Air Bear DA62-MPP Internal Payload Retraction System Brochure.

Air Bear 206 Internal Payload Retraction System Brochure.

Air Bear corporate brochure.

Air Bear Finance Brochure.

Diamond Air DA62 MPP Sol Brochure.

DA62 MPP Factory Brief Brochure.

Diamond Air DA62 Survey Star Brochure.

DA62 Maritime Surveillance Aircraft Brochure.

Piston Power Brochure – DA62.

Piston Power Brochure – Cessna.

Textron T206H Brochure.

Air Bear brochure for the Cessna Grand Caravan EX.

Factory brochure for the Cessna Grand Caravan EX.

Recently, an air unit commander reached out to me regarding how to better utilize his shrinking budget to continue providing airborne services to his agency. This is just one of many conversations of late which seem to form a common thread throughout the law enforcement community.

“My mind is retracing the last three decades. Thousands of incidents, 11,000 plus hours in the air, everything I’ve seen and accomplished in this fantastic career is embodied in this next patrol flight.”

I call this bringing the “crime into the cockpit”, or analyzing the information, putting all the pieces together and sending down key tactical answers to responding ground units.

I recently had the opportunity to fly on a long cross-country flight in one of our new Airvan 8 platforms. An Air Bear business partner and I had departed Southern California on our way to Colorado to deliver the Airvan to Paravion Technology, one of our ISR integrator partners.

I love a good old fashioned statistical briefing about a police department’s big picture. Recently, I had the pleasure of participating in a briefing provided by a progressive Chief of Police who was exploring the idea of starting an aviation special unit.

RTB (former CHP Chief Pilot and good friend to Air Bear) authored this in the current issue of Air Beat.  It’s a good article indeed.

We learned the key to success is focusilg on being what the military ISR community calls an “unblinking eye in the sky”. This is an operational goal, but it’s about acknowledging that solid intelligence from above is only possible when the airborne platform and personnel are in a position to see and act in real time.

“…but most agencies are stalled in a status quo mindset…..how is that working out?”

How is it possible that an airplane can carry out missions that in the past were reserved for helicopters? The answer is technology.

“The technology I found with the most potential was an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) system known as wide area persistent surveillance (WAPS).”

The answer is simple. Fixed-2wing aircraft provide the following three benefits:

• Reduced cost of operations
• Increased time on station (an unblinking eye in the sky)
• Low noise signature for increased “stealth”

Helicopters have amazing capabilities and will always be desirable for law enforcement because of their ability to hover and land in tight locations. However, no one aircraft type is perfect for every mission.