Chao Qi, China's new generation fighter and the first of its kind of the nation's own intellectual property rights, completed its taxiing test Tuesday at a test ground of Chengdu Aircraft Industrial Corporation (CAC).
At 5 pm the first Chao Qi produced by CAC was pulled by a special tractor truck into the test ground, and a pilot mounted when the plane stopped steadily before the starting line. The engine was started and the plane taxied along the runway for some 700 meters at a speed of 30km per hour. Then it continued to glide for another 300 meters after a successful turn. A second test was conducted and both of them lasted 30 minutes.
As one of the eight major ground tests that must be completed before test flight, the taxiing test is aimed at trying the correctness of the design of electricity supply system, as well as signal connections between the electricity supply system and other external systems so as to provide important data to guarantee a successful first fly.
The success of the taxiing test has proved that all related index of the plane live up to designed standards and the first trial fly is sure to take place at the end of this month.
(People's Daily July 4, 2003)
