Manned Drone That Sounds Like Angry Wasps Is Latest Police Toy Patrolling Florida College Campus
The future of policing is being taken to new heights.
Cops in Dubai have kept the peace (and broken it) over the years with a range of exotic cruisers that includes a Mansory Lamborghini Revuelto and Ferrari FF. But even that police department can't claim something as exotic as a flying police car. But officers at Florida Polytechnic University sure can.
Florida Poly, located in Lakeland, Florida, has taken delivery of an electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) craft. It's effectively a giant quadcopter drone, but one capable of carrying a human pilot. The university says the $148,000 flying police vehicle could be used to help it find missing people and reach remote areas that would be inaccessible in conventional vehicles. It also says students will use it as a research tool, gathering data and hands-on experience of an emerging flight technology. Maybe someday, we'll see an aerial police pursuit with this and the DeLorean Airspeeder flying-car racer.
The aircraft is a Jetson One, and has been nicknamed Astro, a reference to the dog in the 1960s cartoon show, "The Jetsons." California-based Jetson, which borrowed its name from the show, says it fast-tracked the university's order, helping it jump an order line that's now three years long. Florida Poly's police department already has a drone unit, but the eVOTL's advantage is that it can carry a first responder to someone needing assistance, and not just locate them.
"We have always been looking for the use case beyond the recreational intent," Stéphan D'haene, CEO of Jetson, said. "We believe that this project is so important, and aligns so much with what we want to do, that we made it a priority."
Still needs FAA approval
Jetson quotes a maximum flying time of only 20 minutes from the 190 lbs (86 kg) One, which means Florida Poly police chief Aaron Murray will have to work fast once he's taken to the sky. But there's another more pressing hurdle, and that's the legal red tape currently preventing the craft from starting its official duties.
The One is restricted to 63 mph (102 kph), which exactly matches the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) maximum speed limit for ultralight aircraft. Why does that matter? Because ultralights don't need an airworthiness certificate or registration, and pilots flying them don't need a traditional pilot's license, or a medical certificate proving they're fit to fly. Jetson does say, however, that the Florida Poly cops will be fully trained in how to fly the One before they lift off for the first time.
The university's current problem is that the FAA's Part 103 ultralight rules were only designed for aircraft used for sport and recreation, and police patrols definitely don't fit into that category. The same regulations also forbid flying over congested areas, and at night, which could seriously limit the One's usefulness to Florida Poly's police force. But the university says it's "in the final stages of seeking approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to use the aerial patrol vehicle in its operations," which suggests an exemption might be on the cards.
"There are a lot of things that people once looked at as recreational vehicles that are incredible tools in our profession now," Murray said. "People used to think that bicycles, motorcycles and drones were all just toys or hobbies, but look at the huge impact they have made on our law enforcement profession."