VAN BUREN, Mich. – Since the dawn of humanity, people have looked to the skies with awe, respect and ambition.
From man-carrying kites and hot air balloons developed in ancient China, to zeppelins developed in the late 1800s, to the first controlled, sustained flight of an engine-powered aircraft created by the Wright brothers, there are more than 2,000 years of human creativity, innovation and brilliance that has allowed us to experience life off the ground.
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In Pierce Brosnan’s third James Bond movie, 1999′s “The World Is Not Enough,” there is a sequence in which Bond fends off two helicopters armed with saw blades. They cut a BMW in half. It’s a ridiculous sequence in a ridiculous movie and it’s somehow one of the more grounded things from Brosnan’s tenure.
Here’s the thing: they’re real. They are a real thing. Buzz-saw-wielding helicopters are not only a real thing, but they’ve been in service for roughly 40 years and they’re coming to Michigan.
In the early 1980s, there was another cutting-edge advancement in aviation. For far too long, the trimming of trees near power lines was a job done by climbing crews and something needed to change. Randall Waters came up with the idea to suspend an enormous saw below a helicopter that would be able to access areas around power lines and clear vegetation. Aerial Solutions Inc. purchased the patent and the current design includes 10 two-foot-wide circular saw blades that spin at speeds of up to 4,000 revolutions per minute.
Related: Why aren’t Michigan power lines underground?
Indiana Michigan Power, which provides electricity in parts of Van Buren, Kalamazoo and Saint Joseph counties on Michigan’s west side, has contracted Kiewit Corp. to use the aerial saw to clear branches that could disrupt the utility. The initial plan was to use the aerial saw to keep branches clear of power lines in several Lake Michigan communities from Tuesday, Feb. 13, to Friday, Feb. 16, but the work has been postponed likely due to weather.
