Aircraft
Comac Designer Reports on C919 Progress
First flight of C919 due next year
The C919 structure consists almost entirely of Chinese-made components.
The C919 structure consists almost entirely of Chinese-made components.

China’s C919 airliner will roll out and perform taxi tests before the end of this year, but the first flight will likely not take place until 2016, according to Dennis Scott, assistant chief designer at the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac). Speaking at the Royal Aeronautical Society in London last week, Scott, who is a British aeronautical engineer, issued new details on the program, as well as on China’s plan to produce commercial aircraft engines. A veteran of many Western aerospace programs, Scott joined Comac in 2011 to advise senior leadership on Western development methodologies and organization.