P.E.I. RCMP add UAV to toolbox

They don’t fire missiles or drop bombs, but the RCMP in P.E.I. have added an unmanned aerial vehicle to the tools they use to do their jobs.

Greg McCormick, a communications operator in Charlottetown, flies the remote controlled helicopter that he says isn’t a drone and doesn’t have the same capabilities as those in the military’s arsenal.

“The only thing these things share, they’re best described as distant cousins,” he said.

The RCMP’s unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is a six-bladed helicopter about the size of a large pizza with a mount for a camera that feeds back to a display on the ground so its operator can see what the camera sees.

McCormick described it as an overgrown hobbyist remote control airplane, although its purpose as an RMCP tool changes it from a model to a remotely piloted vehicle in Nav Canada’s eyes.

“It’s actually a lot of fun,” he said.

With an $18,000 price tag, it’s also more expensive than a typical remote controlled helicopter, although McCormick said L Division got its unit as a gift from the RCMP in Saskatchewan where they had it as surplus.

Although the unit itself is expensive, parts for it are available at a local hobby shop and McCormick said the RCMP budgets a few hundred dollars annually for repairs.

Unlike regular hobbyists, the RCMP has to check with Nav Canada first before any flights because the helicopter is used by a law enforcement agency.

http://www.journalpioneer.com/section/2014-01-20/article-3582699/P.E.I.-RCMP-add-UAV-to-toolbox/1