Can a country which uses people to push planes around be relied upon to manufacture an airplane from scratch? We're not too comfortable with the concept, but China has just sent its first homemade A320 on a test flight, and all went well.
It comes from the new Airbus assembly line in Tianjin, north of Beijing, which opened last year. We presume assembly line workers in Tianjin are a whole lot cheaper than in Toulouse, France; we just hope they know just as much about sticking airplane bits together as do the French who've been at it since Airbus began in the 1970s.
This first A320 is destined to fly the local skies for Sichuan Airlines, and Airbus' China branch is due to pump out another ten planes by the end of the year; by 2011, the factory's due to be producing four planes per month. Now, in addition to our toothpastes and "Italian leather" shoes, we've got to start checking our airplanes for that ubiquitous "Made in China" sticker.
Related Stories:
· China's First Airbus A320 Completes Maiden Flight [The Age]
· Chinese Airport Travel: New Solutions for Hydraulic Problems [Jaunted]
· The Modern Birds' Nest: Take the Airbus Tour [Jaunted]
[Photo: Vidiot] ]]>