grow up with c919 and "go to the cloud" with domestic large aircraft
2024-09-06
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on the evening of august 28, the first c919 of air china and china southern airlines was delivered at the pudong base of the commercial aircraft corporation of china (comac) final assembly and manufacturing center. on august 29, the two aircraft were transferred to beijing and guangzhou respectively. ①② provided by the interviewee ③④ photographed by chen yulong
on the morning of august 29, a b-919j aircraft aimed at the runway and landed at guangzhou baiyun international airport. when the wheels rubbed against the ground, warm applause rang out in the cabin. a passenger unlocked his phone and checked the time: 10:15.
more than two hours later, equally warm applause rang out in xihu park in shunyi district, beijing. more than a hundred people looked up at the same time and saw a b-919x aircraft painted with the five-star red flag flying over their heads. many people captured this moment with their cameras.
the night before, the two aircraft were parked opposite each other at the pudong base of the general assembly and manufacturing center of commercial aircraft corporation of china, ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "comac"), and were delivered to air china (hereinafter referred to as "air china") and china southern airlines (hereinafter referred to as "china southern airlines") respectively. they have a common name: c919.
the delivery on august 28th means that china's three major airlines have all entered the "c919 era", and the domestic large aircraft has continued to move forward. on september 1st, china eastern airlines (hereinafter referred to as "china eastern airlines"), the global first airline of the c919 aircraft, announced that the 500,000th passenger of the c919 was produced on the mu9188 "chengdu tianfu-shanghai hongqiao" flight.
so far, comac has delivered a total of 9 c919 aircraft to customers. since its first commercial flight on may 28, 2023, china eastern airlines' c919 aircraft has been operating smoothly for 15 consecutive months, flying 5 scheduled routes, with a total of more than 3,600 commercial flights and 10,000 flight hours. in addition, c919 has received more than 1,200 orders.
the younger generation who discusses, experiences and pursues domestically produced large aircraft is the generation that will be widely affected by the c919.
young people are the "key figures" of the c919 aircraft
behind the entire process of the c919 aircraft from design to commercial maiden flight, there are young people, who work together to continue the chinese people's "big aircraft dream". in december 2022, the youth league committee of china eastern airlines flight department took the lead in establishing the c919 flight youth commando, the first batch of which consisted of 11 party member pilots under the age of 35. among them, jing yucheng is one of the first batch of c919 young captains in the country and the youngest instructor of c919. he has just turned 35 and has flown safely for more than 9,300 hours and has flown c919 safely for more than 700 hours.
in recent years, the c919 team of china eastern airlines has incorporated its long-term accumulated flight experience into the iteration and upgrade of comac's large aircraft. before the verification flight alone, it proposed more than 930 improvement suggestions for the c919 flight crew operation manual, and incorporated 588 items into the current manual, enriching the c919's operation standard system. jing yucheng and his teammates acted as "pioneers" during the takeoff and landing process, constantly sorting, collecting and feeding back relevant information, and put forward many opinions and suggestions for comac.
jing yucheng said, "i am very lucky to have grown up with china's domestic civil aircraft, witnessed its growth, and witnessed the country's strength. now, other sister airlines have also begun to receive c919 aircraft. we can share our experience with sister airlines to make the country's large aircraft industry flourish and let more c919s fly in the blue sky!"
on the afternoon of may 5, 2017, the c919 aircraft completed a "perfect first flight" at shanghai pudong international airport. on the same day, c919 chief designer wu guanghui and first flight captain cai jun hugged each other excitedly.
it was also in this year that li qing was transferred to the front-line work on the c919 aircraft model.
he led the team to xilin gol to complete the c919 aircraft's high crosswind test, to hailar at minus 39.2 degrees celsius to overcome the high-cold test, and to turpan with an average temperature of over 40 degrees celsius to carry out high-temperature test flights, successfully completing hundreds of test flight subjects, thousands of test subjects, and thousands of hours of flight airworthiness certification tasks... later, from the first delivery of the c919 to large-scale production, all the "big tests" were linked to the fate of domestic large aircraft. on april 29, 2024, li qing, director of the c919 division of china commercial aircraft corporation shanghai aircraft manufacturing co., ltd., was awarded the 28th china youth may fourth medal.
large aircraft generally refer to transport aircraft with more than 150 seats and a take-off weight of more than 100 tons. their research and development are characterized by "high risk, high investment, and long cycle". the industry threshold is extremely high, and currently only a few countries in the world can enter. some scholars pointed out that manufacturing large aircraft is not simply assembling parts together.
the road to domestic large aircraft is full of difficulties and challenges. from the day the name "major large aircraft project" was born, it became a goal of "never giving up". in the "outline of the national medium- and long-term science and technology development plan (2006-2020)" issued by the state council in 2006, it was identified as one of the 16 major science and technology projects.
zhang shaobo is a pilot with nearly 12,500 hours of safe flight experience and is also a type instructor for china eastern airlines' c919 aircraft. zhang shaobo's "apprentices" are china eastern airlines' first batch of new c919 captains, who have met the requirements of flight technical level, age, flight knowledge reserve, etc., and have been selected to join the c919 flight team.
in february this year, zhang shaobo participated in the first overseas flight of c919. he flew china eastern airlines c919 for 6 hours and 4,200 kilometers to singapore to participate in the 2024 singapore air show. zhang shaobo believes that "it is an unforgettable experience to fly a domestic large aircraft abroad to participate in the exhibition." he was most impressed by the captains of several airlines in southeast asia and professionals in the civil aviation field who came to see the c919 and praised it highly.
when seeing c919, flying fans must raise their cameras
on the morning of august 29, the crew of china southern airlines' first c919 aircraft was preparing for takeoff. the aircraft was about to take off from shanghai pudong international airport for guangzhou, the main base of china southern airlines, on the morning of august 29. at 7:18, a female voice was heard in the cabin: "after ten years of hard work, we are finally getting our own big aircraft. thank you for witnessing this important milestone for china southern airlines with us."
yu siqi, who works in brand promotion in shanghai, was also paying attention to this special flight. at 8:26, shortly after the c919 took off, she saw on the "radar" software that flight cz1919 was flying over gaojing town in the southern part of baoshan district, shanghai, at a speed of 603 kilometers per hour.
yu siqi introduced herself to the china youth daily and china youth network reporter as a "flying enthusiast". "(we) are a group of airplane enthusiasts. many 'flying enthusiasts' do not belong to the (aviation) industry, but they use their spare time to learn relevant knowledge, participate in related activities, and use practical actions to express their purest love, respect and spread aviation culture." she explained that the so-called "radar" refers to some public civil aviation aircraft information apps or websites that "flying enthusiasts" use as a reference when photographing airplanes.
aerial photography is an important hobby for yu siqi and other "flying friends". she would set airplane photos as her wechat profile picture and insist on taking pictures of airplanes even in 38-degree weather. she described that when huge airplanes roared overhead, she and her troubles would seem insignificant.
there are many things that attract her to shoot, and she has a special habit: she must raise her camera every time she sees "919". "after all, c919 is an important step for domestic large aircraft, and as a 'flying friend', i am very proud of it, so i support it unconditionally and take photos without missing a single one. i am determined to check in all the liveries of '919', and i also look forward to riding '919' home one day," she said.
one day, yu siqi went to take photos near pudong airport as usual, and accidentally discovered an aircraft that was not shown on the "radar". by looking at the windshield and wingtips, she determined that it was the first c919 of china southern airlines that had just returned from a test flight in the morning.
yu siqi recalled her feelings at the time: "i was very surprised, because usually it's the 'flying friends' who chase the planes, but that day the plane flew into the frame by itself. plus, it was the hottest time of the year, with the weather over 30 degrees celsius, and i was 'punished' to stand for more than 6 hours. i was really lucky to have such a 'good thing'."
for beijing's "flying enthusiasts", the morning of august 29 was equally important. beijing west lake park is an open park next to the t3 terminal of the capital airport. it is an excellent place for beijing citizens to watch and photograph the takeoff and landing of aircraft at close range. on this day, more than a hundred people gathered near the bagua terrace in west lake park, "a very classic aircraft stand at the capital airport", waiting for air china's c919 to fly over.
on the evening of august 28, peking university student teng minggui saw the information about the flight mobilization and decided to take photos. it took him two hours to reach west lake park that day. the sun was very hot, but the "flying friends" took the seats under the scorching sun. "in fact, everyone was a little anxious because that position was suitable for taking photos of (the plane) landing from runway 36r, but there are other runways at the capital airport, and everyone was worried whether it would land somewhere else." in the end, he got the picture he wanted.
“generally, everyone likes to take pictures of painted aircraft and boeing 747s, but on that day, they were disliked because they taxied too slowly and blocked everyone’s view of the c919.” recalling this, he sent a “crying and laughing” emoji, and then said, “after the watergate ceremony, everyone spontaneously applauded. this is a sense of pride in our domestically produced large aircraft! although our country’s mainline passenger aircraft may have just taken the first step in a long journey, we all think the future is promising!”
c919 "flies" into campus
each c919 aircraft has its own unique journey. the fifth c919 prototype b-001f was nicknamed "little five" by "flying enthusiasts". it completed the first test flight of the c919 family at a high-altitude airport. as the first c919 aircraft to go abroad, it was unveiled at the 2024 singapore air show. in may this year, it completed another special journey: flying into a university.
on may 22, comac held the first stop of the "domestic commercial aircraft campus tour" at the civil aviation university of china. the "xiaowu" was transferred from dongying, shandong to tianjin and landed in the hangar of the civil aviation university of china. during the three-day tour, it was statically displayed in the apron area specially set up by the civil aviation university of china for teachers and students to board and experience.
chen enqiang, a student at the civil aviation university of china, told the china youth daily and china youth network reporter that he had a good understanding of c919 before the event. "i have a major innovation project in school to study domestic large aircraft, focusing on the field of transportation manufacturing." for him, after seeing the c919 aircraft, the name is no longer a character on paper, but a real large aircraft. he said excitedly: "i am very much looking forward to c919 successfully creating an 'abc' pattern in the future international market and breaking the monopoly of the two giants boeing and airbus."
wu guanghui, chief designer of c919 and academician of the chinese academy of engineering, has introduced to the public what the "abc" pattern is. in his eyes, the "c" of c919 not only stands for china and comac (commercial aircraft corporation of china), but also has another meaning: we want to enter the international large passenger aircraft market and stand side by side with airbus and boeing in the international large passenger aircraft manufacturing industry.
as a 1977 alumnus of nanjing university of aeronautics and astronautics, he urged teachers and students to "persist in self-reliance and independent innovation. only by combining personal struggle with the future of the country, the destiny of the nation, and the happiness of the people can one achieve a brilliant life."
middle school students are at an age when they have a strong interest in seeking knowledge and exploring the world, and the c919 just provides them with a key to technology.
in june, the c919 large aircraft popular science simulation cabin was stationed in rongshan middle school in shunde district, foshan city, guangdong province. this is the first large aircraft simulation cabin in high schools across the country. it truly restores the c919 aircraft head in size 1:1. hundreds of control keys in the cabin are precise and realistic. students will become "captains" and immersively experience the process of taxiing, taking off, climbing, cruising, descending, and landing. the donating enterprise introduced that large aircraft is an exquisite solution for the whole chain equipment manufacturing industry under complex systems. it allows young people to feel the chinese power behind the "heavy equipment of a great country" through close contact and plant the seeds of the dream of a strong country in science and technology in their hearts.
deng shujun, deputy director of the office of rongshan middle school, told china youth daily and china youth network reporters that the school introduced the c919 simulation cabin to broaden students' horizons and allow them to have the feeling of "flying into the sky" without leaving home. to this end, they are also conducting in-school teacher training around the science popularization simulation cabin.
these children living in the guangdong-hong kong-macao greater bay area may soon have the opportunity to conveniently ride on a real c919 aircraft. wu yingxiang, deputy general manager of china southern airlines group, said that china southern airlines' first c919 aircraft is expected to complete demonstration verification in mid-september, obtain commercial flight operation qualifications, and fly the guangzhou-shanghai hongqiao route on september 19. in addition, air china's first c919 aircraft is expected to start commercial operation around september 10, flying the beijing-shanghai and beijing-hangzhou routes.
many passengers are also planning to include c919 in their travel options. during the c919's first commercial flight, zhang jingyi, a student at beijing university of chemical technology, said, "we look forward to seeing c919 frequently at airports across the country as it goes into mass production."
this "flying enthusiast" who finished his homework all night just to arrive at west lake park on schedule to take photos is looking forward to seeing "thousands and tens of thousands" of c919 aircraft.
chen yulong, china youth daily and china youth network reporter lin jie
(source: china youth daily)
