Aviation Week & Space Technology - 3 November 2014

56 AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY/NOVEMBER 3/10, 2014 AviationWeek.com/awst

Bradley Perrett Xian, China

A Bigger Turboprop

Avic aims at a June 2017 first flight

for the MA700 turboprop airliner

ployed, rather than looking for prof-
its through cost cuts. An astonished
senior Western executive complains
that his Avic counterparts ask for price
increases for parts. “This is unheard
of,” he says. “Parts prices don’t go up
in civil aerospace; they only go down.”
Admittedly, Avic’s managers face a
much worse problem with cost rises
than Western managers are used to.
Because of China’s rapid economic
growth, labor rates in its aerospace
and airline industries have been rising
by about 10% annually, at least until
the gross domestic product’s increase
slowed in the past few years. Steady ap-
preciation of the yuan against the dollar
exacerbated that problem. It has been
simply impossible to cut costs as fast as
wages have risen, say Avic plant man-
agers, although one of the group’s top
bosses tells Aviation Week that, in his
opinion, Avic has room to multiply labor
efciency many times.
Importantly, Avic is capable of
world-class aircraft manufacturing
quality, evidenced by the building of
Airbus A320 outer wings by the Xian
factories of Avic Aircraft, the group’s
large-airplane subsidiary. Airbus, a
necessarily demanding customer, has
long expressed great satisfaction with
the work. And it is notable that outer
wingboxes are among the most chal-
lenging major assemblies of a commer-
cial jet aircraft.
From the time it was formed, Avic
Aircraft aimed to build its own com-
mercial aircraft, the MA700 turboprop
(see following article). In fact, Avic’s
managers had long wanted to build
China’s first mainline commercial air-
craft; they were deeply disappointed
that the government gave the program
to Comac. Rivalry with Comac means
Avic is very keen to execute the MA700
program well, industry executives say.
The group’s fighter, missile and drone
subsidiary, Avic Aviation Techniques,
shows great advances in technology—
for example, in the J-20 fighter program
(see page 57). On a smaller scale and
with much less funding, Avicopter is
the subsidiary that seems closest to
presenting a big challenge to estab-
lished Western manufacturers. The
rotorcraft maker is planning to build a
range of products with gross weights
of 1-13 metric tons (2,000-29,000 lb.),
plus the proposed super-size Advanced
Heavy Lifter of up to 40 tons to be de-
veloped with Russian Helicopters.
Avicopter’s main hurdle is prolonging

B

y the middle of next year,

Avic and its partners

should move into detail

design of the Xian MA700, the

first all-new turboprop airliner in

more than 30 years. The aircraft

is due to enter service in 2019 as

a larger alternative to the ATR 72

and Bombardier Q400 that fea-

tures new propulsion technology.

Pratt & Whitney Canada prom-

ises that matching its PW150C en-

gine to the highly efcient Dowty

R504 propeller will “provide sig-

nificant fuel-burn economics for

the new aircraft.”

The characteristics of the aircraft,

launched in December, are basically

set, says Wang Chengkuan, president

of the Xian branch of Avic Aircraft, part

of the Avic group specializing in large

airplanes. The MA700 will seat 78 pas-

sengers at a roomy 32-in. (81-cm) pitch,

positioning it closer to meeting the

emerging demand for larger-turboprop

transports than the 1980s-era ATR 72s

and Bombardier Q400s.

Avic signed Rockwell Collins to sup-

ply the Pro Line Fusion avionics suite

in September, but supplier selection is

not moving as quickly as Avic planned.

Last December, engine selection was

due within “a few months” but did not

happen until July. Avic hoped to choose

the remaining suppliers by mid-Octo-

ber, but by late last month had made no

new announcements.

the time between overhauls of its drive

components, say Western rivals. The

Chinese manufacturer says it must get

its product range ready by 2018, to take

advantage of the opening of low-altitude

airspace in China. Its latest product is

the AC332 (see page 63).

General aviation subsidiary Caiga

should have the greatest opportunity

to enter the world market, since small

aircraft are simpler and cheaper to

develop. Also, Caiga is following what

industry executives see as the very sen-

sible path of buying foreign companies

Such delays cannot make achieving

the rest of the schedule any easier. The

joint-definition phase will see Avic and

its suppliers work out development re-

sponsibilities for each party and should

be completed by mid-2015, after more

than five years of flight testing, Wang

says. Then only two years is allowed for

detail design, fabrication and ground

testing before the first MA700 proto-

type flies in June 2017. The 2019 delivery

target implies up to 30 months for flight

testing, longer than usually needed.

By the time the MA700 enters de-

tail design, the Comac ARJ21 regional

jet should be certified, after six years

of flight testing. That should pave the

way for the FAA to recognize the com-

for their expertise. Avic Avionics and

Avic Electromechanical have strategies

based on joint ventures with foreign

companies. Again, that approach has

always looked right.

But it is absolutely not available to

Avic Engine or sibling Avic Commer-

cial Aircraft Engines, the latter tasked

with developing a Chinese turbofan for

the C919. The applicability of aeronau-

tical gas turbine technology to military

aircraft means that Western engine

companies cooperate only peripher-

ally with China. c

ZHUHAI 2014

Avic has basically settled the

characteristics of the MA700.

AVIC

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