Tulare County, CA Sheriff First To Employ Popular LSA In Police
Role
The Tulare County, California Sheriff's Office has taken
delivery of the first "law enforcement" model of the Flight Design
CTLE LSA, which has been modified to accommodate special equipment
to help it perform its new duties.
TCSD Reserve Captain David Williams, an aviation
specialist, and Lt. Marsh Carter traveled to Woodstock, CT
last month to pick up the airplane and fly it back to California.
“The Tulare County Sheriff's Department will be the
first agency in the U.S. to put a Light-Sport Aircraft into full
time service in support of Patrol, just as many agencies do with a
helicopter,” observed Williams. “Flight Design was
selected not only for its commitment to provide a low-cost,
turn-key law enforcement aviation platform, but also based on
overall safety in design, from benign stall characteristics to the
ballistic parachute system. Safety for our officers and our
residents is always our number one priority.”
According to David Williams, “The Flight Design CTLE
… can do much of what the department’s existing plane,
a 1973 Cessna Skymaster, can do with lower fuel and maintenance
costs.” CTLE can slow down to about 50 mph, allowing it to
circle and conduct aerial searches for suspects on the ground.
“You can make the same sort of orbit as a helicopter without
any problem at all,” Williams, a pilot, noted. Pilots of
Patrol aircraft do not have to be police officers, however, most
are, said Williams. “It is easier to train existing personnel
since the CTLE is a Light-Sport Aircraft.”
Helicopters or larger general aviation aircraft have long been
used for law enforcement or surveillance work. Given the much
higher operating costs of those aircraft and the fuel efficiency,
long endurance plus low noise profile of Light-Sport Aircraft,
these newest aircraft in the fleet were a reasonable alternative
... if the right equipment could be mounted. A second CTLE has been
prepared to more fully unveil this use of a Light-Sport Aircraft.
“Working with Flight Design's largest distributor, Air Time
of Tulsa Oklahoma, Roger Crow of Echo Flight Resources installed a
Cloud Cap Technology TASE 200 gimbal camera unit on the CTLS’
right wing,” said John Doman, Flight Design Director of
Business Development, Global Sales & Marketing. “The
interior has a special display and keyboard to control the
dedicated police equipment.” (See photos.) Once the equipment
was added, the CTLS model was dubbed CTLE, with “LE”
representing Law Enforcement.
Initial flight testing proved the CTLS handled the additional
gear without problems. “CTLE didn't even know there was a pod
hanging on its wing. With a density altitude of over 4,000 feet
(temperatures above 100 degrees) the indicated airspeed was reading
117 knots,” reported Crow. Inside the aircraft, law officials
employ an adjustable video display screen that can be folded to a
stowed position on the pod by means of a Ram mount. The side pocket
mounted to the right side of the pod stows the "iKey" keyboard used
to operate the on-board computer/processor and video recorder.
Police cruisers can cost a sheriff’s department $60,000
and typically last three years. Even after adding high-tech
surveillance equipment, a $250,000 Flight Design CTLE should serve
more than 12 years, making it an attractive investment compared to
police automobiles, much less helicopters. “Flight Design now
has a specially prepared law enforcement aircraft with specific
camera mounting hard points, an extra alternator, and other extras
like high intensity lights and police radios while still meeting an
aggressive price point,” stated, John Gilmore, National Sales
Manager for Flight Design USA.
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