NSW Police Air Wing Hoping For Expansion

Personnel were assembled to create the new air wing. Pilots with backgrounds in Vietnam and the like were recruited. The original staff consisted of an inspector, a sergeant, three pilots and five observers. Within 18 months of its inception Polair had increased its fleet to three Jetrangers.

In contrast to the above figures, it is anticipated that in the latter part of 1991, the complement of staff will be as follows: a chief inspector, five sergeants, 10 pilots, 20 observers, and several administrative staff.

At the time of writing, moves are underway for Polair to leave its long term home at KSA and to relocate at Bankstown Airport. A number of reasons are cited for the move, such as cost, lack of proper facilities at KSA, and the benefits of being closer to the true geographical centre of Sydney at Bankstown. Certainly maintenance will be more convenient, as Polair’s contractual engineering facility for a number of years has been Aero support of Bankstown Airport. Aerosupport, incidentally, is praised by Polair for its ‘quality of service’, and supports the maintenance of the helicopters with a two year maintenance contract.

In the helicopter, the roles of pilots and observers are clearly defined. The pilot’s main task is to fly the machine, and to manoeuvre as the situation demands. The observer’s main task is to interface between the flying operation and the police requirement. It may be following fugitives in a stolen car, or advising the pilot on where to position so that an injured fisherman can be winched to safety.

Observers are police officers with usually up to four years police experience after graduating from Goulburn Police Academy. As can be envisaged, the Air Wing represents a fairly glamorous career path to many young officers, and an extensive waiting list exists. Aspirants who are eventually successful come to Polair on a two week trial. Some have their hopes dashed by airsickness, especially after being introduced to the onboard gyro-stabilised binoculars.

It is worth digressing briefly to explain. These binoculars are similar to the gym cameras used by television crews. A gyro spins up inside the device, allowing for a stable image to be achieved despite movement around the instrument. The writer can attest that after trying out the Polair binoculars over Syd- ney’s CBD at various levels from 1,500 to 5,000 feet, the clarity and resolution is impressive. Despite the vibration and ‘G’ forces, as long as the gyro button is pressed, the image is stable. It is precisely this condition that affects newcomers with the dreaded middle ear syndrome, bringing about nausea.

Some would-be observers learn that there is also a downside to the work, and that recovering a corpse from the water or from the bush is not so glamorous after all. Some simply come to terms with the reality that they are unsuitable for the work.

Successful observers embark on learning a number of skills required for the new position, viz: all aspects of helicopter operation, navigation (a good sense of direction is essential), winching. pre-flighting the helicopters, communication (both ATC and Police) and rescue are just some of these. The latter, ironically, is one of the most dangerous operations. Chief Pilot, Peter Leslie, puts it: “When you’re hovering, say, close to a rock wall, with trees all around you, and an injured bushwalker five metres below, you have to develop a good team relationship with an observer. If you ask: ‘how far is the tail rotor from that tree?’, and they answer “two metres, you want to be fairly confident that it’s not going to be any less. ” Observers, because of their police experience, are required to exercise command judgement when working with police units on the ground. If in pursuit of armed holdup suspects, for example, it’s up to the observer to keep the fugitive vehicle in sight, to communicate with the pilot and with the ground units, and to draw on experience on how events might develop. Such a role does carry its responsibilities, especially when it’s considered that Polair is under constant scrutiny from the public, from other police units, and from the Police Ministry.

Pilots come into the Air Wing with somewhat different criteria. The minimum qualifications set are approximately 1,000 hours command time, 500 of which ought to be turbine time; a sling/ winch endorsement is required, as is a Night VFR rating. Hot and high experience is viewed favourably (such as time in New Guinea) The personal qualities sought are a little more subtle, and a psychological evaluation has recently been introduced to assist in this process. Basically, the qualities are a person in their thirties, flexible and unruffable, tenacious, and demonstrating command behaviour, the candidate also ought to blend a high degree of individualism with a propensity to work as a team member. Flying ability ought to demonstrate fine tolerances and a wide range of skills.

Up till now pilots have entered Polair by passing through Goulburn, graduating as constables; this is set to change. Future. candidates will have the option of this avenue, or if they prefer. they can be sworn in as a special constable and commence fly-ing duties virtually straight away. Pilots at Polair have a unique salary structure within the Police Department in accordance with their duties, rather than commensurate with their rank. Thus far, no pilot has opted to seek a rank higher than Senior Constable. There is talk of restructuring of the pilot-cadre to a more pilot oriented order of rank system.

Pilots log about 500 hours a year with Polair, and each machine logs about 1,000 hours. All three Jetrangers now have over 10,000 hours. It is unlikely that observers will move into pilot positions in the short term. Indeed, there are varying opinions about whether observers ought to be so inclined at all. Some sources say that it’s better for the observers to have their attention outside of the helicopter rather than taking an avid interest in flying technique. There is also the logistics of availability of machines for training purposes. Their current utilisation pre- cludes this.

There is also a need for fixed wing operations at Polair, usually for prisoner transfer, and for transporting police units around the state. Polair has no fixed wing aircraft, and this work is seconded to preferred charter operators. If budget allowed, incumbent commander of Polair, Senior Sergeant John King, states the following: “We would ideally like a fleet of three aircraft. A fifteen seater, such as a Dornier 228, a ten seater, such as a Piper Chieftain, and a light twin such as a Baron. ” As previously stated, rescue operations can be a high risk exercise in Polair’s operations, but by no means one of its chief functions. Recently retired Chief Inspector Brian Milward was keen to make a point about Polair’s spectrum of operations.

“It’s important that we dispel the myth that Polair exists primarily as a rescue service. In fact, rescue, makes up only about three per cent of Polair’s activities. Our computer statistics depict clearly the other operations. ” Indeed they do. Murder, rape, drug and alcohol related crime, armed holdups, break and entry, stolen motor vehicles, surveillance and photography are some of the other operations in which Polair partakes.

After speaking to officers at Polair the impressions is that they attain a high degree of job satisfaction. Possibly it’s because they have an affinity for aviation, as well as the interest in not knowing what each new day will bring. Officers are encouraged to keep a packed bag at work for the very real contingency of coming to work and being sent to Bourke or Bega for the week. There is no doubt that the Bell 206 Jetrangers have been useful workhorses over the years, but they do have their limitations. In short, a limited payload for much of Polair’s requirements, and a restriction to daylight operations. At present, when urgency is required, the helicopters are flown to a job at optimum speed- slightly better than 100 knots; when speed is not of the essence, they are throttled back to 60 knots, increasing the endurance significantly.

Polair is awaiting refurbishment of a new addition to its fleet- an Aerospatiale Squirrel AS355. After initially flying for several months following its delivery in October 1990, this helicopter is currently being fitted out with an expanded radio capability for use throughout NSW. It will also contain specialised equipment, such as a thermal image and night vision stabilised binoculars. Being a twin engined machine, it will allow Polair to extend its ops Over ocean and to operate at night.

It is felt at Polair that the efficacy of its role in the community will be more truly established once 24 hours ops commence- after all, it is said, this is when all the real crooks are out!