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Post by Darren Masters on Oct 5, 2011 12:51:39 GMT 12
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Post by jonesy on Oct 5, 2011 13:13:53 GMT 12
Thats waaaaay cool. Seen that bit where the guy steps off the copter onto the live wire for routine maintenance? Now thats skill....
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Post by Darren Masters on Oct 5, 2011 14:05:50 GMT 12
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Post by Darren Masters on Oct 5, 2011 14:10:07 GMT 12
By the way, AS350-B ZK-HUU is the heli.
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Post by Kereru on Oct 5, 2011 14:16:45 GMT 12
Here I thought it was the all new cable less wifi electricity transmission towers bringing power to Auckland? ;D  Great pics Darren. Colin |
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Post by jonesy on Oct 5, 2011 15:20:01 GMT 12
If this is new transmission lines going thru the Waikato? Then they'll match up the ones I saw in the forest by Whakamaru the other day. They've just cut great swathes thru the trees for each pylon. Apparently theyre 250kVa lines and will be upgraded to carry 400 kVa in a while.
I had a mate who used to paint those pylons years ago. Quite possibly without all the harnesses used these days....And he's still alive!
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Post by Darren Masters on Oct 5, 2011 16:59:16 GMT 12
Thanks Colin. Jonesy, these go all through Sth Auckland, through Hunua and up to Auckland. Maybe the same ones? Video below from today.
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Post by skyhawkdon on Oct 5, 2011 18:33:07 GMT 12
Yep this is Transpower's (who I work for) new 400kV line from Whakamaru to Auckland. As Jonesy said it will be run at 220kV initially and as the load in Auckland increases will be upgraded to 400kV. This is the first new high voltage transmission line built in NZ since the 1980s so the whole construction crew has had to be trained from scratch. It is a massive undertaking especially getting the land owners on board. New lines will always be controversial but without this one the lights would go out in Auckland from 2013. As part of the project an old 110kV line has been decommissioned and removed so some farmers are happy!
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Post by Ykato on Oct 5, 2011 18:36:33 GMT 12
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Post by Dave Homewood on Oct 5, 2011 18:50:09 GMT 12
Those lines have pissed off a lot of farmers around here. Don, have they put the lines up round here yet? If not I wouldn't mind a heads oup of when the helos will be around these parts and go along for a look-see.
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Post by michaelh on Oct 5, 2011 19:17:03 GMT 12
Reminds me of this advert. Superb.
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Post by jonesy on Oct 5, 2011 19:24:18 GMT 12
Balls of steel. Nothing less. Its enough to step off those skids, but onto power lines that have potential to fry you?  Question: would all that power on those lines have a cumulative effect on yer 'nads? |
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Post by slackie on Oct 7, 2011 11:20:02 GMT 12
Don't know that they ever got all the farmers "on board"!! They are certainly pretty ugly if they're the ones that will stretch across Lake Karapiro about Beck's Landing.
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Post by flyinkiwi on Oct 7, 2011 11:46:27 GMT 12
I saw one of the new towers sans wires on a particularly wet drive to Rotorua a couple of weeks ago. My first thought was, "wow, someone has put up a memorial to Chain Home in the Waikato" ;D  |
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Post by skyhawkdon on Oct 7, 2011 12:54:09 GMT 12
Don't know that they ever got all the farmers "on board"!! They are certainly pretty ugly if they're the ones that will stretch across Lake Karapiro about Beck's Landing. All I can say is there are now some very well off land owners as a result of this project... resolving the landower issues has cost many times more than the building of the actual line (and every power user in NZ will pay for that). |
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Post by skyhawkdon on Oct 7, 2011 12:59:37 GMT 12
Balls of steel. Nothing less. Its enough to step off those skids, but onto power lines that have potential to fry you? Question: would all that power on those lines have a cumulative effect on yer 'nads? A lot of the maintenance we do on the transmission lines is done live. The guys wear a special conductive suit and take a lot of special precautions to avoid being "fried". You may be interested to know that Live Line work was invented right here in NZ. |
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Post by jonesy on Oct 7, 2011 13:25:29 GMT 12
Balls of steel. Nothing less. Its enough to step off those skids, but onto power lines that have potential to fry you? Question: would all that power on those lines have a cumulative effect on yer 'nads? A lot of the maintenance we do on the transmission lines is done live. The guys wear a special conductive suit and take a lot of special precautions to avoid being "fried". You may be interested to know that Live Line work was invented right here in NZ. Was that thru trial and error? ;D ;D ;D |
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Post by Darren Masters on Oct 7, 2011 14:15:02 GMT 12
I still think they are ugly, probably cause cancer to the people below and are proven pilot killers. Zzzzzaaapppp!  But, I do admire the men (and probably women) that work on these. |
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Post by Kereru on Oct 7, 2011 21:28:59 GMT 12
I took this one today near Hunua Village. Working amongst the pylons?  Cheers |
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Post by davel on Oct 8, 2011 1:07:34 GMT 12
By the way, AS350-B ZK-HUU is the heli. AS-350B3 to be precise. HUGE performance difference between a B and a B3. Long lining to a point on the ground is tricky enough, let alone doing it to a point suspended in the air. Hats off to those Skywork pilots. |
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Question: would all that power on those lines have a cumulative effect on yer 'nads? 
But, I do admire the men (and probably women) that work on these.