China’s unmanned helicopter, the V750, will receive an airworthiness certificate from Civil Aviation Administration next month. It will be the first such certificate issued by the country to a UAS.
“It symbolizes that the UAS has entered the market, and become part of the authorities’ management system,” Prof.Gao Yuanyang with Beijing Univ. of Aeronautics said.
Being able to carry a load of up to 120 kilos, the V750 was modified from an manned aircraft.
“For this prototype, we changed its head to the shape of a water drop, over 40 tests were made of the design,” V750 R&D staff Cheng Shenzong said.
Thousands of experiments and flight tests have been made over the past 7 years. It’s maximum operating altitude is 3,000 meters, and has a range of 500 kilometers and can stay aloft for more than four hours.
Aviation authorities plan to formulate a national standard on drone management, basing on the performance of the V750.
Mass production of the aircraft is underway.
Some companies are eyeing the drone for its money-making potential.
“For instance, there’re hundreds of forest farms in the country and daily surveillance is impossible when pilots and airports are used. But with a drone it would be easy,” Zhang Kesu, researcher with Chinese Academy Of Sciences, said.
The UAS can also help reduce health risks.
“Some pilots are not willing to carry nuclear detectors with them during operation because of radioactivity. Now drone can take them, we also reduce cost,” Chang Junlin, manager of a High Tech Co., said.
The aircraft can also be used in search-and-rescue operations, surveillance of maritime environment, and crop dusting.
Source: CCTV