I am shocked. I thought I was on every major autonomous aircraft in China!
A Chinese company has developed a 10-ton electric passenger plane that can fly with a pilot or completely autonomously.
It carries 19 passengers, cruises at a speed of 300 km/h at 2,400 meters, and is designed to fly up to 400 km.
Today, at Binzhou in Shandong, the COMAC CE-25A flew 60.4 km in 16 minutes and 38 seconds of airborne time, with two pilots and a flight test engineer on board - its first crewed flight, following a first unmanned flight on February 2 and 19 unmanned verification flights since then.
COMAC built it with battery maker CATL and Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Power comes from distributed electric fans installed along the wings. The "25" in its name is important: it is certified to CCAR-25, the airworthiness rules in the transport category - the same safety standard as a full-size airliner. China's aviation regulator has accepted the type approval application.
The operational question: COMAC aims for 400 km. How much of this can airlines schedule with passengers on board, after allowing for diversion and holding?
The flight is a milestone. The usable range is the number to watch.