China has achieved a significant breakthrough in electric aviation after its 10-tonne-class CE-25A passenger aircraft successfully completed its first crewed flight, marking a major step towards developing battery-powered commercial aircraft. The aircraft, developed by the state-owned Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), took to the skies on November 14, Saturday, in Binzhou, Shandong Province, carrying two pilots and one flight-test engineer, Global Times reported.
The successful flight represents a major milestone for China's aerospace industry, which is increasingly investing in alternative propulsion technologies to reduce dependence on conventional aviation fuel. According to COMAC, the aircraft performed normally during the test, with all key performance indicators meeting expectations.
Plane can carry 19 passengers
The CE-25A is designed to carry up to 19 passengers and has a maximum takeoff weight of 10 tonnes. Unlike conventional passenger aircraft powered by jet engines or turboprop systems, it uses an electrically driven distributed propulsion arrangement.
With a proposed range of approximately 400 kilometres, the aircraft is primarily intended for short-distance commercial journeys connecting cities.
First crewed flight follows 19 autonomous test missions
The November 14 flight was an important step in the CE-25A's development programme, as it marked the aircraft's first flight with people onboard. The test was conducted at Binzhou Dagao Airport in Shandong Province. The aircraft spent 16 minutes and 38 seconds in the air, covering approximately 60.4 kilometres. The complete flight-test activity, including ground operations, lasted 57 minutes and 46 seconds.
Two pilots and a flight-test engineer were onboard to monitor the aircraft's performance and evaluate its systems during the mission. The achievement followed months of autonomous testing. COMAC conducted the aircraft's first unmanned autonomous flight on February 2, this year. Since then, the full-scale aircraft has completed 19 unmanned flight-verification missions before progressing to crewed operations. The testing programme is intended to help engineers evaluate flight characteristics, propulsion performance, onboard systems and operational reliability.
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The transition to crewed flight also allows engineers to examine how the aircraft and its automated systems perform with pilots onboard.
Ten electric ducted fans give the aircraft a distinctive design
One of the most unusual features of the CE-25A is its distributed electric propulsion system. Instead of relying on two conventional engines, the aircraft uses multiple electric ducted fans mounted across its wings. The propulsion arrangement gives the aircraft a distinctive appearance and represents a different engineering approach to powering passenger aircraft. The electric motors drive the fans, generating the thrust required for flight, according to Interesting Engineering.
Distributed propulsion has attracted attention among aerospace engineers because it offers opportunities to distribute thrust across an aircraft rather than concentrating it in a small number of large engines. Potential advantages include greater flexibility in aircraft design and opportunities to improve aerodynamic efficiency.
However, these advantages must be demonstrated through extensive flight testing. Engineers must also establish that the electrical system can reliably distribute power to multiple propulsion units under different operating conditions.
The aircraft's exact motor specifications, electrical architecture and battery configuration have not yet been fully disclosed.
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