HUNTINGTON BEACH : A Quiet New Copter Named Maverick

The Police Department has unveiled its newest helicopter, an ultra-modern four-passenger whirlybird with no tail rotor and a reputation for making less noise than its predecessors.

Police Chief Ronald E. Lowenberg said it is one of the safest, quietest and most up-to-date helicopters in the nation.

The Huntington Beach Police Department is one of a small number of agencies to have the McDonnell Douglas Model 520N in its arsenal, Lowenberg said.

In ceremonies at the city heliport this week, officials christened the $990,000 machine Maverick, in honor of the late former City Councilman Jack Kelly, who starred in the “Maverick” television series for many years. They noted that Kelly strongly supported the helicopter program before his death last year.

The aircraft can cruise at 175 m.p.h. as it rides 800 feet over the city. It has a 30-million candlepower light system, infrared lighting for nighttime and binoculars that are stabilized in order to accurately zero in on small targets.

It also is equipped with a 350-channel radio that permits Huntington Beach officers to talk to nearly all agencies in Southern California.

Pilot Jim Lail, who’s been flying Huntington Beach police helicopters for 24 years, said the new chopper, in operation about two weeks, is quieter because it has no tail rotor.

The aircraft can respond to an emergency in about 45 seconds and can reach a typical destination in about two minutes, contrasted with a time of about 20 minutes for police cars, Lail said.

Police said that in conventional helicopters, the tail rotor is there to stabilize the craft. With the main rotor blade system turning counter-clockwise, the fuselage wants to turn in the opposite direction. But in the new chopper uses an alternative method: Air escapes through two slots on the right side of the fuselage, generating enough force to counter the whirlybird’s attempts to turn itself under the rotor blades.

A 1985 study by the Army found that one in five of its helicopter accidents resulting in fatalities or destruction of the aircraft was related to incidents involving the tail rotor, police said.

The cost of the helicopter was $650,000, but specialized emergency patrol equipment raised it to slightly more than $900,000.

Police received a trade-in allowance of $300,000 for one of their used helicopters.

The department has a five-year lease financed for at least the first year with funds from asset forfeitures in narcotics cases.