Arlington police department getting into RC heli's!

[WoodiE]

Seen this on my local news station this morning about Arlington, TX testing out R/C helicopters as an unmanned aircraft to capture video and still pictures.

Price tag of $2,500 - $300,000 seems a bit steep to me, but I guess if it's tax payers dollars then who cares - right. :ahem:

Arlington PD Testing Unmanned Aircraft (video in link)

 

[Rolex]

I wonder if they are hiring.

They are still only looking at 10 minutes of flight time per charge and limited range.
I'm sure they will spend the entire amount to make them fully autonomous with GPS guidance and programming.
Big brother will watch a little closer.

 

[Ron Olson]

These aren't your garden variety RC heli's. Lots of added gear. Yeah, they could have been built cheaper.
I did get a kick out of the gal worrying about invasion of privacy though as it's not like they're made for Peeping Tom's.

 

[Rolex]

The Align 700 that they used has a base price of 1200 to 1500. Then add the custom CF or stealth canopy that it had and the camera equipment and you're really getting up there. What's available for helis big enough to carry the added weight is seriously state of the art, and that's the best heli on the market today.