COMAC C919

ReneDad

New Member
CR929 has a long story.

the actual issue was, Russia demanded IP rights and R&D center in Moscow.

in 2019 UAC completed full scale model testing in high speed wind tunnel and designed composite wing of CR929.. this project was bound to fail as two different mindset of people and requirements. this was even admitted by Irkut's chief designer. but in 2021 both parties decided to have put differences aside in relation and confirmed plans to start first prototype. but this time Russia launched Ukraine operation. in 2023 COMAC decided to go alone as they have gained enough experience with C919 development and domestic suppliers too gained experience with Y-20B/AG-600.

Russia was still interested to supply composite wing but COMAC said, no thanks. C929 composite wing contract gave to Shanghai aircraft industry group. its fuselage contain 51 percent of composite and all high end composite materials sourced from local suppliers. C929 engine mounts, vertical tail and rudder contract given to SAC. majority of onboard airborne systems are from domestic suppliers too.

all thanks to geopolitics and current USA trade policies regarding export control.
What is Russian fabulous black wing made of? I know it's carbon fiber but could Russian produce any carbon fiber for the wings of CR929 or even its own MC21-310 then? Here is the answer:

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Which means Russian only began producing T-700 grade carbon fiber in 2026. Back to 2022-2023, under the west sanction, Russian has nothing to make wings for CR929 which was planned to have its first flight in 2025 then. And I suppose members of this forum know what T-700 means and thus know where the most of the 5.75t overweight of MC21-310 come from.

In early 2026, when Russian finally announced they could produce T-700 grade carbon fiber, China began to produce T-1200. If you were the chief designer or project manger, who would you choose to make the wings for C929?

How could Russia make wings for C929 if they even couldn't make wings for their own MC21-310 then? This is why we began to hear all these excuses from Russian side during this period of time.
 

Gloire_bb

Colonel
Registered Member
How could Russia make wings for C929 if they even couldn't make wings for their own MC21-310 then? This is why we began to hear all these excuses from Russian side during this period of time.
Know-how was already obviously there(for a decade at this point). Re-certification trials with a different base material takes time, as does reinventing - and certifying again - parts of the plane no one likes to produce (from passenger seats to escape ramps).

In any case, the fiber problem was specific to Russia; China is not under these sanctions, and COMAC could/can proceed as usual.
 
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ReneDad

New Member
Agree, but that’s only valid as long as the West still plays by the rules . The day there’s a conflict of no return, they will 100% deprive China of these equipment.
So it’s normal the government is trying to source as much critical parts as possible locally
If the west wanted to hurt China the most, sanctioning existing Boeing and Airbus fleets of Chinese airlines like what they did to Russia would be a better option than sanctioning C919, since the former has far more numbers in China than the later. I don't know why my Russian friends here stubbornly insist that China hasn't any indigenous substitution plans for C919 though the evidence is far more than obvious. Do they really think if the West did so, China had no means to fight back to make them feel pain too? Have they ever wondered why the West hasn't done so if they could do it?

The most ridiculous thing I ever heard is that COMAC planed to build 75 or 100 units of C919 this year or last year, but it only be able to make 15 annually due to US deliberately slowing down the delivery of engines. Has any believer of these ever considered, which airlines would take in such amount of C919? Where are the pilots who fly them? Where are the workers who make them? I mean, can a manager just tell these newly recruited workers who has just completed their theorical training but never assemble an airplane before "We have a big order this year and I expect you to assemble two C919s every week"? Or can a pilot of Boeing 737 or Airbus 320 fly a C919 without re-training?

I know the source is from the mouth of a guy who is on the top level of COMAC. But regardless for what purpose he did so or if his words was mis-interpreted, I just don't believe it because it is against common sense.
 

Gloire_bb

Colonel
Registered Member
I know the source is from the mouth of a guy who is on the top level of COMAC. But regardless for what purpose he did so or if his words was mis-interpreted, I just don't believe it because it is against common sense.
*if* COMAC can build as many aircraft as it declared - the moment to take the market by storm is right here, because it takes so damn long (and for so much money) to get a new aircraft(for a lot of money), and a sizable chunk of the market/proposal(GTF users) sucks.
 

ACuriousPLAFan

Lieutenant General
Registered Member
View attachment 178905

It is said that the purely Chinese-made C919 project of COMAC is already under development (the poster in the picture is a developer of COMAC).

This should be the long-rumored CXF by @老王RR涡扇花动机 on Weibo. And if his information/claim is accurate, then we should be able to see the aircraft sometime next year (2027).
 
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