China's homegrown AS700 manned airship successfully completed its first flight over southwest China's Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, comprehensively verifying the airship's stability and safety in low-altitude flight environments over plateau areas, said the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), the country's leading plane maker, on Monday.
The airship flew at an altitude of 1,200 meters over the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. It boasts a maximum range of 700 kilometers and a maximum endurance of 10 hours. Leveraging its unique thrust vector control technology, it can achieve short takeoff and landing, and vertical takeoff and landing in simple sites with a diameter of just 150 meters.
According to the AVIC, the parameters and data on plateau flight performance and environmental adaptation obtained from this flight will further drive product improvements and iterations. This will also enable the airship to better adapt to diverse application scenarios and lay the foundation for expanding into more fields including emergency rescue and aerial monitoring, as well as developing customized flight support solutions.
The AVIC plans to further refine its application solutions for the southwestern region in China, with a particular focus on low-altitude tourism. This initiative is designed to position aviation equipment as a "new engine" for energizing the local low-altitude economy.
China's AS700 manned airship completes maiden low-altitude flight in plateau region
