Private Helicopters - Out of Reach?

The first China Helicopter Expo has just concluded. The event, which ran over the weekend in the northern port city of Tianjin, demonstrated that many Chinese citizens have an interest in private aircraft, however according to foreign and Chinese exhibitors, certain problems have hindered China's private aircraft business.

Zhang Wan¹ takes a closer look.

 
Li Jingsheng, a helicopter expert from the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, says training a qualified² pilot usually takes three to four years.
 
While it's not easy to be trained as a qualified pilot, it's also hard to buy a private aircraft in China these days. During the recently concluded China Helicopter Expo 2011, the cheapest private helicopter was tagged with a price of three million yuan. The exhibitor explains:

"We would identify this type of private aircraft as an air taxi, suitable for an ordinary family. After paying for three to five million yuan, a family would be able to use helicopter."

Apart from the high price of private helicopters, the annual maintenance fee is about 10 to 20 percent of the purchase price of the helicopter. In addition to this, you also need to pay several hundred thousand yuan to learn how to pilot it.

Last but not least, private pilots have difficulty getting permission to fly in in China due to strict regulations regarding low-altitude airspace. Here is Li Jingsheng again.

"Applying for permission to fly takes about ten days or a week at least, it really takes some time."

But some insiders say the country is currently amending³ its airspace regulations and is expected to ease control on low-altitude airspace nationwide by 2015.
Although it's still hard for most ordinary people in China to own their private aircraft, many people say they are very interested in private helicopters.

one visitor at the helicopter exposition says he wishes to pilot private aircraft as he believes piloting an aircraft would allow him more freedom compared to driving a car on the road, meaning he would be able to get away from traffic jams.

China, the world's second-largest economy, reportedly ranks 4th internationall in terms of the number of dollar millionaires. And according to the Global Fortune Report 2011, rich Chinese have a particular interest in private aircraft.

Some insiders say China needs to build more helipads and airports for private aircraft to take off and land. The helipads and airports should also be able to provide proper maintenance for the aircraft. And the shortage of pilots is a hurdle⁴ that Chinese private aircraft businesses must clear.

According to one expert, more than 600,000 people own flying licenses⁵ in the United States, compared with 20,000 in China.

For CRI, I am Zhang Wan.

1 wan   

(wide area network)广域网

参考例句：

• The shared connection can be an Ethernet,wireless LAN,or wireless WAN connection.提供共享的网络连接可以是以太网、无线局域网或无线广域网。

2 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

3 amending   

改良，修改，修订( amend的现在分词 )； 改良，修改，修订( amend的第三人称单数 )( amends的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Amending acts in 1933,1934, and 1935 attempted to help honest debtors rehabilitate themselves. 一九三三年，一九三四年和一九三五年通过的修正案是为了帮助诚实的债务人恢复自己的地位。
• Two ways were used about the error-amending of contour curve. 采用两种方法对凸轮轮廓曲线进行了修正。

4 hurdle   

n.跳栏，栏架；障碍，困难；vi.进行跨栏赛

参考例句：

• The weather will be the biggest hurdle so I have to be ready.天气将会是最大的障碍，所以我必须要作好准备。
• She clocked 11.6 seconds for the 80 metre hurdle.八十米跳栏赛跑她跑了十一秒六。

5 licenses   

n.执照( license的名词复数 )v.批准，许可，颁发执照( license的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Drivers have ten days' grace to renew their licenses. 驾驶员更换执照有10天的宽限期。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Jewish firms couldn't get import or export licenses or raw materials. 犹太人的企业得不到进出口许可证或原料。 来自辞典例句