Police helicoptors... something I noticed about them (vs. news choppers)

pre-set

pre-set

Well-known member
I don't know why this just occured to me a few days ago, but for as long as I can remember, I have NEVER seen a police chopper hold in a "hover" over something. They ALWAYS seem to fly orbits, even if it's over a static scene, often at pretty high airspeed, at relatively low altitude.

News choppers - all the ones I've ever been in anyway - hover all day long. Or at least while they're over something getting video, that is.

I know hovering is the hardest part of chopper flying, but still, it can't be THAT difficult since the news pilots do it for hours every day, yet police pilots never do it at all.

Could it be a departmental safety rule? I know a chopper is most vulnerable to crashing from engine or mechanical failures when it has zero airspeed at lower altitudes (no safety margin), but if that were really a valid concern, why would news choppers be permitted to hover either? Are police choppers afraid of groundfire (laughable)?


Anyone noticed this in thier area?
 
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Handycam

Handycam

Member
A check with your local pilots should reveal a safety reason for doing orbits rather than hovering. Hovering burns more fuel, the pilot is also in a vulnerable position in regards to performance (high torque, high EGT {Engine Temperature}, or other operational parameters), and it is also a very vulnerable position if the engine or some other component decides to fail at this critical time.

For helicopters to effectively enter into an autorotative state there has to be enough potential energy available to become a successful maneuver. The pilot requires two things to perform this critical skill, altitude and or forward speed. Forward speed and altitude are the sources of our potential energy which induce the rotational forces needed to safely perform autorotation. Since most police work is performed at low altitude the safe pilot will keep the aircraft moving forward in the event that an autorotation should have to be performed.

News Helos have to hover in spite of all this because they have to get the shot!
 
pre-set

pre-set

Well-known member
cameragod said:
Where as Police Helos orbit so they don't get shot! :eek:
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Nah. Hitting an aircraft (even a stationary one hovering at 500+ft AGL with a handgun is the very definition of "impossible". A rifle (with a scope) would be more useful, but still a difficult shot.

Not too many hoodrats running around out there with scoped rifles shooting at police choppers.
 
Buck Satan

Buck Satan

Well-known member
The newschopper in our area rarely stands till to shoot anything. I do belive that they have a stabilized cameramount tho...

As far as shooting choppers, the old VC method of putting enough bullets in the air (you are liable to hit something) always works...:)
 
McQueen

McQueen

Well-known member
Sometimes it's best for us to "hang" when it's a static scene, especially if there are multiple ships involved. We (ENG) stay at 1k ft and LE are usually at 500 ft and below, often moving. Also by hovering there is a better chance of not showing a skid or losing the scene behind trees,buildings etc. We also try to keep the pod pointing un-obstructed(camera ball blocking path) to the recieve sites during live hits. It lessens the chance of dropout if your stationary. We usually do orbits when conditions warrant(less ships on station and or b-roll.)
 
pre-set

pre-set

Well-known member
Buck Satan said:
As far as shooting choppers, the old VC method of putting enough bullets in the air (you are liable to hit something) always works...:)
Click to expand...
Well, a couple squads of infantry soldiers with rifle-caliber automatic weapons shooting skyward at a 'chopper ain't exactly the same thing as a lone hoodrat blazing a mag full of 9mm from his sideways-held Glock pistol.

The first scenario would scare me in a chopper. The second one would make me laugh too hard to photograph it!
 
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