By Xin Dingding (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-06-10 07:35

Because none of the 12 made-in-China choppers were heavy-lift models, TV coverage of the relief efforts was flooded with images of Russian-made Mi-26 heavy helicopters, which were used to transport bulldozers and excavators to the Tangjiashan quake lake's banks.

Li Daguang with the University of National Defense believed China should develop heavy-lift helicopters and expand the capabilities of its existing mid-sized models.

Wang explained China had previously lacked the economic capacity to develop heavy-lift helicopters.

"Just like large passenger planes, developing heavy helicopters demands huge investments and technological support," he told China Daily.

But with China's GDP growing and technology accumulating from previous projects, now might be a good time to consider developing 20-ton heavy helicopters, Wang said.

Past international experience suggests developing such helicopters would require at least 10 billion yuan ($1.44 billion) and take between five and eight years, he added.

To increase demand, China should expand the functionality of the choppers, he said.

Estimates put the number of helicopters China would need by 2010 at 2,000, but that might not equate to the number of actual orders, Wang explained.

Limited airspace has placed China's general aviation sector - the country's major helicopter user - far behind the scheduled flights sector. Today, only 15 of China's 40 general aviation firms own choppers, he said.

However, since helicopters' usefulness was demonstrated in post-quake the rescue and relief efforts, the industry would undergo rapid growth in the future, he added.

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