Local News in Brief : Low-Tech Plane Wanted
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While Los Angeles is buying a $1.5-million helicopter to fight crime, the police chief of Azusa would settle for a used ultra-light aircraft costing about $8,000.
It all comes down to “what a city can afford,” said Azusa Police Chief Lloyd J. Wood.
The ultra-light is more like a motorized glider than an airplane. It has a 50-horsepower engine with a top cruising speed of 35 m.p.h. but can glide great distances unpowered.
If the City Council agrees to buy the single-seat aircraft from Downey, the Azusa Police Department would become the only one in the Southland--and one of the few in the nation--to use one for police work. Wood says the craft, which is equipped with a siren, searchlight and public-address system, would be used for aerial surveillance to assist officers on the ground in the San Gabriel Valley community.
In addition to cost, an ultra-light has one big advantage over a helicopter. It’s so quiet that it won’t disturb non-criminals trying to watch television or sleep.
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