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Chinese State Company Unveils World's Largest Seaplane (theguardian.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: China has completed production of the world's largest amphibious aircraft, state media has said, the latest effort in the country's program to wean itself off dependence on foreign aviation firms. The state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) unveiled the first of the new planes, dubbed the AG600, Saturday in the southern port city of Zhuhai, the official Xinhua news agency reported. The aircraft, which has a maximum range of 4,500 km (2,800 miles), is intended for fighting forest fires and performing marine rescues, it said. At around the size of a Boeing 737, it is far larger than any other plane built for marine take off and landing, Xinhua quoted AVIC's deputy general manager Geng Ruguang as saying. The AG600 could potentially extend the Asian giant's ability to conduct a variety of operations in the South China Sea, where it has built a series of artificial islands featuring air strips, among other infrastructure with the potential for either civilian or military use.
Or perhaps it's the 'peking duck'
...the Spruce Goose
What about the Martin Mars? Used as a water bomber in the US. Wingspan of 61 m. Drops 27 tonnes of water. This Chinese thing has a wingspan of 37 m and drops 12 tonnes of water. I think I know which is biggest, and it isn't the AG600.
The word "amphibious" has a lot of weight here - neither the BV238 nor the Hercules "Spruce Goose" was amphibious (both were seaplanes or flying boats, depending on the terminology used), so the claim is accurate.
There's only one Martin Mars still flying, and the current owners are trying to sell it. There's also at least one other that is flight worthy, but that is supposed to be transferred to the NAA museum. This new aircraft (37m) is actually bigger than the Martin Mars (35.74m) in length. The Mars was bigger in wingspan, but with more power, and hopefully reliability, from turboprop engines, such a large wingspan is not necessary for the new aircraft.
It's only slightly larger, and with the same water tank capacity as a Russian Beriev Be-200, which has the advantage of higher top speed for dealing with fires with no nearby water sources. However the new Chinese aircraft has far greater range which allows for more linger time and a larger number of loads before refuelling, which is extremely useful for dealing with spot fire conditions, where you don't need huge water capacity per drop. For single large fires, you're probably better off combining this with a much larger water tanker like a 747-400 supertanker, where the supertanker takes on the main fire front, while the AG-600 assists with, or deals with secondary spot fires that have grown too large for helicopters to deal with.
One of the articles makes clear that they meant that this was the largest amphibious aircraft currently in development, though it probably ties with the Martin for the crown of the largest operational amphibious aircraft when it is released.
When a country has People's in the name, it generally doesn't mean all of them. Far from it.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
So it's designed for firefighting & rescue. Nice to see it's intended for a beneficial use. And who doesn't believe that? After all there's absolutely no reason at all that the Chinese might want to transport things like military equipment to places where there are no long-runway airfields but plenty of water.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Yup, I'm sure this thing was built for fighting forest fires and marine rescue. I bet it can also pick up the occasional manganese nodule.
This plane's wingspan is only 151 feet. The Hughes Hercules has a wingspan of 218 feet. The Martin Mars has a wingspan of 200 feet, and it's still in use for firefighting operations in Canada.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
The European, not the African version.
He he, nice one!
Actually, reviewing the comments posted there seem to actually be some nice aircraft listed. Here's a summary, from longest to shortest fuselage length:
Hughes H-4 Hercules "Spruce Goose"
Origin: USA
Length: 218 ft 8 in (66.65 m)
Seaplane only, not amphibious, not in production.
Saunders Row Princess
Origin: UK
Length: 148 ft (45 m)
Seaplane only, not amphibious, not in production.
Beriev A-40
Origin: Russia
Length: 143 ft 10in (43.84 m)
Amphibious, not in production, though production may be re-started.
AVIC TA-600 [THIS STORY'S SUBJECT]
Origin: China
Length: 121 ft 1 in (36.9 m)
Amphibious, in production.
Martin Mars
Origin: USA
Length: 117 ft 3 in (35.74 m)
Seaplane only, not amphibious, not in production.
Beriev Be-200
Origin: Russia
Length: 105 ft (32.0 m)
Amphibious, in production