Xiamen Employs Helicopter to Inspect High-Voltage Power Lines

Helicopter ‘Z-11’ was employed to patrol the super high-voltage power lines in Xiamen for the first time. The task was to examine sixteen 220-500 kilovolt lines in four cities, the first large-scale air patrolling within Fujian Province. To complete the entire inspection, the helicopter has to make take offs and landings eight times with each round lasted two plus hours and 30 km traveled. Though helicopter patrolling is highly efficient, it is still impossible to replace the ground inspection in the near future. Zhang Wangying, the deputy director of Xiamen Ultra–HV Transmission Bureau, uttered that since the helicopter inspection involves too much costs, it can only be done as a systematic checkup in a longer period elapsed. The helicopter employed in this task is manufactured by Changhe Group. Light and convenient for easy take offs and landings, the Z-11 helicopter can be used widely in recon, transportation, rescue and fire fighting etc. It is the first helicopter developed and manufactured independently by China with proprietary intellectual property rights.