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Aviation History
1986
1986 - 1538.PDF
and interiors for its aircraft, although these add $200,000 to the price. With Chinese avionics and interiors the Y-12-2 should be about one-third cheaper than competing aircraft, such as de Havilland Canada's Twin Otter, at roughly $1-3 million compared with $1-7-1-8 million. Li believes that China has a market for more than 200 Y-12s. Additionally, a Chinese airworthiness certificate should be acceptable to certain countries, principally in south-east Asia. Long-term export prospects, however, rest on securing an internationally recog nised airworthiness certificate for the Y-12. The Ministry of Aviation Industry is pursuing various routes towards this goal, working with Lockheed, Haeco, and with Canadair, for which Harbin does subcon tract work on the CL215. A Canadian certificate is therefore a possibility, hope fully before the end of this year, Flight understands. Translation of flight-test data into English is under way. Lockheed's involvement with Harbin predates the Y-12. The US company was assisting with "another project", says Li, without being specific. When a US aero space delegation visited Harbin in 1980, they saw two four-turboprop amphibian patrol aircraft, said to resemble the Lockheed Neptune, under construction at the factory. No evidence of this aircraft was seen during Flight's visit, and its very existence was denied by our hosts. An aircraft that certainly does exist is the Z-9 helicopter. In 1980 China signed an agreement with Aerospatiale to build 50 SA.365 Dauphin helicopters under licence at Harbin. To date 28 Z-9s have been built and supplied for offshore oil support and military utility use. "At the moment all of the Dauphin airframe except the tail is made at Harbin," says Li. The tail is currently aluminium, but this year Harbin will start building the composite tail. "There are a lot of composites in the Dauphin— radomes, panels, doors—all now made in China," says Li. Beginning next year, the factory will produce the composite rotor blades, while the Starflex composite rotorhead will enter production elsewhere in China. The helicopter's Turbomeca Arriel turboshaft engines and its gearbox are already made in other Chinese factories. The licence agreement lasts until 1989, after which time Harbin becomes completely independent of Aerospatiale and the Z-9 becomes a Chinese helicopter, although some components will continue to be imported, says Li. Possible armed and naval variants of the Z-9 have been discussed with the Chinese Government, but so far no orders have been placed, he reveals. The Harbin aircraft factory employs some 11,000 people, including support staff in the schools and hospitals that are part ofthe factory "village". Some 3,000 to 4,000 are directly employed on aircraft production, says Li, which includes subcontract work for Shorts and British Aerospace. Until recently Harbin was producing five 146 cabin door sets a year for BAe, and this has just been increased to five a month. The factory has also been producing 20 SD3 cabin door sets a year for Shorts, and as a result of their good quality, says Li, Harbin is to produce at least 100 SD3 wing centre-sections at a rate of one a month, starting in July. The first wing jig was in place at the time of Flight's visit, while the second had just arrived in China. Although they are state-owned, China's aircraft factories are not Government- subsidised, it appears. "The factory is already economically independent," says Li. As with other Chinese aircraft 44 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL, 5 July 1986
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