Revealing the Rise of China's Large Aircraft, the Successful Commercial First Flight Project of Domestic Large Aircraft C919 | Technology | C919
On May 28th, the commercial debut of the domestically produced large aircraft C919 was successful and officially put into operation, attracting worldwide attention and winning widespread praise. People are curious about the stories behind the development of large aircraft projects?
Professor Huang Qingqiao from the School of Marxism at Shanghai Jiao Tong University and others have compiled "Soaring: The Rise of China's Big Airplanes", aiming to explore the path of the rise of China's big airplanes with readers.
The book takes the development history of the world's large aircraft as the background, from the sudden cessation of China's "Y-10" development to the end of cooperation with McDonnell Douglas, from the strategic decision of the Party Central Committee at the beginning of the 21st century to the emergence of COMAC, from the successful operation of ARJ21 to the stunning first flight and successful delivery of C919, striving to construct a panoramic picture of the development process of China's large aircraft industry.
Huang Qingqiao, one of the editors of "Soaring", was invited by Shangguan News to write an article, describing the process of writing "Soaring" to entertain readers.
"China needs its own big plane"
Developing large passenger aircraft and developing a competitive civil aircraft industry is a major strategic decision made by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council from a historical and global perspective.
On May 23, 2014, General Secretary Xi Jinping made an important speech during his inspection of COMAC, stating, "We engage in large aircraft, which is consistent with our goal of 'two centenary years' and the goal of realizing the Chinese dream. If we want to be a powerful country, then we must get our own equipment manufacturing industry up." This is a full affirmation of the strategic significance of China's large aircraft industry, and it is also an encouragement, expectation and spur for China's large aircraft to soar in the blue sky as soon as possible.
The Chinese aircraft industry has gone through a difficult, bumpy, and tortuous process. In the 1970s, the "708 Project" was launched, mobilizing relevant national forces to develop and transport 10 large passenger planes in Shanghai. This is China's first large aircraft with completely independent intellectual property rights, and it also makes China the fourth country, after the United States, the Soviet Union, and the European Union, to be able to build its own 100 ton aircraft. In the mid-1980s, in the context of the reform and opening up, in order to learn advanced management and development experience from developed countries, China's civil aircraft development embarked on an international cooperation path and engaged in more than ten years of cooperation with the American company McDonnell Douglas, drawing on many positive and negative experiences and lessons. After entering the 21st century, knowledgeable individuals have continuously called for attention to the development of domestically produced large aircraft and proposed that "China should have its own large aircraft.". In 2006, the large aircraft was identified as one of the 16 major scientific and technological projects to strive for breakthroughs in the next 15 years, and was included in the National Medium - and Long Term Science and Technology Development Plan. In 2007, the major scientific and technological project for the development of large aircraft was officially approved, and the C919 large aircraft development project was officially launched, marking the beginning of a new journey in China's large aircraft industry.
On November 2, 2015, China's first mainline civilian aircraft, the C919 large passenger aircraft, developed in accordance with the latest international airworthiness standards, was officially assembled and produced at the Pudong base in Shanghai. On May 5, 2017, C919 successfully made its first flight at Shanghai Pudong International Airport. After 3 years of test flight work on 6 aircraft, on November 27, 2020, the Shanghai Aircraft Airworthiness Certification Center of Civil Aviation of China issued the first model inspection and approval certificate for the C919 project, and the C919 entered the approval and test flight stage by the authorities. In September 2022, after completing all airworthiness certification work, C919 was issued a model qualification certificate by the Civil Aviation Administration of China. On May 28, 2023, the commercial maiden flight of C919 was successful and officially put into commercial operation. This is a milestone in the development history of China's large civil aircraft industry. The successful development and delivery of the C919 signifies that China has initially mastered the development laws, methods, and key core technologies of large aircraft, laying the foundation for talent, technology, management, and other capabilities required for long-term development. It has also driven the development of related basic disciplines, aviation industry, and related industries, achieving a historic leap from scratch for China's commercial large aircraft.
"It's impossible to close the door and engage in research and development."
At the moment when China's large aircraft industry has achieved historic achievements and made historic leaps, reviewing the "difficult, bumpy, and tortuous process" that China's large aircraft industry has gone through, summarizing successful experiences and lessons that can be learned from, the significance is self-evident.
The book "Soaring" was planned against this background. This book takes the development history of world large aircraft as the background, summarizes the world pattern of large aircraft dominated by the United States and Europe, as well as the tortuous process of developing large aircraft in countries such as Japan, Canada, Indonesia, Russia, and Brazil, and outlines the magnificent development process of China's large civil aircraft.
Looking back at history is to summarize experience and make the future path more stable, faster, and better. The historic achievements and leaps made in China's large aircraft industry are a successful example of the new national system under the conditions of socialist market economy.
The C919 aircraft project was born in the context of the deepening of the socialist market economy, and from the beginning, it placed great emphasis on playing the roles of both the state and the market. On the one hand, in the current situation where the international large aircraft market is highly monopolized by the United States and Europe, and China's aviation technology and industrial supporting capabilities are relatively weak, without the strategic determination, organizational mobilization, and strong coordination of the country, it is difficult to initiate the development of the large aircraft development industry. Therefore, from the beginning, China's large aircraft industry was a national engineering, national undertaking, and national mission. The support of the state is the fundamental guarantee for the success of China's large aircraft industry. This is something we must first and foremost deeply recognize. On the other hand, civil aircraft must ultimately face the market, adapt to market demand and changes, meet the demanding requirements of the market and customers for products, and accept market inspection.
In addition, civil aircraft are complex technological products composed of tens of thousands of components, equipment, and subsystems. No country or enterprise can produce all the necessary components and equipment for a large aircraft, which leads to a highly market-oriented supply of civil aircraft components and equipment. Therefore, it is impossible for us to conduct research and development behind closed doors, and to develop China's civilian large aircraft for the market is an objective law and a necessary path. The success of the C919 aircraft demonstrates that fully leveraging the important role of the new national system under socialist market economy conditions is an important guarantee for the smooth progress of major scientific and technological engineering research and development.
"Rise up in setbacks"
The historic achievements and breakthroughs in China's large aircraft industry fully demonstrate that expanding opening-up and strengthening international cooperation are important ways to achieve innovation driven development.Of particular importance, the development of civil aircraft is very complex, with strict requirements for quality and safety. For a country like us that is still in the early stages of developing large civil aircraft, it is necessary and entirely possible to actively utilize the international civil aircraft components and equipment market in order to make our products more easily recognized in the international market, accelerate product development progress, and accumulate product development experience. Therefore, we can see that the development of the C919 aircraft has fully implemented the concept of opening up to the outside world and win-win cooperation from the beginning, adopting the internationally recognized "main manufacturer supplier" model, drawing on the strengths of others, and using them for our own benefit. This has not only accelerated the progress of development, but also achieved a win-win, multi win, and win-win effect. This is an important experience in promoting major engineering construction in related fields.
The historic achievements and breakthroughs in China's large aircraft industry have inspired us to have strategic patience, set goals without relaxation, face difficulties, and ultimately succeed in major scientific and technological projects that are related to national economy, people's livelihood, and strategic interests. Major scientific and technological projects are often complex systems with large investment scales, long development cycles, and high risks. It is difficult to see their benefits and returns at the moment, and countries and engineering builders often have to bear significant tangible and intangible pressures. The whole society must deeply recognize that major scientific and technological projects require a long development cycle and cannot be achieved overnight, let alone immediate results. Major scientific and technological projects aim for the overall, strategic, and long-term interests of the country, rather than the goal of "short-term, flat, and fast". Many major scientific and technological projects may seem like a "loss making deal," but in reality, they often benefit the present and the long term, and the spillover effects of technology and economy are enormous. This has been repeatedly proven in practice. Therefore, in the construction of major scientific and technological projects, once the national strategic goals are determined, there should be strategic determination and patience. Specialized institutions should be established at the national level to concentrate efforts from all aspects to provide long-term, stable, continuous, and effective systematic support for engineering construction, avoiding hesitation and hesitation.
The development of history cannot be straight or linear, always moving forward in twists and turns and rising up in setbacks. The Chinese aviation industry has gone through a difficult, bumpy, and tortuous process, ultimately achieving historic achievements and breakthroughs, bringing us rich valuable experience and inspiration. We hope that every reader of "Soaring" can gain valuable insights from it.
Soaring: The Rise of China's Big Airplanes, edited by Huang Qingqiao and others, published by Shanghai Jiao Tong University Press
