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China's homegrown airship AS700 completes first trial flight in Hubei

China's homegrown airship AS700 completes first trial flight in Hubei

China's first self-developed civil airship, the AS700 "Xiangyun", completed its first trial flight between two airports in central China's Hubei Province on Saturday, laying a foundation for further long-distance test and commercial operation.

On Saturday, the AS700 took off from the Zhanghe Airport in Jingmen City and made a stop at an airport in Jingzhou City with a 106-minute flight. The airship then returned to Jingmen smoothly.

The successful test marks the airship's inaugural ferrying flight between two cities. The flight provided a comprehensive test of the airship's performance, as well as the crew's flight capabilities, ground support systems and airspace coordination, establishing the basis for its future long-distance flights.

"Everything went well as planned. Much more comfortable than the small-sized planes we usually take. It only needs a small space to do vertical take-off and landing," said Lin Hong, the trial flight pilot.

In December 2023, the Civil Aviation Administration of China issued an airship type certificate for the AS700. The airship will primarily serve in the fields of aerial tours, emergency rescue operations, aviation-based geophysical exploration, and other related areas.

The airship can carry up to 10 people on board, including the pilot. It has a maximum take-off weight of 4,150 kilograms, a longest flight range of 700 kilometers, a maximum endurance of 10 hours, and a top speed of 100 kilometers per hour.

Zhou Lei, chief engineer for the AS700 research program, said that the trial flight verified AS700's functions of vertical take-off and landing.

"The airship's vertical take-off and landing within a short range is the first complete experiment and exploration in our country. This is a good support for the country's low-altitude economy and tourism development," said Zhou.

So far, the airship has received 18 intended purchase orders, and the first airship is scheduled to be delivered by the end of this year.

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