered by GE engine, avionics and FMS by Rockwell Collins, US don’t produce similar aircraft, ACAC has ISO9000 in place, complied to FAA test flights requirement, etc, FAA is likely to give type approval.

 

If ARJ-21 is type approved by FAA, it will be as safe as Boeing.

 

:drinks:

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