Many people are surprised that Nepal has become the first country to be interested in yun-6. Under normal circumstances, Pakistan, which also has plateau terrain and needs in this area, should be more interested.
As a country deeply influenced by New Delhi, Nepal has to look at the faces of the big men behind the scenes.
Paradoxically, Nepal has not given New Delhi any face in this respect.
The reason for this is very simple. Nepal's demand for short takeoff and landing small fixed wing aircraft in complex terrain is beyond the imagination of ordinary people.
Because of such complex terrain, short takeoff and landing of small fixed wing aircraft can bring great financial revenue and real benefits to Nepal.
As a small inland country, Nepal has no industry, handicraft industry and agriculture. Tourism is the only economic pillar in Nepal.
As we all know, Nepal is backed by the southern foot of Mount Everest, the main peak of the Himalayas, and the southern foot of Mount Everest is recognized as the best way to climb Mount Everest, so every year mountaineers from all over the world will gather in Nepal and challenge Mount Everest in groups.
Mountaineering enthusiasts who can spend a lot of time, energy and money to buy equipment are basically the owners of good money, which can be regarded as the high-end group of tourists. Therefore, although the annual tourist reception in Nepal is not much, the actual income is very considerable.
After all, mountaineering enthusiasts all over the world want to challenge Mount Everest in one or two months, so the eating and drinking Lhasa of these two months are all solved in Nepal, and the resulting economic value is self-evident.
So the whole Nepalese people really treat the mountaineers as their parents. They want to build an elevator under Mount Everest to send the mountaineers up in piles, and then lie down to collect money.
The problem is that this idea is just like the idea of the richest man of a big eastern country in a certain period of time to blow up a hole in Mount Everest, introduce the Indian Ocean warm and humid air flow, and improve the climate of the Qinghai Tibet Plateau. That is a beautiful delusion.
But wishful thinking can't be reflected in reality. It's possible for Nepal to send mountaineers to the foot of Mount Everest.
So in 1964, with the help of private funds from several foreign mountaineering enthusiasts, Nepal built a simple small airport in lukala, the last village where people gathered before the impact of Mount Everest.
The reason for this is that the Nepalese government has no choice but to build a road or railway to Mount Qomolangma. The problem is that Nepal is small and financially weak. In addition, the topography at the southern foot of the himalama mountains falls to the south in a ladder shape, which is not only complex, but also unstable in geological conditions. Nepal simply can't afford such a complex and huge project.
In contrast, a small airstrip is an excellent choice. It's not only cheap, but also inexpensive. After all, the length of lukala airport is only 527 meters. The runway is not paved with asphalt or cement, just a layer of sand and stone on the compacted ground.
As for ground guidance, there is no supporting support. There is only one bare runway and four or five open parking aprons with similar parking spaces.
Yes, you are right. Nepal's lukara airport is actually building a smooth road which is not even a village road. Is the price cheap and the maintenance cost cost cost-effective?
If you put it in other countries, pointing to this dirt runway and saying it's an airport, it will definitely be sprayed as a dog. But in Nepal, people say that we have built a commuter airport for climbers. Climbers all over the world are so excited that they cry bitterly.
There's no way. It took climbers a few days to reach the last supply town of lukala, not to mention climbing Mount Everest.
Because there is no direct road from Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, to lukala Town, mountaineers who want to challenge Mount Everest must carry heavy equipment and walk for a few days to reach lukala town before they can think about how to challenge Mount Everest next.
Strong willed people can still hold on. Weak willed people will collapse all the way.
Now that we have the airport, we can save a lot of walking time and physical strength, and climb Mount Everest more easily. Which mountaineer is not welcome?
As a result, once the lukala airport was completed, it became very busy, especially during the peak climbing season. Due to too many mountaineering enthusiasts applying to fly, the Nepalese government even sent the air force to carry out transportation tasks.
Because there is no suitable short takeoff and landing aircraft, Nepal has been using helicopters as the carrier of transport capacity at the beginning. It turns out that helicopters not only have small transport capacity, but also have high maintenance cost in the later stage, so it is not cost-effective to introduce small fixed wing aircraft with short takeoff and landing capability.
So in the early 1970s, we bought four dhc-6 "double otter" small transport planes from Canada to carry out the passenger and freight transport mission from Kathmandu to lukala.
Dhc-6 is an old model produced in the 1960s. Its materials, handling and riding environment are very ordinary. It can only barely meet the needs of Nepal, but not excellent. Therefore, Nepal has been looking for alternatives.At this time, the production of dhc-6 was insolvent, and havilan company went bankrupt and reorganized, and dhc-6 was sold. As a result, there was a problem in the supply of dhc-6 parts in Nepal, and Nepal's alternative plan became urgent.
Just at this time, New Delhi's touted home-made donier-228 came off the production line and began to sell it to Nepal. At first, Nepal thought donier-228 was ok, so it was ready to take it to lukala airport to try its effect. As a result, before it was implemented, the disaster relief performance of donier-228 in Lugar town and the two subsequent air accidents immediately made Nepal retreat Percussions.
You know, Nepal's tourism service industry is not a funeral industry. If you get a flying coffin, it will not only cause trouble to the elderly, but also ruin your job.
So other things in Nepal don't matter to New Delhi. I'm sorry, I have to make my own decisions.
Of course, in addition to economic problems, the support behind Britain, France and Germany is also an important reason why Nepal dares to stand upright. Because there is really no way to withdraw the journalists trapped in Lugar Town, Britain, France and Germany have no choice but to reverse their thinking. New Delhi can't point to it. They simply let Marcelo and other people go north, enter China through the border, and then return to their respective countries from China.
In the past, Britain, France and Germany can make such a request to China in a big way. The problem is that the media of these three countries have made such a fierce application during this period, but China's reply is very official, that is: "relevant departments are studying it, I hope all parties will wait patiently."
Britain, France and Germany almost didn't cry after hearing this. Marcello and others have been trapped for more than half a month, waiting, waiting for daylily to cool completely.
Although anxious, Britain, France and Germany are worthy of the old powerful family background. Aware of the root of the problem, they immediately adjusted their strategies and found Nepal to provide support and financial assistance. They hoped that Nepal would act as an intermediary to contact the relevant Chinese departments.
Nepal, which has long noticed the excellent performance of yun-6 during the disaster relief, immediately changed its heart into action.