Sun, Sep 18, 2011
Tomball Police MTOSport Draws Attention To Department,
Manufacturer
European regulators allow factory-built, LSA-class gyroplanes to
be marketed, and the result has been sales which exceed those of
comparable fixed-wing LSA aircraft in the last few years. Here in
the US, the FAA is limiting gyro enthusiasts to homebuilts, keeping
gyros a novelty. But AutoGyro GmbH, a German manufacturer, is
pushing to bring its high-volume gyro line to the US, and supplying
aircraft for a law enforcement experiment is bringing the company
lots of free marketing.
The timing is perfect. Law enforcement agencies, especially
those flying surplussed military helos, are being forced to park
them as the recession dries up tax dollars. AutoGyroUSA, the US
distributor for the German manufacturer, convinced the US
Department of Justice to include its gyroplanes among LSAs eligible
for the federally-funded Law Enforcement Aviation Technology
Program, and so far the gyroplane is a hit.
The Tomball, TX Police Department is a small-town force whose
chief is Robert S. Hauck, who retired from the Los Angeles PD after
20 years. Hauck became a big believer in air support for his men in
LA, but had no way to budget for an aviation division in Tomball.
His department is now using an open-cockpit AutoGyro MTOSport for
patrol and surveillance duty as part of DoJ's test. The jury is
still out, but the manufacturer has benefited from coverage of the
experiment in dozens of media outlets. (Pictured: Cover of
July/August Air Beat magazine.)
One of the latest is an article Tuesday on wired.com entitled,
"Flying the Police Aircraft of the Future," in which Matt Hardigee
gets his first-ever flight in a gyro in the Tomball Police
MTOSport. He writes, "We’ve only been airborne a few minutes,
but it feels amazing. It feels more like flying than any other
small plane or helicopter I’ve been in...the open cockpit and
lack of doors — coupled with a lack of reference points other
than the ground — makes the gyroplane feel much faster than
it is. It’s like a roller coaster without the tracks."
AutoGyroUSA is moving rapidly to set up US outlets which will
include training, and builder-assist programs to get as close to
the European factory-built advantage as is possible under the FAA's
51-percent rule. If these machines catch on like they have in
Europe, the factory will have to add a night shift.
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