The Comac ARJ21-700 is certified by Chinese CAAC and delivered to a first domestic customer

[sn26567]

China’s first indigenously designed airliner, the Comac ARJ21-700 regional jet, was granted a type certificate by the country’s civil aviation authority. ARJ21 stands for Advanced Regional Jet for the 21st century.

Certification of the aircraft follows more than 12 years of development, including six in flight testing, and comes four decades after China began its first attempt at producing a commercial jet aircraft.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) issued the type certificate under Chapter 25 of the Chinese civil aviation regulations on Dec. 30. Entry into service was due in April or May 2015.

Comac ARJ21-700

The ARJ21-700 seats 90 passengers in an all-economy cabin arrangement. A second version, the ARJ21-900 is intended to seat 115. Comac is working on improvements to the type.

The jet currently has 278 orders, COMAC data showed.

Detailed article in Aviation Week
Article in the Chinese press: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china ... 887518.htm

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A tail strike during the minimum lift-off speed certification flight test:

[Inquirer]

Looks like a Dc-9 clone, with CRJ engines and tips on its wings?
How self-designed is this plane really?

[Comet]

Looks like a Dc-9 clone, with CRJ engines and tips on its wings?
How self-designed is this plane really?

Possibly as much as the old Soviet ones which used to bear strong resemblances to Western aircraft (IL-62 and VC10 and TU154 and Boeing 727 for example).

[RoMax]

The ARJ21 is just for Comac to 'practice' a bit and prove they can built aircraft on their own (although also Antonov for example was involved in the design of critical elements such as the wings), will have to see how further models (like the C919 which is a unique design, contrary to this DC-9/MD-80 clone).

The development and testing was a disaster, but if you see the story behind it...it was literally from one day to another that they came up with the idea of building a commercial jet. COMAC has been built up on the base of existing companies in 2008, but none of them came even close the what they are doing now.
No 'normal' (and certainly not private) company would even attempt something like this, so as an aviation enthousiast, I can only applaud what COMAC is trying to do, even though this 'test project' has been a bit of a failure so far. You can't compare it with a company like Mitsubishi which has been closely involved in R&D and production of critical parts of aircraft and they got much more support from other companies in the industry like Boeing. But they are oh so lucky that they have the support of the Chinese government, otherwise not much would be left of the over 300 'firm' orders they received for this ARJ21

Btw, for the production, they are still using part of the tooling that was used for the MD-80 license production in China ;p

[convair]

Possibly as much as the old Soviet ones which used to bear strong resemblances to Western aircraft (IL-62 and VC10 and TU154 and Boeing 727 for example).

Not to mention the TU-144, dubbed the "KonKordsky"!

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China's COMAC delivers first ARJ21 jet plane to domestic airline

State planemaker Commercial Aircraft Corp of China (COMAC) said on Sunday (29 Nov) it has delivered the first ARJ21 jet to domestic low-cost carrier Chengdu Airlines, calling it a big breakthrough in China's efforts to develop its domestic jet plane design and manufacturing capabilities.

China is keen to develop a successful commercial aircraft to rival Boeing and Airbus. But it has been held back by inexperience, a shortage of local aerospace design and engineering talent, as well as a lack of home-grown companies with the technology to help drive the project.

The ARJ21, China's first locally built regional jet, is designed to compete against Brazil's Embraer SA and Canada's Bombardier Inc.

The aircraft, which seats about 90 passengers, was given permission to fly domestically by China's civil aviation regulators at the end of last year following years of delays due to technological problems.

It has not yet been granted certification by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which will limit its access to overseas markets.

COMAC said in September it had signed a preliminary deal with ICBC Leasing to supply 10 ARJ21 jets and 10 of its C919 models to Thai airline City Airways.

Source: Reuters