The country's first approved "Chengdu-made" flying car has made new progress in its airworthiness certification
2024-08-15
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Cover News reporter Yang Jinzhu
There is new news about the “Chengdu-made” flying car.
On August 14, the reporter learned from the Chengdu Hi-tech Zone that recently, after strict review by the Civil Aviation Administration of China Southwest Region, the Chengdu Hi-tech Zone enterprise Wofei Changkong Design Assurance System (DAS) was successfully approved and continued to operate efficiently. As the first approved manned eVTOL design assurance system in the country, the commissioning of DAS will orderly accelerate the various airworthiness certification work of the AE200 electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft.
"Chengdu-made" flying car. Photo courtesy of Wofei Changkong
The Design Assurance System (DAS) is a system established in accordance with the requirements of China Civil Aviation Regulations CCAR-21 and its related procedures, and is approved by the applicant or certificate holder to enable them to have the required design functions, airworthiness functions and independent supervision functions.
Wofei Changkong has established a design assurance system that meets airworthiness requirements and applied it to the development and airworthiness of the AE200 product. On the one hand, it further ensures that the design, test piece manufacturing, and integrated verification processes of the AE200 meet airworthiness standards and safety requirements; on the other hand, through the effective use of the DAS system, it effectively promotes the progress of the AE200 product airworthiness certification work.
In March 2024, the Civil Aviation Administration of China issued the "Guidelines for Determining the Scope and Depth of the Authority's Review in the Civil Aviation Product Design Approval Process". Based on the principles and ideas of risk management in the guidelines, under the airworthiness function of the design assurance system, Wofei Changkong strives to build a team of conformity verification engineers (CVE), implement conformity verification functions, efficiently coordinate the authority's review resources, and the applicant's independent conformity verification capabilities, improve the efficiency of airworthiness review, and accelerate the progress of airworthiness certification.
In June this year, the first flight of Chengdu's low-altitude manned travel verification flight was successfully completed, opening up the operation process of urban low-altitude travel routes. This includes "one city, two airports" (two airports in the same city flying to each other), airport-urban area, urban area-scenic area and other routes. Taking this opportunity, the entire process of implementing urban low-altitude travel services was run through, including airspace application, air traffic reporting, terminal construction, traffic coordination and other fields, which also made citizens look forward to taking "flying taxis".
Fei Lan, strategic marketing director of Wofei Changkong, said that Wofei Changkong is currently in a leading position in the domestic and even global process of manned eVTOL airworthiness certification. It is expected that TC certification will be completed around 2026. By then, Chengdu citizens will be able to experience some small batches of fixed routes.
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About Airworthiness Certification
At present, domestic civil aircraft airworthiness requires "three major certificates": Type Certificate (TC), which is the airworthiness authority's approval of the aircraft design compliance. "Design compliance" means that the design of aviation products and parts complies with the prescribed airworthiness standards and requirements. Production Certificate (PC), which is the airworthiness authority's approval of the aircraft manufacturing compliance. "Manufacturing compliance" means that the manufacturing, testing, installation, etc. of aviation products and parts comply with the approved design. Aircraft Airworthiness Certificate (AC), which is the airworthiness authority's approval of the manufacturing compliance and safe and usable status of each aircraft. Every aircraft leaving the factory must have this certificate, which means it can be operated safely.
Among them, the Type Certificate (TC) is the first step in airworthiness certification and the basis for subsequent production and operation. Without TC, it is impossible to prove the safety and reliability of the aircraft design, and then it is impossible to obtain PC and AC. Therefore, from the perspective of the entire airworthiness certification process, the acquisition of TC has a prerequisite and fundamental status.
