| ARJ21 Xiangfeng | |
|---|---|
| ARJ21 in flight at the Zhuhai Air Show (2010). | |
| Role | Regional jet |
| Manufacturer | Comac |
| Designer | AVIC I Commercial Aircraft Company (ACAC)and Antonov (derived from McDonnell Douglas MD90) |
| First flight | 28 November 2008 |
| Status | Flight testing |
| Number built | 6[1] |
| Unit cost | US $20 million as of 2008 |
The Comac ARJ21 Xiangfeng (Chinese: 翔凤; pinyin: xiángfèng; literally "Soaring Phoenix")[2] is a twin-engined regional airliner. It is derived from the MD-90 that was license-produced in China and is itself a derivative of the DC-9. This programme uses components of 19 major European and US aerospace components suppliers, including General Electric (engine production),[3] Honeywell (fly-by-wire system) and Rockwell Collins (avionics production).[4]
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The ARJ21 is a key project, led by the government-controlled ACAC consortium, which began in March 2002 as part of China's "10th Five-Year Plan". The maiden flight of the ARJ21 was planned to take place in 2005 with formal handing over of the aircraft for use 18 months afterwards;[5] however, the design work was delayed and the final trial production stage did not begin until June 2006.[6] The first aircraft (serial number 101) was rolled out on 21 December 2007 with plans for a maiden flight in March 2008;[2] however this was first delayed to 21 September 2008 and finally took place on 28 November 2008 at Shanghai's Dachang Airfield.[7] It completed a long distance test flight on 15 July 2009, flying from Shanghai to Xi'an in 2 hours 19 minutes, over a distance of 1,300 km. The second ARJ21 plane (serial number 102) completed the same test flight from Shanghai to Xi'an on 24 August 2009. The third plane (serial number 103) had rolled out by then, and completed the test flight on 12 September 2009.[8] By August 2011, static, flutter and crosswind tests had all been completed.[9] The aircraft was expected to be delivered to customers in late 2010, starting with Chengdu Airlines.[10] The ACAC consortium aimed to manufacture 11 ARJ21s a year by 2010, and 30 per year by 2015. In 2009 the consortium was reorganized and became a part of COMAC.[11]
In November 2010, it was reported that the ARJ21's wing became damaged during static testing before achieving ultimate predicted load. The wing's failure then led the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) to limit the aircraft’s flight envelope during its flight test program. The new delivery date has been delayed to the end of 2011.[12]
On 19 August 2011, Flightglobal.com reported that the first delivery of the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac) ARJ21 regional jet is likely to be delayed by up to a year or more, after problems surfaced during the flight testing programme.[13]
On 24 August 2011, Flightglobal.com reported that two components of the testing program were not complete; icing tests were underway but delayed and stall speed tests had not begun. According to an anonymous source within the program that this could lead to delay in obtaining type certification, which could in turn lead to delays in delivery.[9]
The Shanghai Aircraft Research Institute and the Xian Aircraft Design and Research Institute claim to be responsible for the design.
Although ACAC refers to the ARJ21 as "designed by Chinese with completely independent intellectual property rights",[14][15][16] it is being built using tooling which was originally provided by the McDonnell Douglas Corporation for licence-production of the MD-90 in China. Consequently, it bears a strong resemblance to the DC-9 family of aircraft, with an identical cabin cross section, nose profile and tail. An all-new supercritical wing, which has a sweepback of 25 degrees and is fitted with winglets to improve aerodynamic performance, was designed by Ukraine’s Antonov.[17][18][19] Antonov Design Bureau also assisted the project with geometrical determination and integral analysis of the construction strength of ARJ21.[17]
In addition to the baseline and the stretched passenger models, ACAC has also proposed extended-range, freight, and business jet variants.
Members of the ACAC consortium, which was formed to develop the aircraft, will manufacture major components of the aircraft:
Entries shaded in pink have been announced, but have not yet signed a firm contract.
| Date | Airline | EIS | Type | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ARJ21-700 | ARJ21-900 | ARJ21F | ARJ21B | TBA | Options | Rights | |||
| September 2003 | Shanghai Airlines[21] | ? | 5 | ||||||
| Shandong Airlines[21] | ? | 10 | |||||||
| Shenzhen Financial Leasing[21] | ? | 20 | |||||||
| Shanghai Financial Leasing[21] | ? | 30 | |||||||
| March 2004 | Xiamen Airlines[22][23] | ? | 6 | ||||||
| December 2007 | Henan Airlines[24][25] | ? | 100 | ||||||
| December 2007 | Lao Airlines[26][27] | 2011? | 2 | ||||||
| March 2008 | GECAS[28] | 2013 | 5 | 20 | |||||
| Joy Air[29] | ? | 50 | |||||||
| January 2010 | Chengdu Airlines | 2011 | 30 | ||||||
| May 2010 | Merkukh Enterprises[30] | ? | 9 | ||||||
| June 2011 | Myanmar Airways | ? | 2 | ||||||
| Sub-totals | 239 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 0 | ||
| Totals | 239 Orders | 20 | |||||||
Six ARJ21 have been built, but none have entered into service.
| ARJ21-700 | ARJ21-900 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cockpit crew | Two | |
| Seating capacity | 90 (1-class) 78 (2-class) |
105 (1-class) 98 (2-class) |
| Length | 33.46 metres (109 ft 9 in) | 36.35 metres (119 ft 3 in) |
| Wingspan | 27.28 metres (89 ft 6 in) | |
| Wing area | 79.86 square metres (859.6 sq ft) | |
| Wing Sweepback | 25 degrees | |
| Height | 8.44 metres (27 ft 8 in) | |
| Cabin width | 3.143 metres (10 ft 3.7 in) | |
| Cabin height | 2.03 metres (6 ft 8 in) | |
| Aisle width | 0.483 metres (19.0 in) | |
| Seat width | 0.455 metres (17.9 in) | |
| Typical empty weight | 24,955 kilograms (55,020 lb) | 26,270 kilograms (57,900 lb) STD 26,770 kilograms (59,000 lb) ER |
| Maximum take-off weight | 40,500 kilograms (89,000 lb) STD 43,500 kilograms (96,000 lb) ER |
43,616 kilograms (96,160 lb) STD 47,182 kilograms (104,020 lb) ER |
| Range fully loaded | 1,200 nautical miles (2,200 km; 1,400 mi) STD 2,000 nautical miles (3,700 km; 2,300 mi) ER |
1,200 nautical miles (2,200 km; 1,400 mi) STD 1,800 nautical miles (3,300 km; 2,100 mi) ER |
| Max. operating speed | Mach 0.82 | |
| Normal Cruise speed | Mach 0.78 | |
| Take off run at MTOW | 1,700 metres (5,600 ft) STD 1,900 metres (6,200 ft) ER |
1,750 metres (5,740 ft) STD 1,950 metres (6,400 ft) ER |
| Service Ceiling | 11,900 metres (39,000 ft) | |
| Powerplants (2x) | General Electric CF34-10A | |
| Engine thrust | 17,057 lbf | 18,500 lbf |
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