Helluva job!
 

Man this is awesome! I would LOVE to do this for a living!




http://totallyrox.com/video/20325/

Now I know for a fact that you ain't right, Stink. That would scare the #$%&!! out of any sane person!

Have to go to continuing ed classes to keep a couple of state licenses up to snuff. Georgia Power is one of the line training companies that write the book on that crap.
This stuff is so new and unknown that it is usually trial and error (don't work, he died, try something else).
Stink, if you ain't seen 36,000 volts jump and eat a liver or explode a heart (that's childs play, to the current and voltage in this guy's episode)
you only can shake your head and walk away. And this guy regularly works with 500,000.
Seen this video several months back and the stuff they have to do ain't no crap.
I've hunted on a couple of powerlines thru the years, in the morning during a heavy dew set the buzz of the lines are deafining.
His job has got to be equal to trying the kings food for poison, NO WAY, AIN'T NO WAY, I'd consider his job.

I posted a couple pics on here about this same thing I saw them doing at James River Bridge in Newport News Va the day I took my 2 granddaughters, one of my sons and my dad out crocker fishing.

Cool Video STINK.

Ok, maybee someone can enlighten me. Why does the electricity jump to the chopper? Its obviously not grounded, is it dissapated by the rotors, or is just the static electricty generated by the rotors thats making the arc. Seeeing how long the standoff insulators are on the poles, i woudl expect an even bigger arc from teh lines. just wondering

YES to all your questions.
There are too many variables in the theory of electricity to cover, much less on this site.
The chopper alone creates it's own (per say) positive or negetive charge. This is all relative to the given conditions (humidity, etc).
The voltage can (will) jump depending on the applied voltage and whatever may contact it, given the circumstance.
Bad comes to worst, the theory of electricity is just a theory. Whenever someone dies or worst survives from these high wire accidents, it's basically ruled as an act of the gods he lived or died.
spare, your assessment of the insulators being correct for the situation is now negated by the fact of the helicopter added to the picture.
All things being equal till the chopper and the wildman were introduced, the theory is sound, but then it changes.
BTW, the people that own the powerlines write the book on the procedures of maintaince, guidelines and safety, not OSHA, NEC or any other government agencies. So you can bet, this guy is making mega bucks. They did a whole segment on him. Life expectancy?
DID YOU KNOW electricity dosen't actually travel thru wires but travels around them? This is the need for different (or in this case none) insulators of the wire.