C919: Third test flight and the second prototype
The program of Chinese medium-haul
C919 proceeded this Friday, November 3, its third test flight in Shanghai. This symbol of China's ongoing effort to gain its independence in the aerospace field will soon begin a long series of flight tests to obtain its type certificate from the Civil Aviation Administration of China. (CAAC).
The first prototype of the C919, registered 10101, took off at 07:38 in the morning at the Shanghai-Pudong International Airport. Like
, the aircraft flew mostly around the coastal town of Nantong, much of it over the sea, probably by of security.
According to
, the crew of three pilots and two test engineers conducted 48 checkpoints, including pilot inspection, retraction and landing gear exit, the sideslip as well as the longitudinal and lateral stability.
The data provided by the Flightradar24 website shows that the Chinese aircraft was moving at a height of 10,000 feet (3,048 meters) above sea level. The speed gradually reached 329 knots, a little over 600 km / h.
The C919 landed at Pudong around 11:26 am local time, after a flight that lasted 3 hours and 48 minutes, an hour longer than the previous flight.
COMAC will build a total of six prototypes to speed up the test flight campaign. The second, registered 10102, made its first ignition engines on the eve of the flight of his eldest.
The aircraft will have to carry out a battery of tests on the ground, before being able to reach the sky by the end of the year.
It should be noted that another C919 team has recently completed a mock landing test for airworthiness certification. The tests were conducted from October 10 to 19 at HR Walllingford in England, during which the C919 model simulated landing with the maximum allowable landing weight and an angle of incidence of 12 °.
The first tests, conducted by the British company Element, revealed a post-landing angle of roll greater than that of the tolerance, but the problem was quickly solved by adjusting the parameters of the model that landed on the water stably.
The first two prototypes of C919 at Shanghai Poudong Airport (Photo: COMAC)
Henri K.
