Solvay congratulates COMAC on first C919 flight

COMAC’s single aisle C919 commercial airliner was developed to meet growing air transportation demand in the region but is also intended for export sales. To date, COMAC has received 570 orders for the C919.

In 2012, Solvay - at the time Cytec - was awarded a long-term agreement to supply high-performance, structural composite and adhesive materials for COMAC’s C919 commercial aircraft via Shanghai Aircraft Manufacturing Company who is responsible for the C919 aircraft’s manufacture:

In total, nine prepreg specifications and seven adhesive specifications were qualified with Solvay products for the C919 programme and were used across the aircraft’s structure. Solvay’s CYCOM 977-2 and CYCOM X850 prepregs, toughened epoxy materials ideal for primary and secondary structure applications were utilized on the horizontal stabiliser, rear pressure bulkhead, aileron and flaps. CYCOM 970 and CYCOM 7701, two epoxy prepregs producing void-free honeycomb sandwich and monolithic structures were respectively used on the rudder, elevator, winglets, spoiler, wing-to-body fairings and on the radome. Various adhesives for metal and composite bonding were also selected.

Carmelo Lo Faro, president of Solvay Composite Materials, said: “We are proud to support COMAC in their efforts to advance the Chinese aerospace industry, enabling them to position themselves for growth and to use composites successfully on a range of applications on the C919. We look forward to continuing with our collaborative work with COMAC for their future programmes.”

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