WA Radio Scanner Users' Group

just incase anyone was wondering polair 61 is the police helicopter and polair 62 is a fixed wing aircraft,i am thinking that polair 62 is the long term replacement to polair 61 as i have heard that the government are trying to sell polair 61 because it is no longer needed for rescues since rac rescue 1 came into service and that polair 62 is a much cheaper alternative

scottwa2468 wrote:just incase anyone was wondering polair 61 is the police helicopter and polair 62 is a fixed wing aircraft,i am thinking that polair 62 is the long term replacement to polair 61 as i have heard that the government are trying to sell polair 61 because it is no longer needed for rescues since rac rescue 1 came into service and that polair 62 is a much cheaper alternative

They just have to solve the small problem of how they're going to get a fixed-wing aircraft to hover...

Scott,

Not sure mate, where did you hear that. They definatly need a helicopter for pursuits and other work, they still need to hover and do rescuses etc.

The fixed wing aircraft is more used for transporting officers in emergencys and operational use when Polair 61 is out of action.

I will confirm this for you and get back.

i have seen polair 62 make very slow tight turns before and with regards to pursuits i dont think it will have any trouble keeping up and one thing i wonder if polair 61 will remain in service why the need for polair 62 and i can recall a couple of years ago polair 61 was out of service for quite a few months so does that suggest the imprtance of it?

I cant really answer this yet with allot of knowledge but to I am to the best of my knowledge the Heli is their primary aircraft and the fixed wing (62) is the secondary aircraft.

I think the Heli is more dynamic as it can be used for rescues as well as landing in the middle of knowhere duing operations.

but why would they need polair 61 for rescues when rac resccue 1 is availible,also im not sure who runs it but there is also a longe range helicopter based at pearce airforce base that has been used for of shore rescues,im not arguing you point i am just wondering if there is any real need for polair 61

I think there is a need for Polair61 or at least a designated helicopter. An example I can use is during a pursuit officers often end up chasing offenders through bushland at night, Polair61 has infra-red devices for finding offenders and a night-sun for making the night turn into day.

A fixed wing aircraft would not be able to carry out these functions unless it was flying in circles which is very difficult when trying to assist ground members.

Also during events like skyshow polair is often used to assist in river rescues and other incidents requiring helicopter access, the RAC Helicoper is more of a Air Ambulance than anything else and is generally only used for medical emergencys etc.

I expect the issue (not surprisingly) is cost.

The current police chopper, a Kawasaki BK117, would be very expensive to maintain, both on the ground and in the air. Twin Lycoming LTS101 engines (as with any jet turbine engine) need maintenance to stay reliable. The more hours you do in the air, the sooner service time comes around.

I wouldn't be surprised if the police are looking around for a replacement helicopter that has the speed of the BK117 but is cheaper to run: in other words, a smaller aircraft. No other police forces in Australia operate a BK117 (though they're used a lot in the US).

When the police got the BK117 it had a variety of tasks including rescue work. There are smaller choppers (such as the Squirrel) that can do winch work and would have no trouble keeping with a high speed pursuit.