Despite all the flaws of the US aviation industry (as illustrated by the 787 post below), the US and the West remains many years ahead of China in just about every part of the aviation value chain. However, this gap just got smaller yesterday with the maiden flight of the Y-20, a Chinese counterpart to the Russian Il-76 and the US C-17. Upon entering service, the Y-20 and variations thereof will have three primary civil and military applications: long-range heavy airlift, mid-air refueling, and airborne early warning & control.
Bravo to the engineers, scientists, management, and support staff of the Xian Aircraft Company.
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNTA3NTE3Njg4.html
fantastic news; this of course is but a step towards the Chinese ability to compete with the West as well as to ensure supply lines in the event of humanitarian and military scenarios.