This seems to have been the year for Chinese-manufactured aircraft to reach the world stage. Here are a few news items from just the last couple of days:
- the first Cessna two-seat Skycatcher was delivered; all Skycatchers will be made in China (more)
- the 16-seat Eurocopter EC175, developed in collaboration with a Chinese company and ultimately to be manufactured in China, made its first flight (more); this will be somewhat larger than the Sikorsky S-76 airframes being made in China (previous blog posting)
- the Chinese assembly line for Airbus A320 airliners achieved its target by producing 11 planes in the second half of 2009 (more)
This represents a huge change from just a few years ago. An aircraft exported from China prior to 2009 would very likely have been a Chinese-made version of an old Russian design.
Speaking of aerospace and China, I had dinner in Orlando at the house of a friend who works for a jet manufacturer. The other day, his 7-year-old daughter read some boxes and labels then asked him “Daddy, why are all of my toys made in China?”
[Separately, this week’s New Yorker carries a story about the Chinese renewable energy industry.]
“An aircraft exported from China prior to 2009 would very likely have been a Chinese-made version of an old Russian design.” Now it’s a styled version of an old Wichita design. The most amusing aspect of this was Cessna’s Single Engine sales manager who gave nearly identical spiels for both composite and old-style riveted airframes at the AOPA fly in a year or so ago.
I noticed that too Scott, when I first saw the slick SkyCatcher concept mockups, and didn’t take a good look at them again until I saw photos of the first production type, a real rivet-fest. Almost comforting somehow.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-12/21/content_12683258.htm is an article about a Chinese-designed and produced 5-seat airplane.
Scott, Peter: The two-seat SkyCatcher may not be a significant development, but (1) it will give Cessna experience that could be applied to building larger aircraft in China, (2) the fact that Chinese companies are able to produce a complete Airbus A320 or a Sikorsky S-76 airframe indicates fairly comprehensive aerospace manufacturing capabilities, and (3) the collaboration with Eurocopter on the design of the EC175 means that Chinese engineers are working on a more advanced civilian product than anything that American helicopter engineers have on the table.
We have craftily come up with a way to stifle the Chinese economy: saddle them with a low-profit, high prestige aerospace sector to soak up any extra capital they might have floating around. Pretty soon they won’t make anything either. (and we won’t even make Jets)