CHINA’S independently developed large amphibious aircraft, the AG600, has completed trial ground flights and entered a new test phase on water.

The AG600, codenamed “Kunlong,” successfully finished a trial flight from an airport in the city of Zhuhai, South China’s Guangdong Province, to an airport in Jingmen, a city in Central China’s Hubei Province, on Sunday, according to China Aviation Industry General Aircraft Co. Ltd.

The company said that it marked the start of a new journey for AG600 — a test phase on the water.

The aircraft has passed a series of tests since its maiden flight last December. Next, it will conduct tests and trial flights on the water in Jingmen.

The technical tests and flight tests will be mainly conducted on the surface of the Zhanghe Reservoir in Jingmen. Endowed with unique geographical and water conditions, the Zhanghe Reservoir is also called the “cradle of China’s water planes.” It is home to the country’s only air harbor.

It has been long selected for conducting water-surface tests for multiple Chinese aircraft models, including the country’s first maritime boomber, SH-5, and first amphibious aircraft, Seagull 300.

Designed to be the world’s largest amphibious aircraft, the AG600 is powered by four domestically built turboprop engines and has a range of 12 hours, according to Huang Lingcai, chief designer of AG600.

It will be mainly used for maritime rescue, fighting forest fires and marine monitoring.

Its name “Kunlong” represents high expectation in Chinese culture, with the “kun” meaning an enormous legendary fish and “long” a dragon.

The AG600 can carry 50 people during search-and-rescue missions, collect 12 tons of water in 20 seconds for firefighting and transport up to 370 tons of water on a single tank of fuel.

(Xinhua)