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Are helicopters used for railroad inspection (tracks or powerline)?


nm34

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Hey guys.

 

I know helis are used for inspection of power lines as such, but what about railroad tracks and railroad overhead wires?

 

Just asking out of "strategic interest", as railroad is one of my prior fields of work/experience and I am trying to figure out whether I could throw that in to distinguish myself. :)

 

 

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An agency I flew for was tasked with just watching the railroad lines in our area. I did see Fixed Wing doing a rail line patrol once.

 

But you can obviously toss in whatever you want to try and distinguish yourself. But it would be employer specific. As a general rule, I don't know that being a previous rail worker is going to do much for you.

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I feel like this would be a game changer for pipeline inspections as well. Any idea when the BVLOS rules and policies will be here for everyone? For someone who flies in the Ag industry operations BVLOS scare me. Without proper safety considerations I think there will be problems.

 

Sorry if this derails the post. If it needs to be moved please move it.

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I get the feeling all inspection, survey, and photography will eventually be handled by UAVs. That is the future. I don't see passenger or cargo transport ever replacing traditional heli operations (offshore, ems, touring, logging etc) but, there's no way it could be cheaper to pay for a full sized helicopter when a UAV can do the same job. Sad but, there's no reversing this trend once FAA comes out with full regs IMO.

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I flew for Amtrak out of Horsham, Pa for a couple of years until funding shut it down. Callsign "Trackstar 1" We patrolled the NE corridor from Boston to D.C. Had a railyard right next to P56 restriced area. 4 phone calls for authorization before we could depart. Worked with Philly P.D. Air unit on joint ops on occaision, good crew there.

 

uncaged

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