The latter is a less renowned TV station with obviously the same story.
The Spiegel report translated, everything in brackets by me.
"Small, agile and up to 100 mph fast. In Brandenburg the Police tests the usability of so called Gyroplanes (indeed Tragschrauber). In overall 40 flight hours the officers want to find out if they could be useful in police service. However only special tasks can be performed with the two seated mini helis. "
Officer:
"The gyroplane is not intended to serve as a substitute for the police helicopter, because it cannot hover, start land on the spot, carry loads or passengers. Instead it is intended for aerial documentation, reconnaisance, observation, possibly even tracing (?following suspects)."
"The gyroplane has all makings for these tasks. Besides its velocity it offers full round view over the terrain. It can travel for 400km (250 miles) on one tank and also the overall cost is smaller."
Officer:
"Compared to a police helicopter which costs approx. 2000-3000 Euros/h (2700-4050 $/h) we could cover a lot of the work with these devices at 100-150 Euros/h (135- 190$/h). That is a novelty"
"The Gyroplane weighs little more than 200kg (that is not true, empty weight is 245kg (540 lbs)) and still it is safe, but critics doubt it. The call the system immature and therefore life threatening. There are no official accident statistics as there are too few gyroplanes in the air. The trade union considers the project too expensive. The first test phase costs 20000 Euros alone(you can do the maths now). But the officers on site cannot be led astray."
other officer:
"I'm certain this will succeed. Like most technical achievements that were first smiled at, this will also be a success."
"The first test phase will last until November, then the decision will be made if the gyroplane will be purchased."
Kai
(good to have a kraut in this group
)