Police test drone spy helicopters
But here's the link for you:
http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=203154
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: West Africa
Posts: 313
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
HF
I swears its not that easy when you search for anything like , posting , picture, etc and variesnt of all.
I figured it would have been easy and come up on rotorheads a million times LOL
Thanks again
HF
It costs less than £500 an hour to operate, it can stay airborne for over 3 hrs when flown with intelligence, it has a stabilised zoom lens and IR, it can record HiDef pictures that will be useable in court, and it can transmit live for over 50 miles.
It's called the R44 Police variant.
And one day the UK Police forces will wake up.
It's called the R44 Police variant.
And one day the UK Police forces will wake up.
Purveyor of Egg Liqueur to Lucifer
It costs less than £500 an hour to operate, it can stay airborne for over 3 hrs when flown with intelligence, it has a stabilised zoom lens and IR, it can record HiDef pictures that will be useable in court, and it can transmit live for over 50 miles. It's called the R44 Police variant.
And one day the UK Police forces will wake up.
And one day the UK Police forces will wake up.
There are some fundemental flaws in your last post!
SS
Read all about the R44 Police Variant here,
http://www.robinsonheli.com/r44police.htm
Cart and horse Jim - as long as the UK regulations stay as they are forces will not use singles, regardless of their capabilities. Whether the regulations are suitable is another debate, but don't accuse the police of being somnolent just because they work within the existing framework.
Purveyor of Egg Liqueur to Lucifer
And please don't start the rumour that after a couple of jam doughnuts and copious amounts of tea, that an airborne time of 3 hours is a good thing... especially on a cold day!!
R44 Police, subject covered here http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthr...189931&page=12
R44 Police, subject covered here http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthr...189931&page=12
Droopy: it can be done under contract as a normal AOC flight. Doesn't need PAOC. 1000ft above nearest highest object within 600m - 500ft in non-congested or under SVFR. Perfect for the camera system.
Advantages far outweigh any limitations.
And if the force buys the aircraft and flies its own employees, it can be private. And can therefore op at night.
No it's not IFR. No it's not a twin. But it is £500 an hour.
Advantages far outweigh any limitations.
And if the force buys the aircraft and flies its own employees, it can be private. And can therefore op at night.
No it's not IFR. No it's not a twin. But it is £500 an hour.
Purveyor of Egg Liqueur to Lucifer
Nice one Jim,
And to save even more money you can get any low houred PPL to fly for you while he/she builds up some hours.
Lets also say, once they get 500hrs under their belt, when they may want a bit more money due to experience, the contract expires and you can then employ another PPL... and so on. The savings would be tremendous!
You could even get the CAA to change all the rules, pay for an officer to do a NPPPL(H) [National Police Private Licence - H] no sort of Nav, IF or compicated stuff required, bonded for say 5 years and the costs would come down even more.
I'm sure urban pursuits would be great fun and the motorways a piece of cake as the robo site claims 135mph, 117 kts, ...with all the kit!!!
Next time I'm up, I shall contemplate what it would be like doing what we are doing, in a R44 Polizei Pursuit Vehicle!
From PAN Heli-Expo March 2007 edition.
Even more savings...great!
And to save even more money you can get any low houred PPL to fly for you while he/she builds up some hours.
Lets also say, once they get 500hrs under their belt, when they may want a bit more money due to experience, the contract expires and you can then employ another PPL... and so on. The savings would be tremendous!
You could even get the CAA to change all the rules, pay for an officer to do a NPPPL(H) [National Police Private Licence - H] no sort of Nav, IF or compicated stuff required, bonded for say 5 years and the costs would come down even more.
I'm sure urban pursuits would be great fun and the motorways a piece of cake as the robo site claims 135mph, 117 kts, ...with all the kit!!!
Next time I'm up, I shall contemplate what it would be like doing what we are doing, in a R44 Polizei Pursuit Vehicle!
From PAN Heli-Expo March 2007 edition.
Rumour has it that Robinson is trying to trim the unit price of his R44 Police airframe by discarding the propriety sensor turret [from FSI and L3 Wescam]and replacing them with a less sophisticated system.
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: UK
Posts: 741
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Now the Fire Brigade are having a go !
Local news reported yesterday that West Midlands Fire Service in Smethwick, Birmingham are going to trial this device which they are calling "ISIS" ( pronounced "eye-siss" ).
http://s34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...MicroDrone.flv
A few questions that the news story didn't answer .......
How will it cope with the turbulence etc. generated at the scene of a fire ??
Presuming that it will also be used at more high profile / serious incidents, then it is quite feasible that the local Police helicopter and / or Air Ambulance would also attend. How will this little thing get on with the downdraft from a "proper" emergency services helicopter ?
Being so small and therefore difficult to spot from the air, what would happen ( heaven forbid ) if there were a collision with one of the real ones ?
Does it have lights fitted ??
Will it be used at night ??
"... equipped with a colour camera it can send back live pictures from up to 500 metres away...."
Does that mean it is cleared to 500 metres AGL ??? / Approx. 1640 feet ?
How high above the ground CAN it be flown - legally and physically ??
If it's operating height were restricted ( e.g. by CAA ) then how would the operator know what height it is being flown at - does it have a Rad Alt ??
Would its operating height potentially conflict with Police helicopter and / or Air ambulance ??
No doubt the Fire Service have liased closely with their local Police Helicopter Unit, and the surrounding Air Ambulance Units, and would let them all know every time in advance of it being deployed, wouldn't they
"ISIS" - stands for "Incident Support Imaging System".
Perhaps they could redefine that to mean
"I Should Inform Someone................ ? "
http://s34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...MicroDrone.flv
A few questions that the news story didn't answer .......
How will it cope with the turbulence etc. generated at the scene of a fire ??
Presuming that it will also be used at more high profile / serious incidents, then it is quite feasible that the local Police helicopter and / or Air Ambulance would also attend. How will this little thing get on with the downdraft from a "proper" emergency services helicopter ?
Being so small and therefore difficult to spot from the air, what would happen ( heaven forbid ) if there were a collision with one of the real ones ?
Does it have lights fitted ??
Will it be used at night ??
"... equipped with a colour camera it can send back live pictures from up to 500 metres away...."
Does that mean it is cleared to 500 metres AGL ??? / Approx. 1640 feet ?
How high above the ground CAN it be flown - legally and physically ??
If it's operating height were restricted ( e.g. by CAA ) then how would the operator know what height it is being flown at - does it have a Rad Alt ??
Would its operating height potentially conflict with Police helicopter and / or Air ambulance ??
No doubt the Fire Service have liased closely with their local Police Helicopter Unit, and the surrounding Air Ambulance Units, and would let them all know every time in advance of it being deployed, wouldn't they
"ISIS" - stands for "Incident Support Imaging System".
Perhaps they could redefine that to mean
"I Should Inform Someone................ ? "
Last edited by Coconutty; 10th Jul 2007 at 16:28.
Purveyor of Egg Liqueur to Lucifer
I saw the article about the fire services drone last night on Midlands Today and the first thing that came to mind, now there is one of these things 'in the patch', was deconfliction, pretty much as Coconutty mentions.
What method would be used to let us know it was up and about? OK you can say it will be obvious, look out for smoke and flames! But surely they will also be used for other fire and rescue service tasks apart from firewatch! Jobs that helicopters are also called to assist in!
Having experienced things like trains running along stretches of track that have had a halt put on them, and train drivers oblivious to officers on the track, who have been assured the trains have been stopped, I wonder if the communication would be good enough.
When a conflict occurs, whos fault would it be?
The helicopter pilots, because he/she should have seen and avoided and given way?
The drone operators, because he/she should have heard and seen the helicopter in the area?
Any chance of a transponder on the drone?
What method would be used to let us know it was up and about? OK you can say it will be obvious, look out for smoke and flames! But surely they will also be used for other fire and rescue service tasks apart from firewatch! Jobs that helicopters are also called to assist in!
Having experienced things like trains running along stretches of track that have had a halt put on them, and train drivers oblivious to officers on the track, who have been assured the trains have been stopped, I wonder if the communication would be good enough.
When a conflict occurs, whos fault would it be?
The helicopter pilots, because he/she should have seen and avoided and given way?
The drone operators, because he/she should have heard and seen the helicopter in the area?
Any chance of a transponder on the drone?
That is the same kit that Merseyside Police were trialling last month... I guess the manufacturers are 'doing the rounds' picking up PR.
There was talk of a colour camera [and in general at the moment images are poor when compared with say an MX-15 on a police helicopter] but not of a thermal imager option.
IF all the boxes are ticked for safety here is a tool they say will be good for spotting floods - maybe once or twice a year for that option - but no sign of the important tool for a fireman... TI.
Information associated with the Merseyside event states that this craft is 1m wide, weighs less than one kilogram [2.2 pounds] and can record images from a height of 500m.
The machine is German and known as the md4-200 a high endurance 4-rotor VTOL craft constructed from carbon and comes with flight controller, navigation controller, gearless brushless motors, double-super FM-receiver, landing gear, antenna, attitude/altitude control, offering a flight duration of about 20 minutes. With that endurance it is very much a local machine.
There was talk of a colour camera [and in general at the moment images are poor when compared with say an MX-15 on a police helicopter] but not of a thermal imager option.
IF all the boxes are ticked for safety here is a tool they say will be good for spotting floods - maybe once or twice a year for that option - but no sign of the important tool for a fireman... TI.
Information associated with the Merseyside event states that this craft is 1m wide, weighs less than one kilogram [2.2 pounds] and can record images from a height of 500m.
The machine is German and known as the md4-200 a high endurance 4-rotor VTOL craft constructed from carbon and comes with flight controller, navigation controller, gearless brushless motors, double-super FM-receiver, landing gear, antenna, attitude/altitude control, offering a flight duration of about 20 minutes. With that endurance it is very much a local machine.
Last edited by PANews; 10th Jul 2007 at 19:30. Reason: Additional information
There is no legislation affecting this contraption, it is below 7Kg. The CAA kick in when it goes above 20 or23Kg. However, they are making plans for retrospective legislation down to 0Kg
Suffice to say, this device appeared on the scene and caught mostly everyone by surprise - especially the CAA.
Attempts by the CAA to become involved in the Merseysdie operation were met by two fingers from their C.C.
The only "restriction" as such, will be duty of care by the owners. If, by some strange quirk of nature [radio interference, FOD, shot gun pellets, fireworks, etc] it falls out of the sky onto a queue of school children waiting for a bus, then the owner had better have one helluva robust insurance policy (Oh they don't have insurance policies do they in the police, preferring instead to sponsor the risk
).
There is a future, no doubt for these things, urban UAV's or UAS's as the yanks call them are here to stay in one shape or another. Better get used to them. Don't think for an instant that they are a threat to main stream aerial support.
Another Force is looking at deploying static blimps to monitor games/football matches/suspect areas. Now this looks very promising indeed.
Smile please..........................................
Suffice to say, this device appeared on the scene and caught mostly everyone by surprise - especially the CAA. Attempts by the CAA to become involved in the Merseysdie operation were met by two fingers from their C.C.
The only "restriction" as such, will be duty of care by the owners. If, by some strange quirk of nature [radio interference, FOD, shot gun pellets, fireworks, etc] it falls out of the sky onto a queue of school children waiting for a bus, then the owner had better have one helluva robust insurance policy (Oh they don't have insurance policies do they in the police, preferring instead to sponsor the risk
).There is a future, no doubt for these things, urban UAV's or UAS's as the yanks call them are here to stay in one shape or another. Better get used to them. Don't think for an instant that they are a threat to main stream aerial support.
Another Force is looking at deploying static blimps to monitor games/football matches/suspect areas. Now this looks very promising indeed.
Smile please..........................................
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: UK
Posts: 741
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Microdrone is not alone !
.... There's also a UAV ( powered glider type ) that can carry either a two axis stabilized zoomable day camera, or thermal image camera payload that can stay airborne for around 90 minutes, beaming pictures back from a range of 9 miles to a ground station that can remotely control the gimbal movement !
Take off weight is 5 Kg and from the demo I have seen it has some very clever electronics and navigation features
It is known as "Casper 250" - Googling finds an interesting video :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6ST_KkpMRg with further information available by registering wth Sonic Communications in the Uk at http://www.sonic-comms.com
Take off weight is 5 Kg and from the demo I have seen it has some very clever electronics and navigation features
It is known as "Casper 250" - Googling finds an interesting video :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6ST_KkpMRg with further information available by registering wth Sonic Communications in the Uk at http://www.sonic-comms.com
