The Unfriendly Skies

Was it a bird? Was it a plane? Residents of Birmingham, Ala., who observed a strange object buzzing some 160 ft. above an open field recently knew only that it was not Superman. Actually, the small oddball aircraft winging at 60 m.p.h. was Jefferson County's new law-enforcement weapon out for a test flight. Designed and built out of balsa wood and plastic by sheriffs deputies (who are also model-airplane buffs), the new gadget patrolling the skies was a pilotless plane remotely controlled from the ground. The 8-lb. airborne arsenal can carry up to 2 Ibs. of smoke bombs and tear-gas canisters--to say nothing of grenades and other explosives --strapped to its underbelly.

The craft's prime target will be snipers in high places. In fact, Sheriff Mel Bailey, 50, first considered building a remotely piloted vehicle (RPV as he dubs it) after a lone rifleman terrorized New Orleans last year from the roof of a motel. As Bailey explains it: "Criminals often seek a high vantage point. We have ground equipment to return fire, but so often you have to stay distant, which only extends the problem over a long period of time." With the RPV, Bailey plans to strike fast: drop a smoke bomb via remote control, blind the sniper, then send men in to grab him.

Though remote-control planes have long been used by the military, the Jefferson County sheriffs office is the first law-enforcement agency to develop a similar device. Some local residents complain that a craft laden with explosives and controlled by inexperienced lawmen could easily become a menace. Moreover, if Bailey also uses the plane to photograph crime and accident sites, the RPV could turn into an airborne invader of a citizen's privacy.

For now, it seems that Birmingham may have a respite from the winged Orwellian threat. During one flight demonstration, a grenade attached to the bomber's underside detonated prematurely and wiped out Bailey's one-craft air force. Undaunted, the designers are now at work on an unproved model. If successful, they dream of a fleet of RPVS prowling overhead long before 1984.

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