Substituïu avions domèstics grans peraliatge de titani
El 2006, el Consell d'Estat va aprovar l'establiment d'un comitè de demostració d'esquemes d'aeronaus grans. Cao Chunxiao és l'únic membre que es dedica a la investigació de materials d'aviació. Després del llançament del projecte, Cao Chunxiao va ser membre del comitè assessor d'experts i va viatjar per tot el país. El projecte d'avions grans cobreix avions civils i militars, i el codi d'avions civils és C919.
The less weight an airplane has, the better. The weight of the airplane itself is a percentage of its total take-off weight, which is called the "structural weight coefficient of the airplane". In the past 70 years, no aircraft has had a structural weight factor of less than 27 percent , which is due to the performance of large components and the manufacturing capacity of large components. Titanium material becomes the key. Aliatge de titaniels materials i la tecnologia de forja poden reduir el pes estructural de les aeronaus i millorar la seva competitivitat.
Today, the more economically demanding C919 uses 8 percent titanium, comparable to 7.5 percent of the Boeing 777 in the U.S. Large aircraft can not be manufactured without large forgings which require high technology. In the column "Academician's Introduction", Cao Chunxiao shows titani forging joint for C919, named TC4, weighing 600 kg. To make similar forgings, China has built the world's largest 80,000-ton hydraulic press.
In November 2015, C919 with China's independent intellectual property rights was officially unveiled worldwide in Shanghai. Cao Chunxiao was thrilled at the scene and his dream of more than forty years came true at last.
El 5 de maig de 2017, l'avió de línia C919 va fer el seu primer vol amb èxit a Xangai. El març de 2021, C919 va prendre la primera comanda. A principis de 2022, el C919 havia rebut 815 comandes.
