Comac's C919 a twist on 1960s technology If Comac's C919 commercial passenger aircraft ever gets off the ground, it will mark a giant leap for China's aviation ambitions. But like Beijing's determination to put a man on the moon, the C919 project is essentially a 21st century twist on technology that has been around since the 1960s. "Boeing's new 787 with composite materials is a new type of aircraft," says Philip Carmichael, a former McDonnell Douglas executive with much experience in China's aviation industry. In the case of the C919 it's basically structural aluminium. To build its aircraft from this base, Comac is working with some of the biggest names in the global aviation industry, including suppliers such as GE, Honeywell and Rockwell Collins, but ultimately bears responsibility for integrating their disparate systems from the avionics to the engines. When Taiwan's military faced a similar challenge with its indigenous jet fighter project in the 1990s, it was able - as a US ally - to take short-cuts by poaching engineers by the dozen from US defence contractor General Dynamics. State-owned Comac does not have that luxury. Moreover, Comac must produce an aircraft certified as safe by both the Civil Aviation Administration of China and the US Federal Aviation Administration. The latter's sign-off would ensure international acceptance of its smaller ARJ21 regional jet and the C919. "Building a commercial plane has an intense safety component to it," says one Beijing-based executive whose company works closely with Comac. The bar to get over that safety barrier is very high. As early as January 2007, the CAAC and FAA agreed on communication procedures as part of a "shadow certification" programme under which the US closely tracks its Chinese peer's approval process with the ultimate objective of issuing its own "type certificate" for the ARJ21. More than eight years later, a US seal of approval is still pending. "We are continuing to work with the CAAC but there is nothing imminent on the [ARJ21"s] type certification," the FAA said. There is still flight testing and validation work to be done. The C919, which unlike the ARJ21 is big enough to classify as a competitor to Boeing and Airbus, must be similarly vetted and cleared before it can be sold in developed markets. But that is not stopping Comac from trying to get a head start on its sales push. On Tuesday, it signed a letter of intent to supply a Chinese leasing company with 21 ARJ21s. A delegation from the Congo also signalled its willingness to buy three of the planes. Comac has similar pledges from mainly Chinese buyers to purchase about 400 C919s. So far the only overseas commitment is from a sister unit of one of its suppliers - GE's leasing arm, GE Capital Aviation Services.