At the "ceremony of handing-over for the maintenance of Yun-8" persons concerned with the Shanghai Airplane Manufacturing Plant revealed that China is going all out for the research and manufacture of a new-type feeder jet ARJ21-- a key project during the "10th Five Year Plan" period. China Business Airplane Co. Ltd. -- a company for the project is expected to put up its plate before the year end.
News dispatched from Shanghai by Hong Kong Wenhui Daily said, in the whole course of operation of the project, Shanghai Airplane Research Institution and Xi'an Airplane Research Institution will put hands together for the key designing job. Shanghai Airplane Manufacturing Plant will mainly engage in the general assembling of the plane and take up the organizational work for the production and operation of the whole project.
As learned, persons in the trade regarded the project for ARJ21 feeder jet as a new spark for China's civil aviation industry with the first lot of state investment amounting to 5 billion yuan (US$604 million) in the people's currency. The revitalization means to provide Shanghai Airplane Manufacturing Plant with another job in the making of a whole plane after a suspension of six years since it put a halt to the assembling of MD90.
As persons with the Shanghai Airplane Manufacturing Plant revealed, the sample plane of ARJ21 will be put on the show at Zhuhai Aviation Expo taking place at the beginning of November. According to the plan the major parts of the plane will be manufactured in three airplane making factories in Xian, Shenyang and Chengdu with Shanghai taking up the job for general assembling and administering management and control of goods supply from the three places.
Before that the bidding purchase of the jet engine from worldwide has already started with the GM, the British Rolls Royce and the US Hp, the three engine giants of the world contending for the bidding. And according to the plan the feeder jet ARJ21 will see its maiden flight in 2005 and be formally handed over for use another 18 months afterwards.
As person in charge of Shanghai Airplane Manufacturing Plant briefed the plant has already acquired the "Permit for the maintenance of aircraft" issued by Civil Aviation Administration of China sometime ago, the first airplane manufacturing plant in China. This will provide the Shanghai Airplane Manufacturing Plant with an official access to the large market for aircraft maintenance. And as learned, Shanghai Airplane Manufacturing Plant is now actively engaged in talks with the Canadian Bombardier -- the big shot of the world feeder plane for a new item in agent service.
According to person from reliable sources, with the merger of MD90 into the Boeing in the middle of 1990s the whole plane fitting-up of M90 was put to a halt. This has landed the Chinese aviation industry into a difficult plight of "no rice for cooking" and so was the Shanghai Airplane Manufacturing Plant. The revitalization of the feeder jet and the new breakthrough in the maintenance and transferred contract work will serve to offer Shanghai civil aviation industry a new chance to work with.
(People's Daily November 4, 2002)
