China to Build Commercial Aircraft

[Amish RakeFight]

What are opinions on this endeavour?

http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/07/03/20/100bus_e1china001.cfm

Published: Tuesday, March 20, 2007

China to join Boeing, Airbus jetmaking club
Associated Press

SHANGHAI, China - China's top leaders have approved a program to build large commercial aircraft, lending crucial government support to plans to challenge the domination of Boeing and Airbus in the country's fast-growing aviation market.

A Cabinet meeting held last month approved "in principle" setting up a formal program for domestic manufacture of large commercial aircraft, according to a statement seen Monday on the Web site of the State Council Information Office.

It said the decision followed a report by a group set up six months earlier to research the feasibility of the project.
No timeframe was given, but last week a top official of state-owned China Aviation Industry Corp. I, or AVIC I, said that the company planned to start making large aircraft with seating for 200 or more by 2020.

China has set a target of completing designs for a large aircraft by 2010 and has proposed producing its own aircraft engines.

China plans test flights of its first commercial jet aircraft, the mid-sized ARJ-21 regional jet, by next year. It also is seeking Federal Aviation Administration approval of the jet with a mind toward selling the ARJ-21 in overseas markets.

With China expected to buy 2,230 new planes between now and 2025, the government has fast-tracked development plans to ensure that its own companies grab a share.

China abandoned a project to build large aircraft in the 1970s, although local manufacturers already make many components for Boeing Co. and Airbus SA. Airbus recently agreed to open a final assembly line for its mid-size A320 aircraft in the northern city of Tianjin.

Boeing officials said Monday they welcomed the potential competition from China.

Scott Carson, chief executive of Boeing's commercial jet-building division, also said China likely would produce a plane similar to Boeing's 737, a single-aisle, twin-engine jet with short-to-medium range. "That would be the next logical step based on what they're doing today," Carson said in a conference call with analysts and reporters.

 

[vetrider]

.............

 

[Traderd]

This is really nothing new.

In the early 70's, a Taiwanese B737 enroute to Tokyo was hijacked and forced to land in Beijing. The Chinese government accepted the hijacker's request for amnesty and released all of the passengers unharmed. They would not however release the airframe.

Instead they used it as a template and created a virtual copy of the 37, producing approximatley 300 clones, which they operated relatively successfully for a number of years. The achellis heel was the engine, as they were unable to produce a very reliable copy of the turbines they pulled off the Boeing.

One such aircraft was involved in a very tragic accident in May of 1978. The aircraft crashed in the area of the Himalayan mountains and because of the weather, resucers took 12 days to reach the crash site. What they found when they arrived was 25 survivors from a passenger and crew list that numbered 104. While the 25 survived, the means they were forced to employ to do so were horrifiying. Because of the remoteness of the location and the inability of the survivors to find food, they were forced to cannibalize the corpses of the decedents. It was terrible beyond words.

After all, can you imagine eating Chinese every night for almost two weeks?

 

[Whine Lover]

From www.aviawebtech.com:


"Surprisingly when rice is molded into a given structure, and then submitted to proper temperatures and pressures in an Auto-Enclave, a Composite like structure approaching the tensile and torsional strength of a Carbon-Fiber can be achieved."


YKW

 

[Guitar Guy]

And don't forget the Trunkliner program in the late '80's/early '90's that Boeing and McD-D bid on. McD-D won the bid and after purchasing some MD-80 or -90 airframes, the Chinese began building them on their own lines. The FAA said that even though they were building a certified design, the Chinese-built planes could never fly in the USA due to the lack of FAA oversight during production.

I'm guessing the Chinese will attempt to address that this time.

 

[Amish RakeFight]

Aren't there intellectual property issues at hand when you replicate a 737 design? How did they get around that.

 

[flyboyike]

In the early 70's, a Taiwanese B737 enroute to Tokyo was hijacked and forced to land in Beijing. The Chinese government accepted the hijacker's request for amnesty and released all of the passengers unharmed. They would not however release the airframe.

Instead they used it as a template and created a virtual copy of the 37, producing approximatley 300 clones, which they operated relatively successfully for a number of years. The achellis heel was the engine, as they were unable to produce a very reliable copy of the turbines they pulled off the Boeing.

Except it was a 707. And I don't think they built anywhere near 300 of them.

 

[GoingHot]

Aren't there intellectual property issues at hand when you replicate a 737 design? How did they get around that.

Chinese response: :laugh:

 

[pkober]

This is really nothing new.

In the early 70's, a Taiwanese B737 enroute to Tokyo was hijacked and forced to land in Beijing. The Chinese government accepted the hijacker's request for amnesty and released all of the passengers unharmed. They would not however release the airframe.

Instead they used it as a template and created a virtual copy of the 37, producing approximatley 300 clones, which they operated relatively successfully for a number of years. The achellis heel was the engine, as they were unable to produce a very reliable copy of the turbines they pulled off the Boeing.

One such aircraft was involved in a very tragic accident in May of 1978. The aircraft crashed in the area of the Himalayan mountains and because of the weather, resucers took 12 days to reach the crash site. What they found when they arrived was 25 survivors from a passenger and crew list that numbered 104. While the 25 survived, the means they were forced to employ to do so were horrifiying. Because of the remoteness of the location and the inability of the survivors to find food, they were forced to cannibalize the corpses of the decedents. It was terrible beyond words.

After all, can you imagine eating Chinese every night for almost two weeks?[/q

The real problem was that they were hungry two hours later. :laugh:

The chinese will just copy something Western, agian. Look at there newest fighter, J-10 (?). It's a Eurofighter/F-16 rip-off.

 

[Traderd]

Aren't there intellectual property issues at hand when you replicate a 737 design? How did they get around that.

I was guessing most had already heard the joke. I guess I guessed wrong.

Pretty funny when you tell it in person and get a few folks to "remember" when it happened. And then the punch line.