We had an opportunity to have a sidebar with Yugo Fukuhara, Director, Marketing at Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation (MAC) at Pratt & Whitney’s Media Day. In explaining the fabrication delay, Mr Fukuhara explained that there are no serious problems.
The main issue is getting the paperwork to catchup with the fabrication reality. He explained that the workforce had been become creative in building parts. They have discovered ways to fabricate faster and this differs from the paperwork describing how each part is made. To date 25% of the MRJ’s parts had been fabricated. The problem is that this has put the paperwork behind. In order to ensure certification goes through as planned, the paperwork has to match the actual fabrication.
MAC is now redoing all the paperwork to ensure it reflects the fabrication process on the factory floor. All the parts made will be redone to match the revised paperwork. The “delay” will enables the two processes to once again be in sync.
MAC is confident that although first flight will move out 18 months, production will be accelerated in an attempt to catchup with the original schedule. Mr Fukuhara would not provide a timetable for this catchup.
Are they fabricating the aircraft in the backyard? “workforce had been become creative in building parts” – where is engineering? They do not have the minimum chance of competing with Embraer and Bombardier, it looks like an amateur work. The competition on this segment will not be easy, as I wrote one year ago in my article (http://www.engineerstoolkit.net/battle-for-the-commuter-jets-market)
Comical that they cite Paperwork as an issue Japanese bureaucracy at best !!. No wonder country has been doldrums for 2 decades and counting