The world’s largest seaplane completes all tests

The AG600 aircraft was independent of China on February 28 to complete the final content of flammable liquid fuel discharge at the Civil Aircraft Testing Center in Pho Thanh District, Shaanxi Province in the Northwest of the country, according to the notice from the development unit, the Chinese Aviation Industry Group (AVIC), CGTN Report.

Over the past 2 years, AG600 has conducted 2,014 flight operations with a total of 3,560 flight hours in test tasks before reaching a safe flight certificate. The vehicle has tested in many locations across the country to ensure safety in some special meteorological conditions. Avic emphasizes the flight tests conducted according to a variety of scenarios on the water surface, in extremely cold climates, high humidity and temperatures, horizontal wind and typical fire fighting tasks to confirm the operating capabilities of seaplanes in different specific environments.

The AG600 large aircraft is considered an important advanced aviation device to enhance China’s natural disaster prevention and emergency disaster prevention and emergency rescue. AG600 is designed to perform tasks such as fire fighting, searching and rescuing at sea as well as on all Chinese terrain.

AG600 has a unique configuration including the body on the shape of an integrated aircraft with a shaped like the bottom of the ship. The vehicle owns equipment to help meet the rich needs of users in the fields of marine environment monitoring, detect natural resources, transport passengers and goods. Sample of the seaplane successfully made the first flight in 2017, took off for the first time from a reservoir in 2018 and made the first flight at sea in 2020.

Through flight tests, the development team confirms the frame performance of the AG600 seaplane. Test results show the operating characteristics and stability of the vehicle to meet the design requirements and all reliable operating systems. AG600’s function and water efficiency are also fully confirmed, can serve fire tasks in the plains, hills and plateau.

AG600 is 37 m long, large, equivalent to Boeing 737 and has a wingspan of 38.8 m. The seaplane has a maximum of 53.5 tons of takeoff and continuous flight about 4,500 km. It can suck 12 tons of water from the lake or the sea for 20 seconds, then use this amount of water to extinguish forest fire.