BEIJING, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- China's homegrown AG600M aircraft, a firefighting model belonging to the AG600 large amphibious aircraft family, has completed its cold-weather flight tests, according to the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC).
Two AG600M large amphibious airplanes completed their cold-weather flight test missions at an airport in Hailar District of Hulunbuir in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, said the AVIC, China's leading aircraft manufacturer.
Lasting around two weeks, this round of flight tests was carried out in a cold environment with temperatures ranging from minus 20 degrees Celsius to minus 40 degrees Celsius, which presented a challenging setting to assess the aircraft's performance when faced with low temperatures, frost and freezing conditions.
The cold-weather flight tests verified the functions and performance of the AG600M aircraft's major systems, such as power, fuel, flight control and avionics, in cold environments, the developer said, adding that the tests also assessed the aircraft's maintainability in low temperatures.
To carry out the cold-weather flight tests in Inner Mongolia, the two AG600M airplanes first conducted ferry flights by traveling around 2,000 km in six hours from Shaanxi Province to the airport in Hailar in late January. This trip was the longest ferry flight mission to be completed by these two airplanes, and it also presented them with the most complicated route environment they had faced up to that point.
Cold-weather flight tests are a crucial step in securing airworthiness certification, as well as learning more about the future operation and maintenance of the AG600M aircraft in low-temperature environments, said the AVIC.
The AG600M firefighting aircraft has comprehensively entered the key phase of airworthiness compliance verification, and is aiming to obtain the type certificate before the end of 2024, the developer added.
China's independently-developed AG600 aircraft family is being developed as vital advanced aeronautical equipment to strengthen the country's emergency-rescue capabilities. These aircraft are tailored to carry out rescue missions such as firefighting, and maritime search and rescue, in all types of terrain across the country.
The AG600 series amphibious aircraft features a unique configuration consisting of an integrated aircraft-shaped upper body and ship-bottom-shaped lower body.
Compared with the technology demonstrator AG600 aircraft, the firefighting-specialized AG600M has an upgraded maximum take-off weight of 60 tonnes, and a maximum water-dropping capacity of up to 12 tonnes, according to the developer. ■
