A proud, profitable takeoff

Bullish forecast

In the civilian helicopter sphere, AVIC's products are gaining popularity in the market.

The latest in the company's civilian product portfolio - the AC352 medium-lift utility helicopter - is on the want list of many domestic clients, said Sun Qingmin, another deputy manager of Avicopter.

The company has received initial orders for more than 10 AC352s from domestic buyers such as CITIC Offshore Helicopter, a leading Chinese general aviation services provider, and expects to sell at least 300 in China over the next 20 years.

"Though the airworthiness certification process is still underway, we have been working hard to promote the helicopter in the market, especially to existing users of our products in the government such as the public security and transportation authorities," Sun said during a recent interview.

"We are optimistic about the AC352's market prospects in China because the Ministry of Public Security has plans to set up more than 300 police aviation squadrons across the country in the near future and will consequently need a lot of utility helicopters like our AC352."

He also said China has long coastlines and many offshore industries, and that can lead to solid demand for advanced long-range helicopters such as the AC352 to conduct a variety of operations, including transportation and maritime search and rescue.

"Many of our targeted clients told us that they urgently need the AC352 and that as soon as its airworthiness certification is done, they will place orders," Sun said.

Lu Weijian, the AC352's chief designer at Avicopter, said: "Potential users told me that they are attracted by the helicopter's good economy and low operational and maintenance costs. They said the helicopter will be useful in rescue missions, medical air services, maritime patrols and offshore oil rigs' transport operations."

The AC352, China's first 7-metric-ton-class helicopter, was co-developed by Avicopter and Airbus Helicopters in 2006. It made its first flight in December 2016 in Harbin, Heilongjiang province.

The European model, which Airbus Helicopters refers to as the H175, made its maiden flight in December 2009 in France and was certified in January 2014 by the European Aviation Safety Agency. Deliveries to buyers began in December 2014, according to Airbus Helicopters.

The helicopter has a maximum takeoff weight of 7.5 tons, a maximum carrying capacity of 3 tons and a cruising speed of 275 kilometers per hour. It can fly up to 850 km in a single operation, according to Avicopter.

It said the AC352 is one of the most comfortable and environmentally friendly medium-sized helicopters in the world, adding that, in addition to two pilots, it can transport up to 16 passengers.

Heavyweight cooperation

China and Russia are working together on the research and development of a new type of heavy-lift helicopter, a major joint endeavor between the two countries in the aviation sphere.

Bilateral talks are close to completion with terms waiting for review and approval by governments, according to sources close to this program.

Sources said the aircraft's design work and assembly will be in China while the production of some key parts will be in Russia.

The aircraft will become the first helicopter jointly designed and built by China and Russia, and will be competitive in the international market, said Huang Chuanyue, deputy chief engineer at Avicopter.

"Russia has rich experience in the field of large, heavy-duty helicopter while China has advantages in medium-and small-size civilian helicopters. There are bright prospects in the bilateral cooperation on the research and development of helicopters," Huang said recently.

According to specifications published by AVIC, the helicopter will have a maximum takeoff weight of 38.2 tons and a maximum cruising speed of 300 km/h. It will be capable of flying at altitudes up to 5,700 meters and have a range of 630 km.

It will be more powerful than all of the other helicopters in China in terms of carrying capacity - it will be capable of taking 10 tons of cargo, or more than 100 people inside the cabin, or carry 15 tons of freight via an external sling. By comparison, the AC313, the currently mightiest type, can carry 4 tons inside the cabin or lift 5 tons outside the body.

Wu Peixin, an aviation industry observer in Beijing, said heavy-lift helicopters can transport a large amount of cargo or heavyweight items in and out of poorly accessible areas in an efficient manner, so will bring great convenience to people living there.

He said that such helicopters are indispensible in emergency response or disaster aid operations in these regions.

AVIC estimates that China will need at least 200 heavy-lift helicopters within the coming three decades.

Innovation to fly high

Besides building traditional models, Chinese designers have started preliminary research of an electric helicopter and are working toward developing a technology demonstration prototype.

Deng Jinghui, chief designer at the China Helicopter Research and Development Institute, said that researchers and engineers have carried out ground-based technology demonstration of an electrically driven tail rotor. They are making preparations for the device to be used on a 2-ton helicopter for flight test, he said.

Engineers will remove the aircraft's original tail rotor, which is driven by the helicopter's engine through the transmission gear like such part does in all helicopters, and also get rid of related transmission instrument, and then install an electric tail rotor that generates the driving force by itself rather from the engine, according to the designer.

"Replacing a conventional tail rotor with an electrically driven one is our first step in exploring and verifying the technical feasibility of an electric helicopter," Deng said.

He said engineers plan to use about two years to test how the electric tail rotor will work on the helicopter and if everything goes well, they will replace the same helicopter's engine and the conventional main rotor with an electric generator, an electric motor and an electrically propelled main rotor for further tests.

Within the coming decade, Chinese aviation engineers will strive to build an all-electric helicopter and the keys to this goal are the high-power density motor and high-performance battery, which will take the place of engine and electric generator.

Wang Yanan, editor-in-chief of Aerospace Knowledge magazine, said that compared with a conventional helicopter, an electric model features multiple advantages such as simpler structure, better control, less pollution and reduced operational cost.