China's AG600 amphibious aircraft starts full-scale fatigue test

BEIJING -- China's independently-developed AG600 large amphibious aircraft has initiated the full-scale fatigue test, the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) said on Wednesday.

The test is carried out at the Aircraft Strength Research Institute of China in Yanliang district in Xi'an, Northwest China's Shaanxi province, according to the AVIC, the country's leading aircraft manufacturer.

This test will provide an important full-scale test basis for the future life extension and modification of the AG600 aircraft, the AVIC said.

The AG600 large amphibious aircraft family is developed as vital advanced aeronautical equipment to strengthen the country's emergency rescue capabilities.

The aircraft features a unique configuration consisting of an integrated aircraft-shaped upper body and a ship-bottom-shaped lower body.

The full-scale fatigue test of AG600 aircraft is a special and complicated fatigue test for the whole aircraft. It is the most important test to verify compliance with relevant regulations of the aircraft structure's damage tolerance and fatigue assessment, according to the developer.

AG600 is a type of large amphibious aircraft that should meet both aerodynamic and hydrodynamic performance requirements. Its structural design, operational modes and service environments differ significantly from those of conventional land-based aircraft, according to the AVIC.

The AG600 amphibious aircraft family is China's first independently developed large-sized special-purpose civil aircraft. It is tailored to meet the needs of forest firefighting, maritime rescue and other emergency rescue missions across the country.

The development of the aircraft family is of great significance to enhancing the capability and level of China's homegrown civil aeronautical products, as well as promoting the leapfrog development of China's emergency-rescue aeronautical equipment system, according to the AVIC.

The AG600 tech-demonstrator successfully completed its maiden flight in 2017, followed by its first take-off from a reservoir in 2018 and its maiden flight over the sea in 2020.

The AG600 aircraft has entered the flight test certification phase. Moving forward, intensive efforts will be made to achieve airworthiness certification for the aircraft, the AVIC said.