Chinese Aerospace at Oshkosh

The Chinese presence at Oshkosh, the world’s premiere general aviation event, consisted primarily of two aircraft: the Cessna 162 Skycatcher and the Yuneeq electric airplanes. The Skycatcher was approved by the FAA in the Light Sport category last year. However, only eight examples have been produced in the Shenyang factory. So far it is not a great example of the power of Chinese manufacturing applied to light aircraft, though some of the delay in production may be due to problems with the aircraft’s spin characteristics.

The Yuneec E430 got a lot more attention. It might be fairer to call it a one-seat motorglider rather than an airplane, but it has substantial range and points toward electric airplanes with a lot of practical value, e.g., for flight training. Since the Chinese are the world leaders in battery manufacturing they presumably should have a good chance in becoming the world leaders in electric aircraft (though with the Solar Impulse, the Europeans are also doing some very interesting stuff).