Nanjing Light Aircraft flew the AC500 Air Car for the first time on 7 December at Nanjing in China's Jiangsu province. The five-seat single-engined aircraft, which is jointly developed with the Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics and manufactured by Hongdu Aviation Industry, has a range of 1,000km (540nm), maximum speed of 158kt (290km/h) and ceiling of 18,000ft (5,490m). Two prototypes have been built to date in executive and training configurations, although the aircraft is also designed for surveillance and mineral exploration. The AC500 is priced at around 3.6 million yuan ($434,000).
Source: Flight International
