The large China-made amphibious aircraft "Kunlong" AG600 made its maiden flight at sea today in the waters near Qingdao, Shandong province, according to CCTV.
The AG600 project was officially launched on September 5, 2009, and this was its first flight in the third environment after land and lake waters.
On December 24, 2017, the AG600 made its maiden land flight at Jinwan Airport in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province.
On October 20, 2018, the AG600 completed its lake water maiden flight at Zhanghe Airport in Jingmen, Hubei Province.
In order to verify the maritime characteristics of the AG600 aircraft, after the successful completion of the on-water maiden flight, a series of work such as scientific research test flights and test pilot modification training was carried out in 2019.
The AG600 is currently the world's largest amphibious aircraft. It is equipped with four China-made Wojiang-6 engines and has external dimensions comparable to the Boeing 737, with a fuselage length of 37 meters, a wingspan of 38.8 meters and a height of 12.1 meters. It has a maximum takeoff weight of 53.5 tons.
As a large amphibious aircraft that can be used for forest fire-fighting, water and sea rescue, the AG600 can rescue up to 50 people in distress at a time.
The successful maiden flight of the AG600 at sea will support the follow-up work, and the corrosion protection of the aircraft will also be evaluated in view of the high salinity and high humidity in the sea.
