Flight tracker police plane
Discussion
Just a question out of interest to anyone that might know. Spotted a police plane (black and yellow propeller type on flight radar tonight, flown down from Doncaster over Royston to Essex and it’s basically been doing loads of loops over major towns (Chelmsford, Colchester and Ipswich etc).
Any idea why? Training, mapping maybe??
Any idea why? Training, mapping maybe??
The planes can stay up for longer than the helicopters and have the camera similar to the helicopters. The plane can fly slower too so can hang about for ages like over big events.
Is there any big outdoor summer events coming round the OPs way?
The police havent had many to deal with in the last 2 years so will need to retrain their skills
Is there any big outdoor summer events coming round the OPs way?
The police havent had many to deal with in the last 2 years so will need to retrain their skills
sherman said:
The planes can stay up for longer than the helicopters and have the camera similar to the helicopters. The plane can fly slower too so can hang about for ages like over big events.
Is there any big outdoor summer events coming round the OPs way?
The police havent had many to deal with in the last 2 years so will need to retrain their skills
Slower than what?Is there any big outdoor summer events coming round the OPs way?
The police havent had many to deal with in the last 2 years so will need to retrain their skills
thewarlock said:
sherman said:
The planes can stay up for longer than the helicopters and have the camera similar to the helicopters. The plane can fly slower too so can hang about for ages like over big events.
Is there any big outdoor summer events coming round the OPs way?
The police havent had many to deal with in the last 2 years so will need to retrain their skills
Slower than what?Is there any big outdoor summer events coming round the OPs way?
The police havent had many to deal with in the last 2 years so will need to retrain their skills
Even when hovering the helicopter blades are still spining at silly speed.
A plane can amble at 100mph or less.
sherman said:
thewarlock said:
sherman said:
The planes can stay up for longer than the helicopters and have the camera similar to the helicopters. The plane can fly slower too so can hang about for ages like over big events.
Is there any big outdoor summer events coming round the OPs way?
The police havent had many to deal with in the last 2 years so will need to retrain their skills
Slower than what?Is there any big outdoor summer events coming round the OPs way?
The police havent had many to deal with in the last 2 years so will need to retrain their skills
Even when hovering the helicopter blades are still spining at silly speed.
A plane can amble at 100mph or less.
sherman said:
Planes dont need as much airspeed as a helicopter under their wings(blades) to generate lift so planes can fly slower. The engine doesnt need to run as fast so can use less fuel and stay up longer than the helicopter for the equivelent fuel.
Have you seen a helicopter close up? Well - they have this "spinny" thing above the roof, called a rotor, which enables them to ascend and descend and also, perform a really neat party trick called a - "hover".Generally speaking, if an aeroplane tries to hover, then that is going to end badly, because it generally means the aircraft has stalled and barring the intervention of a very skilled pilot, it may just fall out of the air.
https://executiveflyers.com/how-long-can-a-helicop...
Narcisus said:
sherman said:
thewarlock said:
sherman said:
The planes can stay up for longer than the helicopters and have the camera similar to the helicopters. The plane can fly slower too so can hang about for ages like over big events.
Is there any big outdoor summer events coming round the OPs way?
The police havent had many to deal with in the last 2 years so will need to retrain their skills
Slower than what?Is there any big outdoor summer events coming round the OPs way?
The police havent had many to deal with in the last 2 years so will need to retrain their skills
Even when hovering the helicopter blades are still spining at silly speed.
A plane can amble at 100mph or less.
There's also the argument that fixed wing is cheaper than the equivalent capability rotary wing asset to run. More flying/operating hours per £ spent in ground maintenance. But the flexibility provided by a helicopter cannot be matched by a fixed wing aeroplane so the argument can also be made that the extra expense of running helicopters is worth it for the things that they can do in addition to the aeroplane's capabilities.
A fair while ago the police looked at, and I think a few forces operated, these...
http://www.optica.co.uk/index2.html
It's a design from the 1970s, built in the 1980s, and which did show great promise to provide "helicopter-like observation and low speed handling" for "fixed wing running costs".
There were sales in the pipeline too, but a crash (although the AAIB investigation suggested human factors rather than mechanical issues) in service with Hampshire Police in 1985 ( G-KATY loss... https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/151375
http://www.optica.co.uk/Aircraft%20Histories_files... ), and the loss of ten of their aircraft in a fire at the factory hangar in Old Sarum in 1987 really hampered the salability of the aircraft. There are still some flying, but only 22 were made in total. It was quite a big deal to an airshow and aeroplane fan growing up with these being developed, and features in comics and magazines explaining how they were going to change the face of (at least some sectors of) domestic aviation.
G-BOPO - restored to fly again in 2008. According to the link under the first picture in this post, there was some attempt, with involvement from the designer and some of the original development team, to breathe new life into the design more recently, but I'm not sure how much traction there was in that project.
yellowjack said:
I think he's (awkwardly) trying to explain that a fixed-wing aeroplane has greater endurance than the average helicopter, and can "loiter" longer if it's flying slower than it is capable of doing.
There's also the argument that fixed wing is cheaper than the equivalent capability rotary wing asset to run. More flying/operating hours per £ spent in ground maintenance. But the flexibility provided by a helicopter cannot be matched by a fixed wing aeroplane so the argument can also be made that the extra expense of running helicopters is worth it for the things that they can do in addition to the aeroplane's capabilities.
A fair while ago the police looked at, and I think a few forces operated, these...
http://www.optica.co.uk/index2.html
It's a design from the 1970s, built in the 1980s, and which did show great promise to provide "helicopter-like observation and low speed handling" for "fixed wing running costs".
There were sales in the pipeline too, but a crash (although the AAIB investigation suggested human factors rather than mechanical issues) in service with Hampshire Police in 1985 ( G-KATY loss... https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/151375
http://www.optica.co.uk/Aircraft%20Histories_files... ), and the loss of ten of their aircraft in a fire at the factory hangar in Old Sarum in 1987 really hampered the salability of the aircraft. There are still some flying, but only 22 were made in total. It was quite a big deal to an airshow and aeroplane fan growing up with these being developed, and features in comics and magazines explaining how they were going to change the face of (at least some sectors of) domestic aviation.
G-BOPO - restored to fly again in 2008. According to the link under the first picture in this post, there was some attempt, with involvement from the designer and some of the original development team, to breathe new life into the design more recently, but I'm not sure how much traction there was in that project.
I think he's winding you up and you're both biting.There's also the argument that fixed wing is cheaper than the equivalent capability rotary wing asset to run. More flying/operating hours per £ spent in ground maintenance. But the flexibility provided by a helicopter cannot be matched by a fixed wing aeroplane so the argument can also be made that the extra expense of running helicopters is worth it for the things that they can do in addition to the aeroplane's capabilities.
A fair while ago the police looked at, and I think a few forces operated, these...
http://www.optica.co.uk/index2.html
It's a design from the 1970s, built in the 1980s, and which did show great promise to provide "helicopter-like observation and low speed handling" for "fixed wing running costs".
There were sales in the pipeline too, but a crash (although the AAIB investigation suggested human factors rather than mechanical issues) in service with Hampshire Police in 1985 ( G-KATY loss... https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/151375
http://www.optica.co.uk/Aircraft%20Histories_files... ), and the loss of ten of their aircraft in a fire at the factory hangar in Old Sarum in 1987 really hampered the salability of the aircraft. There are still some flying, but only 22 were made in total. It was quite a big deal to an airshow and aeroplane fan growing up with these being developed, and features in comics and magazines explaining how they were going to change the face of (at least some sectors of) domestic aviation.
G-BOPO - restored to fly again in 2008. According to the link under the first picture in this post, there was some attempt, with involvement from the designer and some of the original development team, to breathe new life into the design more recently, but I'm not sure how much traction there was in that project.
here's my local one: https://globe.adsbexchange.com/?icao=7c4ee8
It was up for hours last night and, unusually, is up today during the daytime. Here's a screenshot of it today. Last nights effort was probably the most I have seen it surveilling an area - hours and hours over around a 5x5 mile area.
Most of the larger road intersections where I am have gained cameras in the past year too.
It was up for hours last night and, unusually, is up today during the daytime. Here's a screenshot of it today. Last nights effort was probably the most I have seen it surveilling an area - hours and hours over around a 5x5 mile area.
Most of the larger road intersections where I am have gained cameras in the past year too.
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