AS700 special manned airship for airworthy and evidence-collecting successfully made its maiden flight

It is learned on December 30 from E General Aviation, on December 29, the AS700 “Xiangyun” civilian manned airship 02 for airworthy and evidence-collecting successfully made its maiden flight on the bank of the Zhang River. The airship has been independently developed by the Aviation Industry Special Aircraft Institute.

First flight site

The 02 airworthiness certification airship completed the final assembly and integration of equipment on board in September 2022, and entered the stage of ground testing on board; From December 26th to 27th, it successively passed the first flight technical quality review and first flight release review. Previously, the 01 scientific research verification airship completed all scientific research and test flights in October 2022.

AS700 manned airship is a first-class manned airship product independently developed by the aviation industry based on the domestic and foreign low-altitude tourism market demand, in accordance with the design idea of “one boat with multiple types and serial development”, introducing advanced design concepts in the aviation field. The airship adopts a single-pilot system and can carry up to 9 passengers. It has a conventional single-bag layout, a streamlined airbag shape, an “X”-shaped hard tail, and a non-retractable single-point landing gear. The maximum range is 700 kilometers, and the maximum flight time 10 hours.

The airship is a research and development project approved through continuous in-depth demonstration and key technology research, after extensive market research and analysis by the Aviation Industry Special Aircraft Institute, under the background of the country’s vigorous promotion of supply-side reform, the development of the general aviation industry, the improvement of the emergency rescue equipment system, and the promotion of the development of low-altitude tourism equipment manufacturing, etc. It has broad application prospects in tourism, physical exploration, anti-terrorism and stability maintenance, marine monitoring, cargo transportation, emergency rescue, etc.