[Updated] Photo: Second China’s J-20 stealth fighter prototype (almost) makes maiden flight

On May 14, 2012, the second prototype of the J-20 Mighty Dragon, serialled “2002”, performed a high-speed taxi at Chengdu.

Once again the images of the first flight were immediately available on the Chinese Internet and the news of the second prototype’s first flight spread across the world.

However, according to some sources, the aircraft did not take off: it performed a high-speed taxi, raised the nose and then deployed the drag chute to reduce speed. It’s a particular kind of test Chinese have performed with the first prototype too.

As explained in an article published few days ago the aircraft coded “2002″ has a slightly different nose section than the first prototype, coded “2001″.

Image credit: Chinese Internet /HobbyShangai

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David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.