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    China heavy-lift chopper receives certification

    Associated Press – Thu, Jan 5, 2012

    BEIJING (AP) — China's civil aviation authority on Thursday cleared the country's biggest-ever helicopter for domestic use, its state-owned manufacturer said.

    The 13.8-ton AC313 is the latest advance for China's ambitious aerospace industry that spans military jets, commercial airliners, and even a manned space flight program.

    The aircraft from Aviation Industry Corporation of China made its first test flight in March 2010 and certification means companies can immediately take delivery and start commercial flights. Its first customer is northeast China-based China Flying Dragon Aviation, which flies cargo and passenger charter flights and does utility work such as forest fire fighting. It plans to lease the first five AC313s produced.

    AVIC has said it also plans to apply for U.S. and European certification to allow foreign sales, but hasn't said when it will do so.

    The AC313 is also the latest example of China's adaptation of foreign technology that has facilitated numerous breakthroughs in its aviation industry.

    The aircraft is a larger and heavily modified version of the 7-ton Zhi-8 medium transport helicopter that is a close copy of the French SA 321 Super Frelon. China bought 13 of the French helicopters in the 1970s and at least one was reportedly disassembled for study and reverse-engineering.

    It is powered by Pratt & Whitney PT6B-67A engines from Canada, underscoring China's weakness in that key technology.

    AVIC says the aircraft is suitable for missions ranging from search and rescue to sightseeing and can operate in harsh conditions at a maximum range of 560 miles (900 kilometers) and at altitudes of almost 28,000 feet (8,500 meters). It can carry up to 5 tons of cargo in a sling along with 27 passengers or 15 injured on stretchers.

    AVIC has been the linchpin in China's aviation push, building latest-generation fighter jets and midrange commercial airliners, and is now working on a larger plane that would compete with Airbus and Boeing.

    At 56 tons, the Russian Mi-26 is far and away the world's largest helicopter, twice as heavy as the American CH-47 Chinook.

     
    • MikeS
      MikeS  •  4 mths ago
      A picture is worth a thousand words.........
      • Nocturne
        Nocturne 4 mths ago
        just type AC313 in Yahoo and go to the 4th link with the title "Homemade Giant AC313 the pictures are great on that site, 5 big pic's. Impressive looking. Now yall GET TO DA CHOPPA!!
    • Norske
      Norske  •  Columbus, Ohio  •  4 mths ago
      I can't believe my eyes! That picture of the Chinese copter is amazing!
    • fiver
      fiver  •  4 mths ago
      should have figured there would be no picture, typical yahoo
      • yun yah
        yun yah 4 mths ago
        Typical China!! no pics ever from them.probably embarrassed about their new shoddy piece of marvel!!
    • Eric Yucatan
      Eric Yucatan  •  4 mths ago
      The world studders when the Chinese economic machine coughs. They blind our satellites with lasers and hack our systems on a whim. We cant even get 2 people in a room to agree on anything.., yet alone understand patriotism..,too busy worrying abaout what Kim K is wearing today.
      • John
        John 4 mths ago
        What's a "studder" ?
      • Consider This
        Consider This 4 mths ago
        Those little handles that you pull on when you milk a cow I think.
    • Paul 64
      Paul 64  •  Feliz, Brazil  •  4 mths ago
      Where's the picture ?????????????????
      • D.
        D. 4 mths ago
        Probably the Chinese have hidden their technology for a while yet. Only Americans are retarded enough to spend billions of tax dollars on research and then literally let it fall into the hands of foreign governments.
    • Design.
      Design.  •  4 mths ago
      This is not innovation when foreign helicopters were "reportedly disassembled for study and reverse-engineering".

      This is called patent violations.
      • Mark
        Mark 4 mths ago
        But they don't care. And you can bet it was not just copies they used what they learned to develop some idea's of their own. The Mig-15 we fought in the Korean War had a reverse engineered and improved jet engine from Rolls-Royce. Back when we and the British were less careful.
      • Mike
        Mike 4 mths ago
        Q. What's the difference between the Dong Feng 31 and the W-88?

        A. In China, pi = 3.17.
      • Consider This
        Consider This 4 mths ago
        Whose patent law? If anything in the machines from the 70's were patented then they have expired by now.
    • Bourne ID
      Bourne ID  •  Warren, Ohio  •  4 mths ago
      While the US sleeps in its coma of self-imposed bad policies, the rest catches up. And when it wakes, it will be into a world it does not control nor understand.
    • vinnie
      vinnie  •  Bangkok, Thailand  •  4 mths ago
      imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
    • NotAnymore
      NotAnymore  •  4 mths ago
      "It is powered by Pratt & Whitney PT6B-67A engines from Canada, underscoring China's weakness in that key technology."

      But not for long...
    • Louis K
      Louis K  •  4 mths ago
      Pratt & Whitney PT6B-67A engines are outdated...The Chinese need heavy lift technology and still cannot build and replicate engines for it...You just don't reverse engineer something that complicated...With a Chinook you can deploy heavy equipment, personnel , field artillery very quickly...The NVA/Vietcong took months or years to prepare the stage for a set piece battle...the U.S. took hours to place their equipment...
    • BB King
      BB King  •  4 mths ago
      "China bought 13 of the French helicopters in the 1970s and at least one was reportedly disassembled for study and reverse-engineering." Imagine that!
    • darthvader
      darthvader  •  4 mths ago
      Ok whats next to steal ???
    • am skeerd
      am skeerd  •  Beaumont, Texas  •  4 mths ago
      my toaster lasted 6 months
    • luvchanel
      luvchanel  •  4 mths ago
      Certified by the State owned company. Wow !!!! That's great !!!!!!!!!
    • Politically incorrect
      Politically incorrect  •  4 mths ago
      There seems to be a lot of passion regarding who was first, and who copied whom. Over time, it doesn't really matter. Human intelligence always goes through the process of innovation, improvement, and finally maturation of an idea or invention. It is often not the same group who does all three. So forget the bellicose bickering. Sit back and enjoy the show.

      RCA was the first to come up with the TV, but it's no longer an important player now.
      Xerox invented the first copier. Where is xerox now.
      Leica made really good cameras. So what.
      The first video game was Magnavox Odyssey called Pong. It's a nice bit of history.
      Toyota did not invent the automobile. I'm sure it "copied" a lot, but improved and perfected a lot more.
      You get the point.

      The first is almost always never the best. In the end, it's not the first that stay around. Whoever sells the most, stick around, at least for much longer. If you worry about China making too much copied craps, don't worry. Craps won't stick around for long. But if it does, it probably isn't crap any more.
    • Just Me
      Just Me  •  4 mths ago
      Lsimply "love" all the comments about stealing / copying as if your country never did it before. Hey about the rocket / missile technology stolen or copied from the captured German scientists towards end of WWII?? How about Japan & S. Korea? Did they first invented cars? How come now their cars are so much better than your American made cars? In another word, didn't we all once learned or copied from each other somewhere or in another?
    • BB King
      BB King  •  4 mths ago
      Coming to a Walmart near you!
    • Tribalguitars
      Tribalguitars  •  Atlanta, Georgia  •  4 mths ago
      Why buy the milk when you can get make them build the barn & milk house there and demand they turn over plans for making the cow?
    • Rick
      Rick  •  Portage, Indiana  •  4 mths ago
      Look at the bright side... now Europe can start fighting the Chinese knock off industry, instead of us just footing the bill. For those that say the US copied and stole too, thay are right. When this country was started it was decided that the US would not honor any past or existing Patents in the rest of the world. So we really can't complain about the Chinese following in our footsteps.
    • Greg
      Greg  •  Cincinnati, Ohio  •  4 mths ago
      China's adaptation of foreign technology In other words they copied it!
     Post a comment
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