CAP Utilizing Gyroplanes?

[RADIOMAN015]

Interesting article at:  http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/scitech/110322-tomball-police-gyroplane

RM

[RADIOMAN015]

Check out the video on the bottom
http://www.sportcopter.com/Gyroplanes/Vortex/tabid/134/Default.aspx

Hope they've got a good medical & life insurance plan as well as a good beacon so we can find them easily!!!
RM

[jks19714]

Here is the manufacturer's website (in English): http://www.auto-gyro.com/en/

Kind of a rough ride in bad weather, but I guess that you can't complain too much about visibility in one.  Here is the emergency services brochure: http://www.auto-gyro.com/chameleon//outbox//public/28/BIR_SpecialEdition_6-Seiter_RZ_ES.pdf

Interesting -- those also manufacture an enclosed version: http://www.auto-gyro.com/chameleon//outbox//public/73/Calidus_Brochure2010_ENG.pdf

They make mention of special sensors and a GPS cockpit.  Surrogate Predator on a CAP budget? 

[starshippe]

. . the germans were towing gyrocopters behind submarines in ww2, for increased visibility.
. . i had a bensen gyrpcopter mostly put together some time back, but found gyrocopters' safety record extremely bad, and decided to wait until i could afford something with wings, put together professionally.
. . i have no idea what kind of problems these machines have, but IF they are safe, and IF the pilots were professionally trained, it would be a neat platform for sar.
. . all that being said, it is not gonna happen.

bill

[ol'fido]

Ultralights and probably gyrocopters, et al. probably went away as far as CAP was concerned in 1980 when Cadet Greg Letarsky was killed at the ILWG Flight Encampment after the thrown from his ultralight in the first and only year they had ultralights.

[Flying Pig]

Exerpt from the article...

The force multiplier created by placing a trained aviation team (command pilot and tactical flight officer) in the air amounts to the equivalent of 18-22 police officers on the ground. Other agencies involved in the Aviation Technology Program, using similar technologies, have experienced significant results:
   Ripon Police Department (CA) using a Powered Parachute (PPC) has decreased daytime burglary rates by 64%;
   Guilford County (NC) used a Sky Arrow S-LSA to locate over $10,000,000 in illegal drugs;
   T'Ohono Odam Tribal Nation (AZ) used a PPC to located flood victims who were saved from certain death;
   Montgomery County Police Department (MD) used Tecnam Eaglets to provide security support during the most recent Presidential Inauguration.

Oh brother........18-22 officers?  The accepted ration is usually 10 but OK.

That powered parachute in Ripon is a freakin joke. I gurantee you it hasnt done a thing to reduce burglaries.  And Id like to know how the Guilford County SO located $10mil in dope with their Sky Arrow thingy.  Was that one pop where they just happened to be overhead? Youd be better off getting a C152.  LE aviation is one of those ares where if your not willing to spend the money, dont waste your time because your going to get someone hurt with this crap.
I love how these articles always talk about how economical they are. Wow....3-4 gph!  OK, but you cant carry anything.  Maybe your observer and a pair of binos with a handset for comms.  It doesnt really work like that.  I know not everyone can have helicopters but these agencies would be much better off getting together in a joint aviation unit covering multiple jurisdictions and getting something that can actually do the job instead of everyone going out on their own and buying kites.

[Major Lord]

"Oh brother........18-22 officers?  The accepted ration is usually 10 but OK."

Well, not 18-22 California Cops, but maybe 18-22 Louisiana cops....  Anyone in their right mind knows that all rotor wing aircraft brazenly defy the laws of aerodynamics, and like horses, they spend their free time dreaming up ways to kill you....

Major Lord

[starshippe]

. . its a neat machine in theory, in that the rotor is not powered by the engine, except possibly during initial spin up, to shorten the takeoff roll. during flight, the rotor is powered solely by the air flow over it. so, theoretically, if ur going fast enough to take off, ur going fast enough to make a safe landing. and, it can land on the proverbial dime.
. . it can not hover.
. . it still isnt gonna happen. but, still, it would be quite neat.

bill

[SarDragon]

Heliocopeters do not fly. But, they're so ugly that the Earth repels them.

OTOH - To fly is heavenly; to hover is divine.

[bosshawk]

And landings are mandatory.