Bradley Perrett covered China, Japan, South Korea and Australia. He is a Mandarin-speaking Australian.
Before joining Aviation Week in 2006 he was a macroeconomics, politics and aerospace journalist with Reuters. Perrett holds a bachelor’s degree in law from Macquarie University, Sydney. He left Aviation Week in 2020.
BEIJING — The Comac ARJ21 regional jet project has been delayed again, with the aircraft now due to enter service in April or May 2015, eight years later than scheduled early in the program and 13 years after development began. The first operator, Comac subsidiary Chengdu Airlines, will receive its initial unit from the manufacturer late this year or early next year, says Luo Ning, the carrier’s deputy general manager. After that, further preparations will be made before operations begin in April or May, Luo tells local media.
BEIJING — China has begun flight testing a high-bypass ratio turbofan that will greatly improve the performance of the Y-20 heavy airlifter and potentially power the C919 commercial aircraft. The engine is the WS-20, according to local media that have published photographs of it in the left inboard position of an in-flight Ilyushin Il-76 used as a testbed. WS-20 is apparently the military name of the powerplant, which has also been called SF-A for civil purposes.
