Police Helicopters

[BJ_NORTON]

I have 2 Questions about police helicopters

1). Most of the time that I see police helicopter is on scene that they orbit around in circles. Why is this? It would seem to me that unless they are in an area that is clear of anything that part of the time the cannot see what is going on. I thought one of the major benifits of a helo was its ability to hover it seems like they are just throwing this "special" ability away.

2). When I listen to the PD copters talking to the tower when they first leave they often will say they are going out on partol. What do they do when they are not activly helping ground units? I sometimes watch them fly and they look like the pilot is drunk. They will be flying straight and then abruptly change course 20 degrees or they will do 3/4 of an orbit and then take off straight. What the heck are these guys doing?

I know there are a lot of police/LEO's here, so I hope some of you might know what is going on. Thanks!

 

[rdale]

1) Easier to orbit (especially if there is any sort of wind) than stay in place, plus if someone takes off in a certain direction it's easier to follow if the bird is already moving.

2) Keeping occupied.

 

[blutarsky]

1). Most of the time that I see police helicopter is on scene that they orbit around in circles. Why is this? It would seem to me that unless they are in an area that is clear of anything that part of the time the cannot see what is going on. I thought one of the major benifits of a helo was its ability to hover it seems like they are just throwing this "special" ability away.

though i'm no expert, i believe they orbit instead of hover for safety. since they generally fly at such low altitudes, keeping a minimum forward momentum allows for control should they lose power, in order to bring in for a semi-controlled landing by autorotation. if they were hovering stationary at low altitude and lost power, it's unlikely they would be able to autorotate and might experience a hard landing, or crash.

 

[RolnCode3]

Orbiting also allows them different viewpoints when they're searching for someone/thing. It also prevents suspects from having an easily identifiable direction to run to get away. If the copter is circling, they can't just go in one direction because the copter will soon go over that place in its orbit. Mostly, though, I think it's easier for the pilot to maintain control in motion than trying to hover over a single point.

They don't "throw away" the ability to hover, it's still there.

When they aren't on calls, they're enjoying themselves. What better way to make a living than to do what you love. A lot of the guys around here (pilots at least) are ex-military, which also probably accounts for some of the erratic manuevers, practicing dust-offs, and flying nap-of-the-earth.

 

[bsavery]

In addition....

#1... most police helicopters have cameras and FLIR units mounted on gimbals. They can point the helecopter any which way and still track the subject.

Another reason for not hovering is the noise it creates. They can be directing officers towards catching the biggest most heavily armed mass murderer in history, and 40 people will call 911 to complain about the noise.


#2... perhaps they thought they spotted something of interest, altered course to take a look, then continued on after finding nothing amiss. They might do a partial orbit to check out all sides of a building.

BOb

 

[mlevin]

#1 I thought it was so not to get hit by gunfire.

 

[eyes00only]

Hovering is more difficult & dangerous than normal flight. That's why the Sky-Crane pilots make the big bucks.

Jerry

 

[Air490]

Orbit was traditionally done by military pilots to make it harder for soldiers using small arms to hit the helicopter.

The technique just kind of migrated across to law enforcement because most police pilots were (and still are) ex-military. Add to that the other reasons highlight and you have a pretty good idea why they fly around in circles!

 

[loumaag]

One of the most difficult things to do in a helo is hold a hover.

 

[BJ_NORTON]

Stuff I never would have thought of. I'm glad I asked the question. I work just a mile or two from the airport where Metro bases its helos from and I often see them just as they are leaving and heading toward the west side of the city. I often see something odd everytime they fly over and this has been bothering me for a while now; I'm glad I asked.

When they aren't on calls, they're enjoying themselves. What better way to make a living than to do what you love. A lot of the guys around here (pilots at least) are ex-military, which also probably accounts for some of the erratic manuevers, practicing dust-offs, and flying nap-of-the-earth.

I think this is my favorite answer :!:

they often will say they are going out on partol. What do they do when they are not activly helping ground units?

What are they looking for? somone mentioned they might be looking at the side of a building; for what?

 

[SAR923]

In a place with as much air support as Vegas, helicopters are just airborne patrol cars. They have enough birds and crews to have 24 hour shifts and tend to stay in the air as much as possible so they are available when a call comes down. Otherwise, they are doing exactly what you do in a patrol car except they fly around and look for trouble.

Helicopters always carry a pilot and at least an observer. It's much easier for the observer to look for a target in an orbit than if the pilot tried to hover. Remember, you can't see anything under the helicopter in a hover. As was previously mentoned, hovering is both noisy and dangerous so it's avoided over cities.

 

[RocketMan1]

on one episode of "COPS" the helicopter was in hover, but the pilot said he could not maintain for very long because he would overheat.

 

[flyingwolf]

Also remember that during a low hover the air is bassicly removed from under the bird and can lead to bassicly a stall condition where the bird can dip or even drop straight down. By moving it keeps a good buffer of air under them at all times.


Just relaying what I was told by my best friends brother (helo mechanic in the Army)

 

[CORN]

Yup, just because there is a lot of dense forest and vegetation doesn't mean the helo misses stuff. As mentioned before the FLIR (Forward Looking Infared) and the thermal cams see everything. Therefore the pilot/observer sees all. Yes, hovering is not the choice of searching an area, orbiting is. Here in Nashville our helos are also used for traffic enforcement.

 

[AngelFire91]

I have 2 Questions about police helicopters

1). Most of the time that I see police helicopter is on scene that they orbit around in circles. Why is this? It would seem to me that unless they are in an area that is clear of anything that part of the time the cannot see what is going on. I thought one of the major benifits of a helo was its ability to hover it seems like they are just throwing this "special" ability away.

as it has already been adressed, hovering is extreamly hard to hold especially when you're a good ways above (>50ft) the ground and there is no ground reference point to watch for drift and such. It is also due to the risk involved from suspects gunfire but I believe more due to the difficulty of hovering, also no body mentioned the aspects of safety if the turbine flames out/other type of difficulty, it's much eaiser to enter an auto-rotation from a forward velocity then from a hover.

2). When I listen to the PD copters talking to the tower when they first leave they often will say they are going out on partol. What do they do when they are not activly helping ground units? I sometimes watch them fly and they look like the pilot is drunk. They will be flying straight and then abruptly change course 20 degrees or they will do 3/4 of an orbit and then take off straight. What the heck are these guys doing?

It's different in every city, but in ours; Most of the time they just fly back and forth around the city if they want to go somewhere then they go there. Sometimes if a call comes in not for them, they might migrate that way "just in case." but the reality of it is...a lot of those guys just are playing around, trust me! it gets kind of boring just flying back and forth and you find ways to entertain your-self.

Hope this helps

 

[John_M]

If you really want to hear something hover. Go to an
USAF airshow and listen to the Stealth Bomber (Black Bird) as it takes off and hovers. They won't let you get anywhere near it. From a 1/4 of a mile away the sound is deafening. It takes alot of thrust to keep this plane hovering. It can land and take off just like a helicopter. Quite a sight.

 

[mmartinfan]

If you really want to hear something hover. Go to an
USAF airshow and listen to the Stealth Bomber (Black Bird) as it takes off and hovers. They won't let you get anywhere near it. From a 1/4 of a mile away the sound is deafening. It takes alot of thrust to keep this plane hovering. It can land and take off just like a helicopter. The airshow I went to was about 6 years ago.

Since when did the Stealth Bomber (Black Bird) Hover?

You have like 3 planes confused

The stealth bomber does not hover.
You are thinking of the AV-8B Harrier.
the Black bird is the SR-71 and its no longer in service.

The Harrier is a damn dangerous plane to fly its called the widow maker by the Marines (Semper Fi)

 

[John_M]

I got it mixed up it was 6 years ago. Thanks for the update.

 

[John_M]

Well anyway the Harrier Jet is louddd!

 

[flyingwolf]

I am quite sure I have never seen a black harrier.

As an air support aircraft for the Marines I have had the chance to see many off them up close.

Unless neccasary or when showing off they usually take off like conventional aircraft. They burn alot of precious fuel when performing VTaL stunts.

Here is a link for some nice pictures.

Take your pick.

Harrier Pics

Edited for BJ_NORTON. Sorry bout that.