The new Cambridgeshire Police helicopter is a state of the art aircraft and will patrol the county's skies as well as providing an amazing array of services. The MD902 Explorer cost a staggering £3.9 million, but for this extraordinary sum of money the force now has a helicopter with some incredible features such as a 30 million candle power searchlight, a public address system and digital video recorders.
 | | Even bigger than before. |
The helicopter will be based at the Cambridgeshire Police's Air Support base at RAF Wyton, where Tony Cowan is the Unit Executive Officer in charge. He is understandably very excited with the force's latest acquisition. No tail rotor "One of the unique features of the Explorer helicopter is that is doesn't have a tail rotor which is an enhancement as far as we are concerned." "It is important, you do need a tail rotor to counter the torque of the main rotor, most people know what helicopters look like, a main rotor on top which is usually well clear of the ground with a tail rotor very close to the ground at the rear." "Sadly there have been serious accidents where people have walked into tail rotors, " Tony explained. The new helicopter is twin-engined and is already in service with private and corporate customers, law enforcement agencies and emergency services around the world. These include the US Coast Guard, US Drug Enforcement Agency, Rijkswacht and the Gendarmerie in Belgium, German State Police, Dutch National Police, and even the Mexican Navy. Multi use capacity "Because of the structure of the aircraft it lends itself to being a freighter, we can carry water if we have to, we can reconfigure the back of the aircraft to make it into a people carrier and we can also use it as an air ambulance." | "It is a bit like the Starship Enterprise in here, compared to the old aircraft it is vast." | | Simon Amos, Helicopter observer. |
"We have a very close relationship with MAGPAS (Mid-Anglia General Practitioner Accident Service) who are well known in Cambrigeshire for their life saving duties" said Tony. This will also mean that MAGPAS will no longer have to split the team up - allowing the doctor and paramedic get to the scene together. Previously the doctor was having to arrive alone with the paramedic driving behind, this new helicopter means the team does not have to split up and they can deliver the care that is needed at the scene quicker. Assistant Chief Constable of Cambridgeshire Police, Mark Hopkins, believes that despite the vast cost of the helicopter it will be a vital crime fighting tool. Investment "It unequivolcally is worth the money, it is worth the investment from the benefits we get from this machine - they far out way the costs." "Also a substantial amount of the costs are funded by central government so a big chunk is not costing the people of Cambridgeshire but is actually managed by the government." "But as an asset it gives us huge benefits - the capacity to engage with criminals and the fear it engenders in certain criminals, people can't run away from a helicopter," explained the Assistant Chief Constable. The new helicopter will be able to be utilised in many different ways, from searching for missing and vulnerable people, locating offenders and vehicle follows to surveillance, major incident planning and monitoring public order incidents.
 | | The 30 million candle power searchlight |
It will also mean that officers can fly for around two hours without having to refuel and can carry up to eight people, including the pilot and two air observers, compared with five in the old helicopter. One of these observers, Simon Amos, is very excited at the prospect of having a new kind of flying office to work inside. Autopilot "It is a bit like the Starship Enterprise in here, compared to the old aircraft it is vast, in front of me I have a double screen work station, in the old aircraft I would have had to have been sitting directly behind the pilot and looking over his shoulder." "This helicopter is able to work with full autopilot, basically the pilot is able to input some data into the aircrafts computer, press some buttons and in effect take his hands off the control and the helicopter will fly us to the scene," said a rather excited Simon. And the further benefits that the new aircraft now offers the Air Support Unit don't stop there either. "The other thing about this aircraft is that it is fully compatible with night vision goggles and with the aid of the goggles it will be like looking at daylight." "We have the capacity to carry up to six people in the back of the aircraft and that could be a entire firearms unit if need be." Simon said. It has proved to be a valuable asset to the Police, during the training period, the helicopter was able to test some of the equipment following real-life incidents. On Tuesday June 6th, a call came into the control room at around 9.40pm reporting a serious road traffic collision involving three motorcycles on Potton Road in Abbotsley. The helicopter attended, taking both the MAGPAS doctor and paramedic to the scene, something which was not previously possible. Two of the motorcyclists were taken to hospital with serious, but not life-threatening injuries. | 
