Avicopter logged orders for 26 helicopters on the opening day of the 4th China Helicopter Expo in Tianjin on 15 September. Significantly, this included an export order from Zambia.
The additions to the state-owned corporation’s order book comprised ten AC311A helicopters for the Jiangxi Financial Leasing Company, five AC311As for the Shandong Sanrong Group, and four AC312E and two AC313 helicopters for Tibet Development and Investment Group General Aviation.
The export order emanated from Zambia, where the national police will acquire three AC311A and two AC312 platforms.
Avicopter accounts for nearly 10% of the domestic helicopter market in China. However, this amounts to only 40 or so helicopters out of the 492 turbine-powered helicopters operating in the country according to the Asian Sky Group.
In the past five years Avicopter has received orders for 43 civil helicopters, of which all but one have already been delivered. However, export orders have been hard to come by as China strains to make an impression on the international stage.
Avicopter based in Tianjin currently produces the light single-engine AC311, the twin-engine 4t-class AC312 and triple-engine AC313. Its annual production capacity for helicopters plus Y-12 fixed-wing aircraft stands at 150 aircraft.
At the Tianjin show, Avicopter demonstrated an AC311 equipped with an agricultural sprayer. Flight tests with this new equipment ‘“ comprising a 500l tank and high-pressure pump ‘“ commenced in August. The spraying boom is 9m long and features 24 sprinklers that can spray a swathe up to 18m wide.
In May the Changhe Aircraft Industry Group was granted an STC for an AC311 air ambulance interior. Onboard equipment includes stretchers, oxygen supply and racks for medical equipment.
On 13 July the first two AC311A helicopters were handed over to Qinghai Feilong General Aviation. They will be used for tourism flights over Zhuo’er Mountain in Qinghai. The AC311A, able to carry six people, was designed for hot-and-high as well as cold conditions.
Avicopter is also modernising the AC312 into the AC312E. The latter from the Hafei Aviation Industry Group (HAIG) recently completed hot-and-high flight tests on a high-altitude plateau. It logged 63 flight hours as it looks towards gaining certification from the Civil Aviation Authority of China. Forthcoming tests will encompass cold-weather performance.
HAIG claims orders for more than 80 AC312E helicopters to date. The AC312E has a maximum take-off weight of 4,250kg and it can carry nine passengers.
Also under development is the 3t-class AC322. Another major ongoing project is the AC352, the Chinese version of the H175. Certification for the AC352 by the CAAC will not occur until the end of 2018 at the earliest.
The next big project on the horizon for AVIC is the Advanced Heavy Lift helicopter in conjunction with Russia.
