By Jiang Hui & Mei Chunyan

Getting revved up, taxiing along the ground,and then nosing upward, a blue and white plane finally soars up high into the sky.

At 9:39 am on December 24, 2017, China’s new amphibious plane, the AG600, code named Kunlong,made its maiden flight successfully out of the Jinwan Airport in Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province.

The amphibious AG600, the long-range transport plane Y-20, and the large passenger jet C919,are often called “the Three Musketeers” of the Chinese-made big plane family. The maiden flight of the AG600 signifies the meeting of “the Three Musketeers” in the sky.

The AG600 is the world’s largest amphibious plane and was completely designed in China, which has filled in the technological blank in the production of big amphibious planes in China. The plane has over 50,000 structural and systematic components,98% of which are provided by Chinese suppliers,and 95% of the finished products onboard are Chinese-made with performance on a par with any international companies.

启动、滑行、机头昂起……一架蓝白相间的飞机直冲云霄。2017年12月24日9时39分，中国大型水陆两栖飞机“鲲龙”AG600在广东珠海金湾机场成功首飞。

水陆两栖飞机 ，和大型运输机运-20、大型客机C919一起，被称作国产大飞机家族“三剑客”。这次首飞，标志着“三剑客”终在蓝天聚首。

AG600飞机是全球在研的最大一款水陆两栖飞机，填补中国大型水陆两栖飞机空白，具有完全自主知识产权，全机5万多个结构及系统零部件，其中的98%由中国供应商提供，机载成品95%以上为国产，性能比肩国际先进水平。

2009年6月，AG600飞机正式立项。位于荆门的央企航空工业特种飞行器研究所/通飞研究院（以下简称“院所”），担任AG600飞机总设计师单位。中国20个省市、150多家单位、十余所高校数以万计的科研人员参与研制。航空工业通飞华南公司主承制。

院所党委书记熊贤鹏介绍，设计师团队总人数50余人，近九成 是“80后”。2012年， 科 研人员攻克关键技术，完成初步设计；2014年完成详细设计，确保AG600飞机如期下线和首飞。

这是一艘能飞起来的船，也是一架能游泳的飞机。从外形看，上半部是飞机，下半部是轮船。除了能像普通飞机在陆上起降外，在任何江海湖泊，只要给它一片长1500米、宽200米、深2.5米的水域，它“说走就走”。它是森林灭火能手，最大载水量12吨。它还是远海救护高手，一次可救护50名遇险人员，最大救援半径达1600公里，可以覆盖中国大部分海域及专属经济区，特别是海难多发的内海主航道。

院所长张明文介绍，荆门漳河水库试验试飞基地拥有两条陆上跑道和一条水上跑道，预计2018年AG600飞机将在此进行水上首飞。

世界上，仅俄罗斯、日本、加拿大等少数国家能够研制和装备大型水陆两栖飞机。而今，中国也成为其中一员。

The AG600 project was officially launched in June of 2009. It was designed by the Special/Generalpurpose Vehicle Research Institute of Aviation Industry Corporation of China, a state-owned enterprise located in Jingmen, Hubei Province,(hereinafter referred to as “the Institute”), and manufactured by the Zhuhai-based Huanan Company of China Aviation Industry General Aircraft Corporation. The project involved tens of thousands of researchers from more than 150 institutions and over ten universities in 20 provinces and cities in China.

According to Mr. Xiong Xianpeng,Secretary of the Party Committee of the Institute, the team of the designers for the AG600 consisted of over 50 researchers, who were mostly born in the 1980s. In 2012,the key technologies were conquered and the preliminary design was completed; and in 2014, the detailed design was accomplished, which ensured the AG600’s timely delivery and maiden flight.

The AG600 is both a “ship”that can fly and a “plane” that can swim. Judging from its appearance,the upper part looks like a plane,while the lower part is like a ship.Besides taking off and landing on the ground like an ordinary plane,on any river or sea with waters at least 1,500 meters long, 200 meters wide and 2.5 meters deep, it can take off immediately upon request.With a maximum water carrying capacity of 12 tons, it will be superb in forest fire fighting. In addition, it will also be a superior tool for opensea rescues. It can rescue more than 50 people in danger at one time,with the maximum radius of rescue of 1,600 kilometers, which covers most of China’s waters and exclusive economic zones, and especially the main channel of the continental sea where marine perils frequently occur.

According to Mr. Zhang Mingwen,Director of the Institute, it’s predicted that the AG600 will have its first overwater flight in 2018 at the Base for Experimental and Test Flights at the Zhanghe River Reservoir in Jingmen, as there are two ground runways and one water runway at the Base.

So far, only a few countries in the world have developed large amphibious planes, including Russia, Japan, and Canada. Now,China is proudly situated at the top of that list. (Translation: Liu Jie)