The OH-58 was designed by Bell Helicopter in the mid 1960's as part of a U.S. Military request for an observation helicopter. The first OH-58's were delivered to the Army in the Vietnam War in 1969. The Kiowa is a single turbine engine single rotor light observation aircraft with a cruising airspeed of 117 MPH with a maximum speed of 138 MPH and a range of 300 miles that can fly at altitudes exceeding 15,000 feet.

The OH-58 originally cost over 6 million dollars and our aircraft has now been equipped with a forward looking medium-wave infrared (FLIR) camera with an associated cost of over two hundred twenty-five thousand dollars. The Kankakee County Kiowa, call sign Air-2 is also equipped with a sixty million candle watt directional spotlight costing in excess of fifty thousand dollars, a multi band radio for interoperable communications. A radar device provides the aircraft pilot and observer with a “view” of obstacles in its path including antennas and similar hazards.

Operational funding is the responsibility of the Kankakee County Sheriff's Office and all funds are provided via contributions from the public and other safety agencies in the area. The aircraft is a valuable asset to area public safety agencies including the ability to search for enforcement operations including tracking vehicles or pedestrians, insertion of tactical assets and the assessment of disaster sites. For further information on how you can help defer some of these costs, please give us a call. Let us explain and introduce you to the non profit 501c3 corporation and the mission of the nonprofit. Donations made are tax deductible.

For additional information contact Chief Timothy Swanson at the Kankakee County Sheriff's Office or the Chief Pilot Kurt Kaiser at pager number 708-521-1818.

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