Aircraft could fly as early as November, as manufacturer starts marketing drive
Hongdu Aviation Industry has completed assembling the first prototype of its L-15 supersonic advanced trainer and is on schedule to begin test flying the aircraft by year-end. Hongdu sources say the first L-15 was completed earlier this month and could fly as early as November, one month ahead of schedule. Two additional prototype aircraft, one which will be used for test flights and another that will be used as a static test article, are now on the assembly line.
The L-15 is competing against the supersonic Guizhou FTC-2000 for a potential order from the Chinese air force, which has expressed interest and is monitoring both programmes. A Guizhou source says the FTC-2000 flight- test programme, which began in December 2003, is on schedule to be completed by the end of this year, but the manufacturer does not know when China will decide whether to order the aircraft.
Hongdu and Guizhou have also begun marketing their new trainers internationally, in particular to air forces in Africa and the Middle East that already operate their earlier trainer products – the Hongdu K-8 and Guizhou FT-7. Both manufacturers claim to be offering a trainer that is cheaper to purchase and maintain than other aircraft in its class such as the Aermacchi M346, BAE Systems Hawk and Korea Aerospace Industries T-50. The FTC-2000 has already been flown supersonically and is designed to fly at speeds of up to Mach 1.6, while the L-15 is designed for speeds of up to M1.4.
A mock-up of the L-15 was unveiled last November at the Zhuhai air show and was the centrepiece of the China Aviation Industries II (AVIC II) exhibit at last week’s Aviation Expo/China 2005 in Beijing.
Source: Flight International
