Chinese people are building, flying and selling their own helicopters, but is it legal?
Popularity of autogyros soaring but the thriving business is a legal grey area in an industry overlooked by regulators
Recent reports of Chinese people making and selling their own aircraft have shone a spotlight on a legal grey area in the country’s aviation sector.
The problem for regulators is that while the backyard business is thriving, its low-key nature makes it difficult to supervise and monitor, The Beijing News reported on Monday.
Under China’s aviation law, aircraft manufacturers must be fully certified before starting production, while would-be pilots are required to have an Aircraft Airworthiness Certificate before taking to the skies. It is also a crime to sell aircraft without the proper authority, the report said.
Many people, however, are flouting those rules and regulations, and not only building their own flying machines, but also selling them.
One of the most popular designs is the autogyro due to its simple design and ease of use. With the appearance of a helicopter, the machines require less space to take off and land, and less skill to fly. Many owners use them for shooting aerial photos and videos.
Xu Bin, an aviation enthusiast from eastern China’s Zhejiang province, was in the news earlier this week after making a business of building and selling autogyros from his workshop.
Another player is Xie Baogang who has been producing autogyros at his factory in Dezhou, Shandong province for the past seven years, the report said.
Xie said he uses streaming website Kuaishou.com to advertise his products – he has posted more than 300 short videos under the screen name “flying general” – and sells them, mostly in kit form, for upwards of 130,000 yuan (US$19,000) for a single-seater and from 350,000 yuan for a twin-seater.
While Xie admits to not having the requisite licences and certificates to build and sell aircraft, he was quoted as saying that his autogyros are “very safe and wouldn’t fall apart while flying”.
Another Kuaishou user, with the name of “Flying Commander”, who also promotes his autogyros online, said would-be pilots don’t need to apply for a flying license as long as they fly at a height of about 200-300m and stick to the open countryside.
Civil aviation expert Zhang Qihuai admitted the issue is not clear cut, the report said.
“These aircraft fall into a legal grey area. And it’s very difficult for officials to supervise, as one can’t know for sure whether a flying machine in the sky has got a licence or not.”
