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News Roundup for January 8, 2025
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Aviation in Ontario

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.

 
This one has been here a couple of times this week.
EmrtsNBA_31Oct2024(1)_1100pxls.JPG

simpleflying.com

Emirates Reveals Bold New NBA Livery

Emirates now has four aircraft with full nose-to-tail bespoke designs.
simpleflying.com simpleflying.com
 
So I saw a post on FB this morning that CX829 YYZ-HKG had diverted to KEF this morning presumably for a medical emergency. I guess the crew was going to time out so they make a plan to return to YYZ from KEF. I'm at the park near my house with my little one for the second time today because, well what else does a five year old want and it's a little after 1600hrs. An A350 sneaks up on me from behind the trees at about 3,000ft and it's CX829 on the go around from 24L. Man, those pax and crew can't catch a break today! At this point that thing should have been about an hour away from Hong Kong and here they are back where they started from at 01:30 this morning! Ouch! And with it being Jan 2nd you know that thing was full! I've done that route a few times in my past, always in economy and taken CX829. What an absolute trip from hell today!
 
Tim MacDonald said:
So I saw a post on FB this morning that CX829 YYZ-HKG had diverted to KEF this morning presumably for a medical emergency. I guess the crew was going to time out so they make a plan to return to YYZ from KEF. I'm at the park near my house with my little one for the second time today because, well what else does a five year old want and it's a little after 1600hrs. An A350 sneaks up on me from behind the trees at about 3,000ft and it's CX829 on the go around from 24L. Man, those pax and crew can't catch a break today! At this point that thing should have been about an hour away from Hong Kong and here they are back where they started from at 01:30 this morning! Ouch! And with it being Jan 2nd you know that thing was full! I've done that route a few times in my past, always in economy and taken CX829. What an absolute trip from hell today!
Click to expand...
That would suck. I'm surprised the track was eastbound rather than westbound. I assume w/b would be shorter but maybe just a misperception.
 
Love those flights - 16 hrs to HKG, 15 to Shanghai or Seoul, 14 to Beijing and Tokyo, and 21 hrs to Singapore….you get airborne, have a drink, a meal, snooze or watch a movie and you still have a full working day ( or more ) cruising along at 35,000 ft. Do that a couple of times a month and the romance of travel quickly loses appeal. And now with stops in Vancouver…
 
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