Rebirth 99 to become a car giant.

Chapter 973 C919 First Flight
"Mr. Cao, are you free next Friday?"

Zhao Tianling went straight to the point right away.

Anyway, this is not the first day we have dealt with each other.

"Mr. Zhao, if you want to come to Yangcheng, you must squeeze out some time even if you don't have time."

Cao Yang's daily schedule is quite full, and without making an appointment in advance, he may not be able to find time.

However, many things are not absolute.

After all, schedules can be adjusted.

"I will definitely go to Yangcheng to have a good discussion with Venusstar Technology in the near future."

"But this time it's Shanghai Commercial Aircraft Corporation, the C919 project is about to officially carry out its maiden flight."

"The engine of C919 is provided by Nanshan Engine, the avionics system is provided by Venusstar Technology, and some parts are provided by Nanshan Auto Parts."

"It can be said that you have made an indelible contribution to the successful maiden flight of this project."

Zhao Tianling's words were not just flattery. The Nanshan Group's companies made an indelible contribution to the successful maiden flight of C919.

Although the first flight does not mean that the C919 has been successfully developed, it is at least a very critical node.

If no major problems are found during the maiden flight and various tests are continued, there is hope that formal small-scale deliveries can begin next year.

This is very meaningful for breaking the monopoly of Boeing and Airbus on related aircraft models.

"How is the first flight route of C919 arranged?"

Although this project is led by Shanghai Commercial Aircraft Corporation, many of the core parts are provided by Nanshan-based companies. Cao Yang naturally hopes that it can develop smoothly.

In this way, by selling aircraft engines and other parts, Nanshan-based companies can also share a large portion of the profits.

And this business is also meaningful for the future development of Venusstar 777.

After all, some components such as flight control systems have similar structures on different aircraft models.

After accumulating rich experience with the C919, we will be more experienced in the large-scale supply of Venusstar 777 in the future.

"The initial plan is to fly from Shanghai to Chang'an to test the performance of the C919 in all aspects through a long-distance flight."

"Next Friday is just the first flight of the first prototype, and there will be a series of flight tests afterwards."

"Based on the problems found during the first flight, we will produce the second and third batches of prototypes for testing this year."

"Finally, we will finalize the C919 product as soon as possible."

Zhao Tianling quickly explained some relevant plans for C919.

This gave Cao Yang a more intuitive understanding.

"I will ask Cheng Tao from Nanshan Engine and Zhao Siyu from Venustech to attend the maiden flight ceremony as representatives."

“I won’t fly over there yet.”

If you can avoid traveling on business, do so.

This has been Cao Yang's working style in recent years.

On the one hand, it is a matter of security, and on the other hand, the travel process on business trips wastes a lot of time.

It would be better to stay in the company and participate in the development of some key projects, where you can play a greater role.

Although Zhao Tianling had already predicted that Cao Yang would most likely not participate.

But after hearing this reply, I was still a little disappointed.

"Okay, I'll come over later to discuss the situation of the H-20 with you, and then we can have a good discussion."

Zhao Tianling will definitely attend the C919's maiden flight ceremony next week, and he had been thinking about communicating with Cao Yang at the ceremony.

It seems there is no way now.

But he didn't force it.

Although Cao Yang did not attend the C919's maiden flight ceremony, when the news of the C919's maiden flight was officially reported on China TV, it still caused a great response in the industry.

The first to be stimulated was Japan.

They have been working on the MRJ project for so many years, but there has been no progress yet.

"Inukai, you have to speed up. The Chinese have already gone ahead of us."

As the president of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Hideaki Omiya is obviously very dissatisfied with the progress of the MRJ project.

Although there are many reasons for this incident, many of them are beyond the control of Ichiro Inukai.

But in terms of results, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' MRJ project lags behind COMAC's C919.

The key is that the size of MRJ is smaller than that of C919, and the development difficulty is theoretically lower.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has always felt that its capabilities in aircraft design are stronger than those of China.

In particular, many of Boeing's aircraft parts are produced by Japanese companies such as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

In this case, wouldn't it be easy for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to develop the MRJ aircraft?
In fact, the first flight has not officially taken place yet.

Mass production is even further away.

"President, the parts produced by our domestic suppliers are progressing very well, and some parts are even ready for mass production."

"But some parts purchased from America could not be delivered on time due to various reasons."

"They even find some reasons to raise the price every now and then. Under such circumstances, it is difficult for our project progress not to be affected."

Inukai Ichiro felt that he was very wronged.

He has been working day and night, spending most of his time at work in the company and rarely having weekends off.

However, the progress of the MRJ project has not been smooth at all, and the overall delivery schedule has been delayed again and again.

All Nippon Airways has even threatened that if the MRJ project cannot be delivered, they will cancel their orders.

This is definitely a huge negative for the MRJ project.

“Is Boeing involved in this?”

Omiya Hideaki is not stupid. It is a bit unreasonable that there are always problems with the parts suppliers in the United States.

If the level of American parts companies is really that poor, it would be impossible for the American aviation industry to become the world's number one.

In this situation, he had to wonder if the giant Boeing was behind it.

Although Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' MRJ project poses a very limited threat to Boeing, they are not even opponents of the same level.

But MRJ is ultimately a regional jet, and it will be used on a large scale in Japan after it goes into mass production.

The Japanese aviation market is definitely Boeing's traditional market.

Most of the passenger planes purchased by various airlines are produced by Boeing.

So if there is any threat, the other party may take some action.

"Although there is no direct evidence, this possibility is very high. In fact, only this explanation can make sense."

Inukai Ichiro gave his answer very firmly.

Even if Boeing was not behind the incident, he would find a way to put the blame on Boeing.

Otherwise, if he, the project leader, spent so much project funds but ultimately achieved nothing, he would have to consider committing suicide.

This is definitely not the situation he wants to see.

"For the C919 project of Shanghai Commercial Aircraft Corporation, some parts are also purchased from American parts manufacturers. Why are they not affected?"

Omiya Hideaki asked a rather tricky question.

However, Inukai Ichiro quickly gave his own explanation, saying: "In the early days of C919, many parts were purchased from the United States, and even the engines were provided by overseas manufacturers."

"But after Shanghai Commercial Aircraft Corporation cooperated with Nanshan Group, the situation changed a lot."

"First of all, the engines were purchased from Nanshan Engine, and the avionics system and other parts were purchased from Venusstar Technology."

"Now, more than 919% of the parts on the C are purchased in China."

"If there are problems with some parts purchased from overseas, they can be replaced by domestic manufacturers at any time."

"Under such circumstances, American parts manufacturers will certainly not dare to lag behind, because if something goes wrong, they may be replaced."

"The C919 will receive a huge number of orders in China in the future, and it is even likely to be the single model with the highest sales in the next decade."

"Faced with such a large order, American suppliers are already too busy to cooperate, so how could they be lagging behind?"

“Even if Boeing puts pressure on them, it may not work.”

After hearing what Inukai Ichiro said, Omiya Hideaki felt very uncomfortable.

Since when did the status of Japanese companies in America become inferior to that of Chinese companies?

It shouldn’t be!

"Huaxia can use this method to put pressure on suppliers. Can we use the same tactics?"

Omiya Hideaki asked unwillingly.

"It's a bit difficult. On the one hand, we have already signed relevant contracts with suppliers. If we don't use them directly, there will be some risks of compensation."

"On the other hand, we have been developing MRJ with those manufacturers before. If we switch to new suppliers, we will have to start all over again."

"The most critical thing is that we cannot find any domestic manufacturers that can produce some key components."

Inukai Ichiro's words made Omiya Hideaki very disappointed.

This is not acceptable, and that is not acceptable. Are we just going to watch China get ahead of Japan in commercial aircraft?
He is not reconciled!
……

"David, the C919 large aircraft of MODU COMAC in China has successfully completed its maiden flight. It is said that some airlines have already placed orders for them in advance."

"This situation is very unfavorable to us. Is there any way to ruin this project?"

As the president of Boeing, Muilenburg has been under a lot of pressure in the past two years.

As the former leader in the global aviation industry, Boeing has many internal problems and the external competitive environment is also deteriorating.

In this case, it naturally takes a lot of effort to maintain performance from declining.

"The C919 project is a project fully supported by relevant Chinese departments, and most of their domestic airlines are state-owned enterprises."

"Under this situation, even though the C919 has not yet been mass-produced, some companies have begun to order aircraft due to pressure from relevant departments." "This is no longer a competitive situation in a market environment."

David felt that he should first make the major premise clear.

Otherwise, when the time comes, things won't be handled and it will seem like you are not capable enough.

In fact, this kind of thing has little to do with the ability to get things done, but is mainly related to the support level of relevant departments.

"I understand what you are talking about."

"But in terms of results, the C919 will threaten the sales of many of our aircraft models in the future. This is something that must be taken seriously."

Bosses are generally used to being result-oriented.

Your results are very good, so it doesn't matter if there are some flaws in the middle.

On the other hand, if the result is very bad, even if a lot of efforts have been made in the process, others may not necessarily recognize it.

"Some of the parts for the C919 are supplied by our suppliers. I have tried to communicate with some manufacturers to see if I can do something about the supply of parts."

"But the core parts have already been snatched up by Nanshan companies such as Venusstar Technology. If other manufacturers continue to lag behind, it is likely that the remaining parts on the C919 will also be handed over to Venusstar Technology."

"So the suppliers are now following the contract and are not willing to lag behind."

David explained his past efforts and said that he had not done nothing.

However, Muilenburg is definitely not satisfied with this explanation.

"The C919 will definitely find ways to obtain various airworthiness certificates by then. It shouldn't be a problem for us to do something here, right?"

"Of course there is no problem with this. The C919 will never get our airworthiness certificate. But in the short term, the domestic market demand in China alone is enough to support their rapid development."

After hearing what David said, Muilenburg felt even more depressed.

Chinese market!
That's the largest market in the world.

Relying on this huge market, C919 can really obtain a very good development foundation.

By the time their wings are strong enough, even if Boeing wants to cause trouble, it will probably be difficult.

This is indeed a big problem.

The most critical thing is that if Boeing continues to do what it thinks, it will be very troublesome if China also adopts the same plan to deal with Boeing aircraft.

By then, Boeing might suffer even greater losses, which is definitely not the situation that Muilenburg wants to see.

"No matter what, we have to think of a solution and cannot let the C919 develop rapidly."

He couldn't think of a better way at the moment, but Muilenburg didn't want to give up so quickly.

"Miller, I think the most urgent task may be to focus on the Venus 777 of Venus Technology. This aircraft may pose a greater threat to us than the C919."

"Once the Venusstar 777 is successfully mass-produced, our sales in the Chinese market will drop significantly."

David raised another question.

Although there is no accurate information yet, the C919 has already started its maiden flight. David thinks that the maiden flight of Venusstar 777 will not be too late.

At that time, Boeing was under even greater pressure.

Who knows, the board of directors might have some major objections to them.

"Please make some arrangements and find time to communicate with the people at Airbus to see how everyone will respond."

If you can't do it yourself, then get Airbus to help you.

Anyway, although we are competitors, we are also partners.

At the same time that Boeing contacted Airbus, they were also troubled by the changes in the Chinese market.

"Chen, what do you think is the possibility that the C919 from Shanghai Commercial Aircraft Corporation will be put on the market for commercial operation on a large scale next year as they have advertised?"

After COMAC suddenly announced that C919 had successfully completed its maiden flight, Chen Jumin, general manager of Airbus China, immediately flew to the headquarters to make a special report.

Normally, changes in the civil aviation sector are relatively rare.

What attracts everyone's attention every now and then is news about plane crashes.

After all, there are not many players in this field. Europe and America have already established a solid structure, and there are few companies in other places that can challenge this status.

For example, Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries originally thought that it could rely on Japan's strength to develop the MRJ project and get a share of the regional passenger aircraft pie.

But in the end it will never succeed.

The top executives of both Airbus and Boeing are well aware of this.

Only the Japanese are still holding on to hope, thinking that as long as they work hard, they can succeed in the MRJ project.

In fact, both Boeing and Airbus have many ways to ruin this matter.

So from the beginning to the end, Fabrice did not focus on Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

"If it were two years ago, when Nanshan-affiliated companies had not yet participated in this project, I think the C919 would definitely not be able to achieve mass production so quickly."

"But the situation is a little different now. The core components of the C919 are all purchased from Nanshan-affiliated companies, so all problems will be solved quickly in the end."

"So large-scale mass production next year is very likely. At least in terms of cargo aircraft, the C919 will be adopted on a large scale."

Chen Jumin didn't dare to make big promises to Fabrice at this time.

Because this story will soon become untenable.

Fabrice may not have any idea of ​​how strong the combat power is after the cooperation between Nanshan Group and Shanghai Commercial Aircraft Corporation.

However, Chen Jumin, general manager of Airbus China, is very clear about it.

"If this is the case, then won't our A320 sales volume drop significantly in the future?"

Fabrice asked in a rather heavy tone.

There is no market for Airbus aircraft in the United States, and the market share that can be captured in Europe has basically been captured.

Other places, like Polar Bear, basically use their own products.

For the rest of the world, China is the main market.

But such a big change has happened in the Chinese market now.

This is something Fabrice definitely doesn't want to see.

"There is indeed such a risk, but the China Express aviation market has grown significantly in recent years. Even if the C919 enters the stage of large-scale mass production, its production capacity should be relatively limited."

"And they can't set all plans based on very high production from the beginning."

"So there will definitely be a few years when the production capacity is in short supply, and the impact on us in those years should be relatively limited."

After Chen Jumin's explanation, Fabrice felt a little less stressed.

C919 will go into mass production next year. If the output in the first few years after mass production cannot meet the demand, the impact on Airbus can indeed be minimized.

By the time the production capacity of C919 is fully increased, Fabrice should be almost retired.

At that time, if there are any troublesome problems, just leave them to your successor to deal with.

After figuring this out, Fabrice felt much better.

Of course, he still has the necessary qualities as a professional manager.

"China is not doing anything about the C919 or the Venus 777. You should all pay full attention to it and report any movement in a timely manner."

Anyway, he couldn't think of any countermeasures in a short period of time, so he just made a temporary arrangement for now.

……

"Mr. Cao, all static tests of our Venus 777 have been almost completed. Judging from the current situation, there are very few areas that need to make major changes."

"We can now consider arranging the production of a prototype for the first flight."

The first flight of C919 has been widely reported in China for more than a week.

Zhao Siyu, who personally participated in the maiden flight, convened a technical evaluation meeting for the Venusstar 777 soon after returning to the company.

Judging from the current results, it is obviously very good.

Otherwise, he would not have dared to directly propose to Cao Yang to start producing the prototype for the first flight.

"Since there are no problems, we will produce the parts as soon as possible."

Cao Yang was not surprised at all about what Zhao Siyu reported.

After all, Cao Yang personally participated in all the development tasks of Venusstar 777.

This is a product modified based on the mature plan of the later Boeing A350, so there shouldn't be any major problems.

Besides, Venustech is currently carrying out the H-20 project simultaneously, and some of the confirmed contents are similar.

Several projects were carried out together and some issues were dealt with together, which increased the speed a lot.

"After our successful development of the Venus 777, NSCAD's aviation module will become more mature."

"At present, Yangcheng Zhongwang basically maintains the rhythm of updating one version every month and iterates its products rapidly."

"The feedback from Aerospace Science and Technology and AVIC is getting better and better."

"If Dassault's CATIA wants to block us, it won't be that easy."

Zhao Siyu had been stuck with software before.

In particular, various aerospace industry-related software produced in the United States are completely unusable.

If Venusstar Technology does not have the right software to use, the speed of product development will be reduced to a snail's pace.

"With enough application scenarios and enough talent to perfect it, industrial software won't be that difficult to develop."

"In the future, we will strive to make all industrial software used in various industries in China domestically produced."

"In the future, we can even make our domestic software available to the world, so that companies in more countries can use our software."

Compared with hardware, it is obviously more difficult for software to go global.

Many times, it is necessary to promote it together with the hardware in order to attract others.

However, as long as China's comprehensive national strength continues to improve, its attractiveness in all aspects will eventually continue to increase.

Both Zhao Siyu and Cao Yang are very confident about this.

(End of this chapter)