Hengshen to develop components for C919 aircraft composite tail

Jiangsu Hengshen Co. Ltd. (Hengshen; Danyang City, China) and the Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China Ltd. (COMAC; Shanghai) recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the development of specialized components for the C919 aircraft composite tail optimization project.

The C919 aircraft is a large civil jet aircraft independently developed by China in accordance with international civil aviation regulations. The C919 aircraft has a layout of 158-168 seats, and a range of 4,075-5,555 kilometers. According to Hengshen, project demonstration, feasibility study and pre-development have been completed and the program is entering into the engineering development phase. The first aircraft rolled out on Nov. 2, 2015, with first flight tests on May 5, 2017. A total of 815 orders have been obtained from 28 customers.

Most recently, COMAC has initiated design, development, production and selection of specialized suppliers for a project to optimize the C919 aircraft’s  composite tail.

The signing of this MOU is COMAC’s recognition of Hengshen as a company capable of developing and manufacturing aircraft composite components, and marks the official participation of Hengshen in the project. The two companies commit to share resources and information through technical exchanges and project cooperation to jointly promote the project and to achieve project objectives.

Qian Simon, chairman of Hengshen, expressed that the Hengshen company will cooperate extensively with COMAC and will support the necessary technical requirements of the project by supplying professional experienced personnel to improve the design and manufacturing of specialized components for the C919 aircraft. Additionally, the company will assist in the development of the airworthiness quality system.