Fuselage part of China's C919 put into production

The first fuselage part of China's homegrown large passenger jet, the C919, was put into production on Thursday in Nanchang, capital of east China's Jiangxi Province. The part is the No. 1 longitudinal girder of the gate of the plane's forebody, and it is made of aluminum alloy, said Huang Junyong, party secretary of Hongdu Aviation Industry Group, an aircraft manufacturer subordinate to the Aviation Industry Corporation of China. The Hongdu Aviation Industry Group, one of the first nine contractors, is responsible for manufacturing major fuselage parts for the C919. According to Huang, the Hongdu Group has made full preparations for the manufacturing of the parts and passed the project review on nine aspects, including quality control, facilities and manufacturing plans. With the latest order of 20 C919 large passenger planes from China Aircraft Leasing Company Limited on Dec. 8, the users of the jet have reached 10 and total orders amounted to 215 units. C919, the first China's homegrown single-aisle passenger jet, is scheduled to conduct test flights in 2014 and be delivered to its users in 2016.