BEIJING: China’s home-grown AG600, the world’s largest
amphibious aircraft in production, took to the skies on Sunday for its
maiden flight.
The plane, codenamed “Kunlong” according
to state news agency Xinhua, took off from the southern city of Zhuhai
and landed after roughly an hour-long flight.
With a
wingspan of 38.8 metres and powered by four turboprop engines, the
aircraft is capable of carrying 50 people and can stay airborne for 12
hours.
“Its successful maiden flight makes China among
the world’s few countries capable of developing a large amphibious
aircraft,” chief designer Huang Lingcai told Xinhua.
The
amphibious aircraft has military applications but will be used for
firefighting and marine rescue, with at least 17 orders placed so far
with state-owned manufacturer Aviation Industry Corp of China, state
media reported.
While it is around the size of a Boeing
737, the AG600 is considerably smaller than billionaire Howard Hughes’
flying boat, better known as the Spruce Goose, which had a wingspan of
97 metres and a length of 67 metres but only made one brief flight, in
1947.
The AG600’s flight capabilities put all of China’s island-building projects in the South China Sea well within range.
“Its
4,500-km operational range and ability to land and take off from water
makes it well-suited for deployment over China’s artificial islands,”
said James Char, a military analyst at Singapore’s Nanyang
Technological University.
The aircraft can fly to the
southernmost edge of China’s territorial claims — the James Shoal — in
just four hours from the southern city of Sanya, state-owned Global
Times reported.