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Large helicopter or large aircraft?

By Du Xiaoli (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2008-07-04 17:45

A combo of the Mi-26 heavy helicopter and the Airbus A380 in quake-relief efforts.[Asianewsphoto]

Helicopters, especially Russian-made Mi-26 heavy helicopter, have demonstrated an irreplaceable role in the recent disaster-relief efforts in Sichuan Province. Now some are calling on the development of heavy helicopters in China, but others are seeing the development of large aircraft as key for China's aviation industry.

The May 12 earthquake and subsequent landslides toppled many buildings, blocked roads, destroyed bridges and damaged railways, leaving thousands of people buried under debris, waiting for relief.

In the days following the disaster, helicopters demonstrated their unique advantages, which are unmatched by any other means of transportation.

They proved useful beyond that of even fixed-wing planes, because they needed only a few dozen square meters of space to land and take off. In addition, they can hover over one spot and can even move backward, University of National Defense professor Li Daguang explained. However, currently, the number of helicopters in China is small relative to its geographic size, he added.

According to statistics provided by China Aviation Industry Corporation II (AVIC II) assistant chief engineer Wang Bin, China has about 160 civilian-use helicopters, compared with more than 530 in Brazil, 1,600 in Canada, 3,000 in Russia and 10,000 in the United States. In addition, only a small number of these are domestically manufactured, and most are imported from the United States, Russia and France, he said.

During the relief work, helicopters were the primary means of transport to and from Tangjiashan, where a swelling lake formed when landslides blocked the river, the banks of which are threatening to burst and flood. Large machines, such as bulldozers and excavators, were unable to pass along the roadways and must be airlifted in.

The most impressive helicopter during the disaster-relief efforts was the Russian-made Mi-26 heavy-lift helicopter, which was used to transport bulldozers and excavators to the Tangjiashan quake lake's banks.

According to statistics, from May 12 to June 30, Mianyang airport secured an accumulative 187 Mi-26 helicopter flights for Tangjiashan quake lake relief work. They have carried more than 400 people, 153 tons of fuel and 55 units of large equipment.

The Mi-26 helicopter, one of the biggest helicopters in the world, was designed for carrying large cargo weighing up to 20 tons.

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