In Pictures: First Flight Of China's C919 Narrowbody

Bradley Perrett May 05, 2017

The C919 prototype rotates for takeoff on the type’s first flight amid hazy weather at Shanghai Pudong International Airport. 

Credit: Chen Cheng

The first flight has come nine years after program launch. A first delivery before 2020 is unlikely.

The C919 is powered by the CFM Leap 1C engine. It is dimensionally similar to the Airbus A320 and designed to seat 158 passengers in a standard two-class cabin arrangement.

Credit: Shen Quan

The aircraft returned after a 79-min. flight conducted within about 100 km (60 mi.) of Shanghai Pudong. The highest speed attained was 315 kph (170 kt.), says Comac.

The crew—test pilot Cai Jun, first officer Wu Xin, observer Qian Jin and flight engineers Ma Fei and Zhang Dawei— emerge from the aircraft after the flight.

Credit: Comac

Shortly before the aircraft took off, C919 chief designer Wu Guanghui was formally presented with the necessary special flight permit that the Civil Aviation Administration of China had issued on April 22.

The Comac C919 narrowbody airliner flew for the first time on May 5, taking off from Shanghai for a 79-min. flight that took it to an altitude of 3,000 m (10,000 ft.). The flight achieved all test objectives, says Comac.

Bradley Perrett

Bradley Perrett covered China, Japan, South Korea and Australia. He is a Mandarin-speaking Australian.

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