Story ID: 
Second Comac ARJ21 flies
By: AIN Staff
Caption: The second ARJ21-700 jet flew for the first time on July 1.
Word Count: 141
The second ARJ21-700 jet flew for the first time on July 1. The airplane took off from Dachang Airport in Shanghai, where the Shanghai Aircraft Company performs final assembly, a month after rolling out of the factory and two weeks after its first taxi tests. The flight lasted 61 minutes, during which time the airplane cruised at an altitude of 9,000 feet.
Placed under the control of the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac) since last year’s merger of AVIC I and AVIC II into a single, separate entity called Avic Aircraft, the ARJ21 program test program will use four flying prototypes, the third of which received its exterior paint last month. 
The first ARJ21-700 flew for the first time last November, but by July 9 it had flown just 31 hours and 48 minutes during 17 test flights.