The world’s largest amphibious aircraft, the AG600, made its debut on Oct 30 in the static display area of Airshow China 2016, which opened for six days on Nov 1.  

The AG600 rescue aircraft, which came off the assembly line in Zhuhai on July 23, is another milestone for China’s large-aircraft industry, joining the transport aircraft Xi’an Y-20 and C919 passenger jet. 

AG600 in static display area of Airshow China 

The flying behemoth has a white coating with blue curves. According to the manufacturer, China Aviation Industry General Aircraft (CAIGA), the blue curve design was inspired by waves and depicts both the gentleness and vibrant power of water, which is in line with its amphibious characteristics.

Visitors take selfies to show scale.

The AG600 measures 37 m in length, 38.8 m in wingspan, and 12.1 m in height. With four turboprop engines, it can draw onboard 12 tons of water within 20 seconds, with a maximum take-off weight of 53.5 tons. And a full tank of water could cover a fire spread of up to 4,000 sq m. 

With a maximum speed of 500 kmph, the aircraft can travel 10 hours over a distance of more than 4,000 km operating at upper limits. Apart from low-altitude searches of the water surface, the AG600 can also carry out rescue operations in adverse weather conditions, even with waves as high as 2 m. It can accommodate up to 50 people in distress with a cruising speed 10 times that of a rescue ship, and is able to offer rescue even in the open seas.

The AG600 makes its debut. [Photos by Zhang Zhou / Zhuhai Daily]

Besides forest firefighting and water rescue operations, it can be refitted for marine environmental monitoring and support and safe travel guarantee for navigations along the Maritime Silk Road.

The AG600 has been independently developed and manufactured by the entire aviation industry in China under the coordination of CAIGA in Zhuhai. It is not only big in size, but is also marks a huge advance in the country’s emergency forest firefighting and water rescue capabilities. Tests are ongoing for its maiden flight, and the Type Certificate is expected to be obtained in 2020. So far, 17 AG600s have been ordered.