By Cameron Macdonald
The Marin Independent Journal
MARIN COUNTY, Calif. — Marin firefighters got a potential glimpse of the future during a demonstration in Mill Valley.
The exhibition focused on a new aircraft technology that could be used for emergencies and searches. The single-seat vehicle is 348 pounds, about 6.5 feet tall and powered by eight propellers and an electric engine.
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The aircraft, made by the Palo Alto company Pivotal, can be plugged into a wall to recharge, and it has an emergency parachute.
Southern Marin, Tiburon and Marin County firefighters gathered Monday to watch a display of the technology at Hauke Park. Pilot Tim Lum activated the engine, which sounded like a leaf blower, before he lifted off the grass vertically in less than a minute.
Lum controlled the aircraft with a joystick and watched the flight data on a tablet computer. He hovered 400 feet above the park and cruised around in circles before gently landing vertically on the grass.
The machine can fly up to 63 mph and has a flight range of 20 miles, according to the manufacturer. It has just 18 moving parts.
“Eighteen moving parts just baffles my mind that it’s possible,” Lum said.
The base price is $190,000. Pivotal is accepting $9,000 deposits from customers for deliveries this year.
“People are starting to say, What is this? How could we use it? What advantages does it offer to our operations?” said Heidi Groshelle, a spokesperson for Pivotal.
Groshelle said the aircraft can be recharged in 75 minutes and has detachable wings that allow the vehicle to be stored in a trailer. During the demonstration in Mill Valley, the vehicle was charged by portable batteries.
Greg Lary, a Pivotal sales executive, said the aircraft could be used in medical emergencies “where geographies are very challenging and that we know we can beat the ambulance.”
The company says a runway is unnecessary and a pilot’s license is not required.
In the fire station across the street from Hauke Park, firefighters were invited to fly the aircraft in a computer-generated simulator. They wore virtual-reality glasses to see themselves flying over a landscape.
The Southern Marin Fire Protection District is reviewing the product and considering its possible applications.
“We’re excited to look at this technology and assess what we think is a potential value and give feedback to the company,” Chief Chris Tubbs said.
Tubbs said he does not see the Helix being used for medical emergencies, but it could be deployed for search-and-rescue operations as well as fire reconnaissance.
“If there is a wildfire, we want to get aircraft in the air very quickly and get a sense of what the perimeter is, where the fire is traveling, and how fast it’s traveling,” Tubbs said. “That can be very valuable.”
Marin County Fire Department Chief Jason Weber watched the demonstration alongside Tubbs.
“I think it’s impressive. It’s an emerging technology and I think it will certainly be in place in the relatively near future,” Weber said. “Working with them to design something that can be effective and safe is going to be the key.”
Weber said the potential challenges with the aircraft include its need to land on an open space area and the 20-minute limit to its flight time.
“But they’re working on those things and I think as the technology develops it’s certainly promising,” Weber said.
Clifford Waldeck, a board member for the Southern Marin Fire Protection District, said the aircraft could help paramedics reach areas where they are needed.
“With the increase in age with Marin County’s population, it helps to up our paramedic game,” he said.
Waldeck said questions still need to be answered about where the aircraft could be stored and the time and resources involved in training.
“We can be pioneers on certain things, but even for pioneering something, it has to be pretty vetted too,” he said.
What do you think about using electric aircraft for emergency response and search and rescue? Could this technology be a game-changer or is it still too early to tell? Share your thoughts below.
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