TwinHuey
Active Member
This may be of interest to other UT drone pilots, @hawc, @Tim MacDonald, @kotsy (the UT Drone Team?).
A few days ago we were riding along the West Don Trail and noticed a Hydro One crew constructing an enormous transmission tower in the vicinity of the Seaton Park Archery Range.
A guy I used to work with is now H1's Director of Helicopter Operations. I reached out to him curious about when the helicopters are scheduled to be stringing the lines. He informed me that drones are now being used to do this work. I had no idea.
Fabulous use of drones!
I recall that line stringing by helicopter, even though I never did it, was not well liked by the other pilots. Even the smallest error or equipment malfunction could result in a catastrophic accident.
Also the cost differential could be significant.
One of the most popular models of day VFR utility helicopters currently operated in Canada is the Airbus H125. This aircraft is used for everything from forest fire fighting to line stringing.
A new H125 costs in the neighbourhood of C$6m and is approximately $1,400 per hour to operate (including fuel, but not pilot / engineer salaries).
Here is a short video on how the drone will string the line.
A few days ago we were riding along the West Don Trail and noticed a Hydro One crew constructing an enormous transmission tower in the vicinity of the Seaton Park Archery Range.
A guy I used to work with is now H1's Director of Helicopter Operations. I reached out to him curious about when the helicopters are scheduled to be stringing the lines. He informed me that drones are now being used to do this work. I had no idea.
Fabulous use of drones!
I recall that line stringing by helicopter, even though I never did it, was not well liked by the other pilots. Even the smallest error or equipment malfunction could result in a catastrophic accident.
Also the cost differential could be significant.
One of the most popular models of day VFR utility helicopters currently operated in Canada is the Airbus H125. This aircraft is used for everything from forest fire fighting to line stringing.
A new H125 costs in the neighbourhood of C$6m and is approximately $1,400 per hour to operate (including fuel, but not pilot / engineer salaries).
Here is a short video on how the drone will string the line.
