Test flights of Boeing 777X aircraft will halt while GE Aerospace engineers inspect a technical issue with the GE9X turbofan engine powering the test aircraft. “We are closely coordinating with Boeing on our findings to support their return to flight testing,” GE says. GE says it will conduct engine tests at its facility in Peebles, Ohio, following a finding during a borescope inspection of GE9X engines from the test aircraft. An initial test indicated that the technical issue could be temperature related. The engine maker in early December aims to finish testing as part of its process to gain an extended twin-engine operations certificate for GE9X powerplants. Boeing aims to complete certification of 777X aircraft to begin deliveries by 2025. The airframer has not yet begun test flights of that aircraft with the US Federal Aviation Administration. Regarding certification goals for its 737 Max aircraft, Boeing advised: “We anticipate 737-7 certification will be completed in late 2022 or early 2023 and anticipate 737-10 certification will be completed by late 2023 or early 2024.”

China's Comac has been granted production licence for its C919 narrowbody from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), paving the way for mass production of the jet. The production certificate will allow Comac to produce the jets under an approved quality control system, and covers aspects such as raw materials control, supplier management, division and control of production links, quality control, aircraft factory testing and after-sales maintenance. This comes just two months after it received type certification from the CAAC on 29 September. Comac applied for the production licence in April 2019, and review of its application began in July 2019. Data indicates Comac has amassed orders for over 600 C919s from various Chinese airlines and lessors, and this includes the most recent order for 300 examples from seven Chinese lessors in early November. It also has options for 40 and letter of intent for more than 650. China Eastern Airlines will be the launch customer, and is scheduled to receive the first two examples on 15 December and 15 March 2023, respectively. Concurrently, the C919 programme has passed the T5 test and Comac was issued an aircraft evaluation report, the CAAC states. The first batch of 15 pilots, including Comac flight instructors, have obtained type rating for the C919. The T5 test is part of a series of tests to determine aircraft type rating and pilot training and qualifications required for new, derivative or modified aircraft. The aircraft evaluation report details aspects such as pilot qualification specifications, master minimum equipment list, planned maintenance requirements and full-aircraft emergency evacuation demonstration. The CAAC states that the T5 test of the C919 lasted nearly two months, and involved five aviation bureau representatives, including Hong Kong's Civil Aviation Department, three China Eastern pilots and two Comac flight instructors.

Airbus and French automobile manufacturer Renault have signed a research and development agreement to accelerate their respective electrification roadmaps and help mature technologies associated with future hybrid-electric aircraft. The two companies' engineering teams will join forces to mature technologies related to energy storage, which remains one of the main roadblocks for the development of long-range electric vehicles, says the airframer. The co-operation agreement covers technology bricks related to energy management optimisation and battery-weight improvement, and targets identification of the best pathways to move from current cell chemistries to all solid-state designs that could double the energy density of batteries in the 2030 timeframe. Airbus adds that the joint work will also span studying the full lifecycle of future batteries, from production to recyclability, in order to prepare the industrialisation of these future battery designs while assessing their carbon footprint across their entire lifecycle. "Reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 is a unique challenge that requires co-operation across sectors, starting today," states Airbus chief technical officer Sabine Klauke. "Bringing together Renault Group's experience in electric vehicles with our own track record in electric-flight demonstrators will allow us to accelerate the development of the disruptive technologies required for future hybrid aircraft architectures in the 2030s and beyond."