AG600 one step away from gaining approval

AG600, China's domestically developed seaplane model, has completed all of its flight tests and is very close to getting the type certificate from the civil aviation authority, according to Aviation Industry Corp of China.

The State-owned aircraft conglomerate said in a news release that an AG600 prototype conducted the model's final flight test on Friday morning at a civil aviation testing center in Pucheng, Shaanxi province, putting an end to the type's flight test phase.

It said that the seaplane model used two years on flight tests that involved 2,014 flights totaling 3,560 hours. The test team faced challenges in high-risk operations and verified the aircraft's performance in various environments.

The AG600 is China's second amphibious aircraft model after the SH-5, which was developed in the 1970s for military purposes and had long been retired from service.

It is one of three large-size aircraft to emerge from the nation's ambitious effort to become a toptier player in the global aviation sector, joining the Y-20 strategic transport plane and the C919 narrow-body jetliner. Both Y-20 and C919 have been in active service.

Development of the AG600 was approved by the central government in June 2009 and began in September that year. Tens of thousands of researchers and engineers from more than 160 domestic institutes, enterprises and universities took part in the program. Construction of the first prototype began in March 2014 and was completed in July 2016.

Since the seaplane's debut takeoff in December 2017 in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, four prototypes have been undertaking various kinds of tests across the country to verify the flying boat's capabilities and compliance with airworthiness standards.

With a length of 37 meters and a wingspan of 38.8 meters, the AG600 is roughly the size of a Boeing 737. It is the world's biggest operating amphibious aircraft, surpassing Japan's ShinMaywa US-2 and Russia's Beriev Be-200.

The aircraft is designed for both ground and water-based takeoffs and landings. It is capable of rescuing 50 people during a maritime search and rescue mission. In firefighting operations, it will collect 12 metric tons of water from a lake or sea within 20 seconds and use it to douse fires over an area of about 4,000 square meters, designers said.