China's new helicopter.........

[TLAM Strike]

The PRC had been flying Licence Built versions of the Dauphin since the 1980s as the Z-9 series of aircraft.

In all honestly I think the Chinese are at the point where they are not copying as much as just building new with what they have already learned. They know and have lots of experience with Fenestron rotors, so it make sense that that is what they built, they have lots of experience with the Z-9 airframe so it makes sense they would build a Gunship out of it.

Their gear looks like ours and our allies gear because it's simply the proper way to build it, and they are expanding out of the gear they have bought from overseas so there is going to be a distinct design similarity.

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by TLAM Strike

The PRC had been flying Licence Built versions of the Dauphin since the 1980s as the Z-9 series of aircraft.

In all honestly I think the Chinese are at the point where they are not copying as much as just building new with what they have already learned. They know and have lots of experience with Fenestron rotors, so it make sense that that is what they built, they have lots of experience with the Z-9 airframe so it makes sense they would build a Gunship out of it.

Their gear looks like ours and our allies gear because it's simply the proper way to build it, and they are expanding out of the gear they have bought from overseas so there is going to be a distinct design similarity.

I was just about to say something like that, this looks like just another upgrade of the Z-9. I was kind of hoping they'd brought out the WZ-10, now that thing looks familiar

Still, this is how a lot of nations have started their aircraft industry, you only have to look at the Soviets and the B-29/Tu-4, heck we reverse engineered Jerry cans during the war!

They are learning, and learning fast, and like TLAM said, already they are putting what they have learnt into new designs based upon Western ideas and designs but not directly copying them. The J-XX is an example, it looks a lot like the F-22, but the Chinese have put a canard on the front and it's a lot bigger. It's probably not up to the standards of the F-22, but for a nation that was, less than ten years ago, flying mostly derivatives of the MiG-21 (and for that matter, still does), it makes you wonder what they'll be flying in ten years time...

[Task Force]

Originally Posted by Oberon

I was just about to say something like that, this looks like just another upgrade of the Z-9. I was kind of hoping they'd brought out the WZ-10, now that thing looks familiar

Still, this is how a lot of nations have started their aircraft industry, you only have to look at the Soviets and the B-29/Tu-4, heck we reverse engineered Jerry cans during the war!

They are learning, and learning fast, and like TLAM said, already they are putting what they have learnt into new designs based upon Western ideas and designs but not directly copying them. The J-XX is an example, it looks a lot like the F-22, but the Chinese have put a canard on the front and it's a lot bigger. It's probably not up to the standards of the F-22, but for a nation that was, less than ten years ago, flying mostly derivatives of the MiG-21 (and for that matter, still does), it makes you wonder what they'll be flying in ten years time...

Indeed, reminds me of something I saw about the Chinese auto industry, quite interesting actually to see a nation learning its way to being a modern one, and the problems it may bring.

[Skybird]

Apropos - is this the first leaked photo of a secret stealth helicopter by the US, maybe even the type used in the raid that killed Bin Laden? At least it is not Chinese, and it certainly does not look like a Dauphin.

http://theaviationist.com/2012/08/07...h-chopper-new/

But rumours say it could also be a movie item.

Any ideas, Mulder...?

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by Skybird

But rumours say it could also be a movie item.

Any ideas, Mulder...?

I'd laugh if it was a prop from Zero Dark Thirty

[TLAM Strike]

Originally Posted by Skybird

Apropos - is this the first leaked photo of a secret stealth helicopter by the US, maybe even the type used in the raid that killed Bin Laden? At least it is not Chinese, and it certainly does not look like a Dauphin.

http://theaviationist.com/2012/08/07...h-chopper-new/

But rumours say it could also be a movie item.

Any ideas, Mulder...?

It's a FAKE!!

http://aviationintel.com/2012/08/07/...or-movie-prop/

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by TLAM Strike

It's a FAKE!!

http://aviationintel.com/2012/08/07/...or-movie-prop/

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by Task Force

Indeed, reminds me of something I saw about the Chinese auto industry, quite interesting actually to see a nation learning its way to being a modern one, and the problems it may bring.

Was that an episode of Top Gear?

[Task Force]

Originally Posted by Oberon

Was that an episode of Top Gear?

Indeed it was!

[gimpy117]

France called...

...they want their choppers back

[Jimbuna]

Next we'll see China building them for the French at a lower price than the French can build them for