[updated:LAST EDITED ON 17-06-02 AT 05:22 AM (GMT)] Just for the heck of discussion, there is a fascinating thread going on in CDF speculating over a June 14th article from the Chinese official mouthpiece about a new fighter with a domesticly produced engine that was succesfully tested. In keeping with commie traditions, the type and model of the “new fighter” were not named by the paper.
http://www.anyboard.net/cgi-bin/anyboard.cgi/gov/mil/anyboard/?cmd=get&…
The story itself is actually reprinted from the PLA Daily, the Chinese military newspaper.
There are some rather candid descriptions of failure, including a fire that destroyed the control panel leading to ejection of the test pilot, in the article.
The story was posted by Xinhui of CDF.
Here’s a partial translation, thanks to Citanon of CDF:
“The article mentions that the new fighter has a domestically produced engine and a delta wing, though no mention was made [of] canards.
The test pilots called it ¡°ÕùÆø»ú”, the “winner aircraft”, implying that this was an aircraft that was going to win respect for the domestic aviation industry.
In April 1999, they began testing the aircraft during vibrations and post stall spirals (I have no idea what those mean).
The aircraft began prototype testing in 2000.
Missile launch testing began in May 2001.
The cockpit displays are in English, mostly acronyms.
The last development aircraft caught fire mid-flight. After the fire destroyed the flight controls, the pilot, Yong-lin Xu, continued to sit in the aircraft for 42 seconds, memorizing critical data. He finally ejected at an altitude of 300 meters.
Throughout testing, the aircraft lost power a total of 28 times.
Post stall spiral testing was conducted by Cun-Bao Lee and Zhong-Hua Lee. During 80 test flights conducted on post stall spiral, the aicraft encountered 13 major in-flight failures.”
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June 17, 2002 at 5:00 am