A multi-engine, instrument rated pilot, James Wynbrandt has been an AIN and Business Jet Traveler contributor since 2003. His in-depth reporting and insightful features have won more than a dozen editorial honors, including two National Business Aviation Association Gold Wing Awards (2019; 2021), and his articles have also appeared in the New York Times, Barron’s, Fortune, Forbes, and Smithsonian Air &amp; Space. He has flown his Mooney M20K 252 on assignments throughout North and Central America and the Caribbean. Wynbrandt is also the author of Flying High (Wiley &amp; Sons), a biography of Jet Blue founder David Neeleman, as well as histories, references works, and books on a variety of other topics from major publishers. He lives in New York City.

Contributor - Business Aviation

James Wynbrandt

A trio of aviation companies from China, Hong Kong and Australia announced here on the eve of ABACE 2014 in Shanghai the forming of a new partnership, the China General Aviation Power-Line Service, to offer power line maintenance and associated services to Chinese utility companies.


The partners are Shenzhen Kings Aviation Ltd., a category A general aviation company with an aircraft operating certificate approved by the Civil Aviation Administration of China, which provides aircraft management, aerial surveillance and power line inspections; Heliservices (Hong Kong) Ltd., a Hong Kong-based helicopter services provider that has been operating in the Pearl River Delta and Guangdong Province for more than 35 years; and Aeropower Pty Ltd. of Brisbane, Australia, a global aerial power line maintenance provider with more than 20 years of experience in the industry.


The new joint venture aims to contribute to the stability and reliability of electrical power distribution and transmission in China. Services offered will include overhead power line maintenance and patrol services, airborne linesman and power line pilot training, power line equipment sourcing, distribution and education, leasing and chartering of specialized aircraft and overhead line technology consulting services.

News and issues regarding all manner of civil and military rotorcraft and their powerplants, including helicopters, tilt rotors and unmanned air vehicles.

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