March 16--No, it's not a drone.
Although it is equipped with a gimbal-mounted camera typically seen on the bellies of unmanned aerial vehicles.
It's the Tulare County Sheriff's Department's new light-sport airplane, which will be put into full-time service in late April and may have already been spotted by some county residents during flight-training sessions.
The Flight Design CTLE plane will be used five days a week and provide aerial support for patrol and investigations for the sheriff's department and other public-safety agencies throughout the county.
According to David Williams, a retired sheriff's captain and one of the airplane's four pilots, the new plane can do 95 percent of what a helicopter can do for a fraction of the cost. "We can operate at about $35 an hour as compared to $500 to $1,000 an hour for a helicopter," Williams said. "It's very cost-effective."
The CTLE is also able to orbit at the same speed or slower than a helicopter and can reach a height of 14,000-feet, perhaps a bit higher than a piston helicopter, Williams said. Once the unit is trained and assembled and the plane ready for take-off in late April, the sheriff's department will be the first agency in the nation to put a light-sport aircraft into full-time service as an observation platform, Williams said.
The plane has already responded to several calls while out on training.
In September, deputies were able to apprehend a suspect who allegedly assaulted a California Highway Patrol officer after being pulled over in Porterville. The suspect led authorities on a brief foot chase and was found clinging to a tree in an orange grove and later arrested. Williams said the CTLE was able to locate and direct CHP officers and several deputies to the suspect.
The unit that will operate the plane is made up of four volunteer pilots and three part-time observers, most retired law enforcement.
"It's important to have someone who's familiar with law enforcement, tactics, and the radio system and that knows the county," Williams said. "The original plan was to use full-time officers but as we got moving forward in the project, budgets kept shrinking."
Williams, although retired, was given reserve sergeant's status to get paid for his time.
"It's a blast to fly," Williams said about the plane. "They tell us in law enforcement not to say something's fun, but this is fun."
Bill White, a retired air-traffic controller and another of the volunteer pilots, agrees.
"It's a lot of fun because it's so responsive and well-suited for its mission, White, who has been flying since 1967, said. "All aircraft are different and this one is very, very light and sensitive, which makes it responsive and well-suited for what we want to do."
Aside from providing support to other agencies, the plane will also be used to conduct disaster damage assessments, Williams said.
"We routinely fly over the Friant-Kern Canal, Kaweah and Success dams, which are some of our critical infrastructures in Tulare County, and look for anything suspicious," he said.
However fuel efficient and low maintenance the new airplane might be, it is not meant to replace a helicopter, Williams noted.
"We would like to have a helicopter, and this really isn't meant to replace a helicopter because we could have missions that will require one," he said. Missions such as search and rescues in the mountains, which require a vertical take-off and landing, something the CTLE cannot do.
The small fixed-wing airplane is also not certified for instrument flight, which means pilots would rely solely on instruments and not any outside visual references to fly.
"We have to maintain visual flight rules, so we're limited," Williams said. "If we have a low ceiling or if it's foggy or windy, for safety reasons, we don't go out."
The two-seater plane, purchased for $220,583, is reportedly designed to cost hundreds of thousands of dollars less than standard law enforcement aircraft and to require considerably less in maintenance costs. The purchase of the plane was covered by a $199,167 Homeland Security grant and by $20,616 from forfeited asset funds from drug seizures.
The plane also uses 4 gallons of auto fuel per hour compared to 30 gallons an hour used by the Cessna Skymaster -- the sheriff's four-seater twin-engine plane used for surveillance and for extraditions.
It has a top speed of 120 knots, equivalent to 138 mph, and a patrol speed of 60 knots, or 69 mph and can spend up to 7 hours in flight without landing. It's outfitted with a ballistic parachute, a radio with police, fire and emergency medical services channels, a camera with color video and long-range zoom and infrared capabilities, and a 35-watt high-intensity discharge spotlight.
Contact Denise Madrid at 784-5000, ext. 1047. Follow her on Twitter @DeniseMadrid_.
Copyright 2012 - The Porterville Recorder, Calif.
