China's AG600 large amphibious aircraft has successfully completed all required flight tests, marking a significant achievement toward obtaining its airworthiness certification, the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) announced on Friday.
The AG600, an aircraft independently developed by China, concluded the compliance flight test subject of combustible liquid discharge at a civil aircraft flight test center located in Pucheng County, Shaanxi Province, in northwest China's Chinese mainland.
Over the past two years, the AG600 has conducted up to 2,014 flight movements, totaling 3,560 flight hours dedicated to flight test missions prior to its airworthiness certification, according to the developer.
The aircraft traveled to multiple sites across the country to carry out its flight tests, ensuring the presence of special meteorological conditions required for some of the tests.
AVIC stated that the flight tests were conducted in diverse scenarios, including water surface operations, extreme cold, high temperatures and humidity, crosswinds, and typical firefighting tasks. These tests aimed to verify the aircraft's operational capabilities in various special environments.
The AG600 large amphibious aircraft family is being developed as vital advanced aeronautical equipment to bolster China's emergency rescue and natural disaster prevention capabilities.
Designed for rescue missions such as firefighting and maritime search and rescue, the AG600 can operate across all types of terrain throughout the country.
The AG600 series features a unique configuration, combining an aircraft-shaped upper body with a ship-bottom-shaped lower body. This design allows the aircraft to be fitted with various equipment and facilities to meet the diverse needs of users in fields such as marine environment monitoring, resource detection, and passenger and cargo transportation.
The AG600 tech demonstrator successfully completed its maiden flight in 2017, took off from a reservoir for the first time in 2018, and performed its maiden flight over the sea in 2020.
Through the prior certification flight tests, the development team verified the performance of the AG600's aircraft platform. The flight test results indicated that the aircraft's operation and stability characteristics meet the design requirements, its stall characteristics exceeded expected indicators, and all of its systems function reliably.
Additionally, the AG600's water dropping function and efficiency have been fully verified, making it capable of serving firefighting missions in diverse scenarios such as plains, hills, and plateaus.
According to AVIC, the development of the AG600 large amphibious aircraft enhances China's design and manufacturing capabilities for large-sized special-purpose civil aircraft and promotes significant progress in the country's aeronautical emergency rescue equipment system.
