China’s first domestic amphibious aircraft
The world’s largest amphibious aircraft, the Chinese-made AG600, carried out its maiden flight on Sunday. The aircraft took off from Jinwan airport in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, at 9:39 am. The flight lasted about an hour.
According to Huang Lingcai, the chief designer, it took eight years to develop the aircraft, and a lot of technological and technical difficulties had to be overcome. The aircraft will continue to make flight tests and start the certification process.
The successful maiden flight of the AG600 indicates that the worlds’ largest amphibious aircraft has officially stepped into the trial flight stage from the research, design and development stage. It makes China among the few countries capable of developing a large amphibious aircraft.
It is reported that this amphibious aircraft’s maiden water flight is planned for next year.
The amphibious aircraft will mainly be tasked with performing aerial firefighting and maritime search and rescue. It can also be used to conduct marine environmental inspection, marine resources surveying, marine surveillance, and personnel and supply transportation. It has been developed by the Aviation Industry Corporation of China.
The aircraft can take off and land on both ground and water. It has an operational range of more than 4,000 kilometers and is capable of carrying 50 people. For firefighting purposes, it can collect 12 tons of water from a lake or sea within 20 seconds and then use the water to douse fires on an area of around 4,000 square meters. The aircraft has already received 17 orders due to its multiple uses.