China's C919 maiden commercial flight
 

China’s first domestically produced passenger jet makes maiden commercial flight

"China’s first domestically produced passenger jet took off on its maiden commercial flight on Sunday, a milestone event in the nation’s decades-long effort to compete with western rivals in the air.

Beijing hopes the C919 commercial jetliner will challenge foreign models like the Boeing 737 MAX and the Airbus A320, though many of its parts are sourced from abroad.

Its first homegrown jetliner with mass commercial potential would also cut the country’s reliance on foreign technology as ties with the West deteriorate..."

I can't say I'll be rushing to be one of the first passengers.

Any particular reason why not?

I'd like to see an established safety record first.

Define an established safety record.

I'm not being scientific about this, I'd just rather not fly on one until they have a track record. Unreasonable, possibly.

A tad over 6 years since the C919's maiden flight, and almost 6 months since the first delivery to the launch customer, would suggest that all hasn't gone terribly well in the meantime

We are going to poke fun at the Chinese venture into aerospace (naturally) but one thing you need to know about Chinese culture is that they don't like failure, as to fail means to lose face. And so their attitude to engineering right now will be way more robust than Boeing's over the last decade.

Quite a progress compared to the recent ARJ21 but I am not sure if they could do a CR929 widebody alone? Let's wait for their first export customers.

It would be a brave western airline to order this aircraft. With the Chinese government continuing to make threats against Taiwan orders might never be delivered.

I'm not casting any aspersions on Chinese engineering But, at the end of the day, it's not good engineering that sells airliners, but many other factors.

I can see it now" "Please hold for the next available airliner salesperson..."

I don't know if that is the correct interpretation. It might be but it might not. Lots of possibilities: 1. they took the time to get it right, 2. reduced investment / team size, 3. inexperienced team that was learning as they went, 4. difficulties, as you said. And probably a few others.

From my experience in engineering development (electronics / high tech), getting out on schedule / fast can be a good or bad thing, often means immature management: gotta get out fast, worry about problems later, optimistic rather than careful. Design verification can be done _properly_ or going through the motions. Eg the testing on the Max.

I respect a team that takes the time rather than rushes. (If that was the case).

Not meaning to be critical of your comment, just been in this type of situation a lot.

Doesn't seem terrible given similar timescales are likely for sticking a new wing and engines on the 777...

or converting the 767 to a tanker...................

Even after allowing for the US bias, still a pretty realistic assessment of China's troubled commercial aircraft manufacturing industry, and COMAC in particular.

The Chinese did everything they could to avoid full compliance with certification standards, pencil-whipping wherever possible.
The FAA gave up trying to help them. Their heart wasn’t in it, only their pocketbook.

I think I can see where you are coming from. I did a lot of home improvement, and every bit of the parts I used were miC. All certified safe and legal. But a casual search on YouTube for escalator/elevator deaths will show a lot of videos from china.

Tex Johnston would have you believe it's tipping people upside down in a machine that sells them...

FP.

Interesting situation that China finds itself in. A natural customer would be Russia after the war, but sanctions on engines and avionics are likely to be long-lasting. China itself cannot rattle sabres across the Taiwan strait for the same reasons.

While I personally eschew Chinese products where I have an option I don’t doubt their engineering prowess per se.

Which is a very, very low bar set.