NCJ Number
207473
Journal
Law Enforcement Technology Volume: 31 Issue: 9 Dated: September 2004 Pages: 36,38,41
Date Published
September 2004
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This article discusses how emerging personal vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft can facilitate various policing tasks.
Abstract
Several new VTOL are being flight tested. These aircraft may fulfill many of the policing missions that helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft currently perform, but at reduced cost and, in some cases, more safely. VTOL technology eliminates the helicopter's large exposed and complex spinning rotors and uses engine-driven fans enclosed in housings that vector their thrust to provide horizontal and vertical movement. This eliminates the need for large wings and spinning rotors to create lift, thus making it possible for the aircraft to operate in confined spaces and in close proximity to residences, obstructions, and people. Although personal VTOL devices flown from driveways and rooftops are still several years from deployment, law enforcement agencies should begin now to plan for their use in policing as well as in private use and in criminal and terrorist enterprises. This article includes a section that presents the specifications for three VTOL aircraft with potential for police applications: the Moller M400 Skycar, the Urban Aeronautics X-Hawk flying platform, and the Trek Aerospace Springtail exoskeletal flying vehicle. Each of these models has a distinctive approach to VTOL transportation, and each offers a specific potential set of policing applications.