# First Chinese Chopper



## comiso90 (Mar 19, 2010)

BBC News - China unveils homemade AC313 large civilian helicopter







he heavy-lift AC313 helicopter, built by the state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (Avic), can carry 27 passengers or up to 13.8 tonnes.

It is designed to be used for rescue missions in earthquakes, typhoons and other natural disasters.

It is the latest advance for the country's ambitious aerospace industry.

At last month's Singapore Air Show, Beijing unveiled the Comac C919 aircraft - China's answer to the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320, which should be available commercially by 2016.

The AC313 has a maximum range of 900km (560 miles), the state-run China Daily reported on its website.

Its test flight - broadcast live on China Central Television on Thursday - was hailed as a "breakthrough in domestic aviation technology", it added.


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## tomo pauk (Mar 19, 2010)

Tnx for the info, comiso 

My take is that they copied French Super Frelon.


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## Trebor (Mar 19, 2010)

nice lookin chopper

as for the Comac, it's a nice design, but that and the Airbus A319 can never compete with the Boeing 737 and win  can ya tell I'm a lover of Boeing?


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## Matt308 (Mar 19, 2010)

Back in the late 90s I talked with the old America West airline, Chief Maintenance Manager. He was adamant that the Boeing 737 aircraft were easier to maintain, but the A320 was built like a tank. "Over engineered" were his words.

China is hungry for aerospace engineering expertise.  It's their propulsion engineering that is currently lagging. Currently.


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## tomo pauk (Mar 19, 2010)

Agree.
Had they not $crewed it up by 'The great leap ahead' and Cultural revolution, the tech gap vs. USA like would've be next to nothing today.


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## r2800doublewasp (Mar 19, 2010)

Interesting....their airliner that "competes" with the A320 and 737 looks more like a copied Dc-9 with a few upgrades. Im not saying that they copied the dc-9, i think they built it under license a few years ago, but it is definitely not an "indigenous" design.


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## Markost (Mar 19, 2010)

tomo pauk said:


> My take is that they copied French Super Frelon.



It wouldn´t be the first time, remember the Z-11, the chinese Ecureuil. 

Btw, I´m new in the forum, see ya.


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## Matt308 (Mar 19, 2010)

...and it is a DC-9 derivative.


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## comiso90 (Mar 19, 2010)

Matt308 said:


> ...and it is a DC-9 derivative.



As worthy of disdain it is, I think it's very smart.

Proven design... they'll undercut Boeing and Airbus and sell hundreds to underdeveloped countries and make billions.

The Model-T of Air Passenger Travel has arrived.... unless they start dropping from the skies!

Hell, maybe the big players are a little bloated and could use competition?


,


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## vikingBerserker (Mar 19, 2010)

It does look like a Super Frelon


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## Matt308 (Mar 21, 2010)

Zhi-8 Transport / SAR Helicopter - SinoDefence.com

It too is a copy.


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## tomo pauk (Mar 21, 2010)

French Dauphine is also copied, along with many MiG jets. Even Su-27 got copied there.


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Mar 21, 2010)

tomo pauk said:


> French Dauphine is also copied, along with many MiG jets. Even Su-27 got copied there.



Everything is copied in China. My father in laws company deals with the Chinese quite a bit. Whenever Chinese representative come to visit, they are searched for cameras and other devises to copy plans and what not. Pretty pathetic if you ask me. Come up with something original for crying out loud!


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## Matt308 (Mar 21, 2010)

They even copied the engines.


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## tomo pauk (Mar 21, 2010)

On the other hand, the rest of the world copies many things Chinese invented, so this might be regarded as overdue royalities...


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## Gnomey (Mar 21, 2010)

Yeah isn't surprising at all. Be interesting to see where it leads in the future. Would not be surprising if it (Comac) sells well in developing nations particularly in Africa where China had been making large commercial business deals for raw materials in return for building infrastructure.


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