Aviation Industries of China (AVIC) is studying the development of medium and large wing-in-ground effect aircraft after receiving initial Chinese domestic certification for the DXF-100 Sky Wing - a 15-passenger amphibious aircraft developed in Jingmen, Hubei province.
The first DXF-100, developed by an AVIC research institute, carried passengers on a series of demonstration flights on a waterway at Huzhou, Zhejiang province, in mid-June. Dubbed Sky Wing No 1, the DXF-100 has entered operation on Lake Taihu.
A second aircraft has been undergoing static and "other laboratory" tests since May, and will be displayed at a technology exhibition in Shenzhen this October.
"In the course of the development of Sky Wing No 1, the institute has settled many key technologies concerned with ground effect," says AVIC. "No 605 [research] institute is working on improving the performance, adaptation and safety of the DXF-100.
"The institute will make further research on key technologies for large and medium-size wing-in-ground effect aircraft for both civil and military purposes."
Source: Flight International