http://www.fox40.com/news/headlines/ktxl-news-riponflyingpatrol,0,110979.story
Merchant is one of two officers who have volunteered to get pilot training, which takes just a few days.
That’s a step up from what the Palm Bay, Florida police use:
[quote=“fholbert”]
That sounds about right… although, I couldn’t find the Briggs & Stratton course in Simcom or Flight Safety’s catalog to verify. 
[quote=“phantomjet”]
Briggs and Stratton!! haha
“The harness has a bullet-proof seat for the officers to sit in just in case they attract gun fire from below.” 
Reminiscent of sitting on our flak jackets in the Huey back in the day.
You sound like Hillary.
Now now, let’s be nice. She only “pretended” to sit on a flak jacket. JHEM actually did, there’s a difference…
[quote=“fholbert”]
Why, I was a flight simulator ace in no time myself!
Powered parachutes? Who came up with that idea/name, sounds like parachuting with a big engine strapped to yourself so hopefully you go forward faster than you go down…
I prefer helicopters though, these “powered parachutes” may have a place in some not-so-important roles but helicopters have their advantages, like being able to use it at night, ability to use FLIR, looking cool, ability to go faster than a champion cyclist etc.
They were developed by a former friend of mine named Steve Snyder.
Google Paraplane and Steve’s name if you want to know more.
A shame what happened to Steve, I also was an acquaintance of his when I first started flying.
So what happened to Steve? I Googled it but coudln’t find the answer. I found a reference to him as the “late” Steve Snyder. So I guess this story ends badly? 
Found it HERE (about 2/3 down the page)
Steve died in a crash of his ex-Luftwaffe Sabre following a compressor stall during a low pass at an airshow in 1999.
Steve was practicing for an airshow here at KVAY, not participating in one.