Domestically made ARJ21-700 completes natural icing flight test

A home-made Chinese regional jet successfully finished a natural icing flight test in North America, and landed in Yanliang Airport in Xi'an, Northwest China's Shaanxi Province on Monday, a critical step to ensure the airworthiness of the aircraft before delivery.

This is the first time the first turbofan regional jet independently developed by China has flown abroad and gone through flight tests in special weather conditions. The ARJ21-700 aircraft has accomplished global flights of 30,000 kilometers.

The ARJ21-700 aircraft, produced by the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), started its test tour from March 15 in Xi'an, and landed in Windsor International Airport in Ontario, Canada on March 28.

In the following 11 days, the aircraft conducted nine flights with a total flight time of more than 27 hours within the airspace of 2,000 kilometers around the Great Lakes Region in Canada and the US Midwest from Windsor International Airport.

The flights tested the anti-icing and de-icing function of wings, windshield, and engine nacelles. The functionality of the engines, auxiliary power unit and air data system in icing conditions as well as the controllability and stall performance of the aircraft were also tested.

"The success of the natural icing test is a milestone for our home-made aircraft, and it has shown the nation's strength," Luo Ronghuai, vice president of COMAC, told the Global Times.

On its way back, the aircraft stopped over at 17 airports in 10 countries withstood various harsh weather conditions such as snowstorm, snow drift, crosswind and wind shear.

"The plane has an amazing and stable performance when flying and it is beyond our expectation," Zhao Peng, the ARJ21-700's pilot, told the Global Times Monday.

The ARJ21-700 aircraft had flown to Urumqi in Northwest China to carry out natural icing flight tests three times from 2010 to 2013, but failed to pass the test because the weather conditions could not meet the icing test standard.

The ARJ21-700 is the first turbofan regional jet airliner produced by China in accordance with international standards. The plane is now trying to obtain the certificate of airworthiness under the Civil Aviation Administration of China and the shadow certification of the Federal Aviation Administration.

Previously, it had finished high-risk key flight tests on flutter, stall speed and minimum lift-off speed. The plane will try to obtain the certificate of airworthiness at the end of this year, saidGuo Bozhi, head of Shanghai Aircraft Design and Research Institute under COMAC, on Monday.

So far, COMAC has signed orders for 252 ARJ21-700 jets with 13 customers from home and abroad. The first customer, Chengdu Airlines, is expected to get the first ARJ21-700 at the beginning of next year.