China’s first homegrown amphibious aircraft, the AG600, completed its maiden flight in Zhuhai, South China’s Guangdong province, on Dec 24.
It is a major piece of aviation equipment in China’s expanding emergency rescue system and a milestone in the country’s amphibious aircraft development.
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council congratulated all those involved in the mission, including those from the Ministry of Industry and Information, the Civil Aviation Administration of China and the Aviation Industry Corp of China.
Codenamed “Kunlong”, the plane was designed to be the largest amphibious aircraft in the world. It is 36.9 meters long, 12.1 meters tall and has a wingspan of 38.8 meters.
According to its developer, the Aviation Industry Corp of China, the aircraft has a maximum take-off weight of 53.5 tons and a top cruising speed of 500 kilometers per hour, and a maximum flight range of 4,500 kilometers.
The chief designer of the AG600, Huang Lingcai, was quoted in China Daily earlier this month as saying the aircraft can make round trips from the southern island province of Hainan to James Shoal without needing to refuel.
The four-engine amphibious aircraft was developed for two main purposes: extinguishing wildfires and maritime rescue.
With a capacity to carry 50 people during search-and-rescue missions, the AG600 can collect 12 tons of water within 20 seconds, and extinguish a fire area of over 4,000 square meters with one spray.
The capability of being able to take off and land on water makes the AG600 efficient for maritime rescues.
Its maximum rescue operation radius extends to 1,600 kilometers, which could cover most of China’s sea areas and exclusive economic zones.
Huang said that besides these two main applications, the AG600 can also be used in tourism as the high cruising speed and large flight range would allow the aircraft to work as an “airbus”, carrying tourists between airports and islands.
The AG600 is considered to be a work of indigenous innovation because the aircraft consists of more than 50,000 components and 98 percent of them were provided by domestic suppliers. Moreover, 95 percent of the onboard products were made in China.
Zhao Peng, the director of the maiden flight — who has also participated in the test flights of the large C919 passenger jet — told CCTV that besides China, the only countries that have the ability to develop amphibious aircraft are Russia, Japan, and Germany.
"Its successful maiden flight makes China among the world's few countries capable of developing a large amphibious aircraft," said Huang Lingcai, chief designer of AG600. Huang graduated from Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
