I think the UHP is using aircraft to patrol US-6 now. :( I was cruising along at about 10 mph over the limit when my radar detector beeped a couple of times, so I slowed it down a bit, expecting to see a cop around the next bend. The radar signal got much stronger, then stopped, but I never did see a patrol car. I thought it might have been an airplane, 'cause I had heard the UHP uses them on I-15. After another mile or so without seeing anything that could have set off the detector, I was seriously considering stopping the car, getting out, and looking for a plane, just to ease my mind. I never did stop, but about 4 miles after that happened, I saw a patrol car that had somebody stopped. There's no way they'd have a plane out if there weren't cars to back them up, so that just strengthened my suspicions. Those god damned bastards.
I'm just glad my radar detector's got my back. I've probably avoided 15 tickets thanks to that thing.
Update:
Ty got me wondering if airplanes can even use radar, so after hours of exhaustive searching (no, really), I found this site, which had this to say:
Q: How are aircraft used to monitor speed?So if it wasn't a airplane, I don't know what the hell it was...A: Using white reference marks on the road, the airborne officer simply times the target between two of the marks to establish average speed. Most states use VASCAR (a few use stopwatches), first programming in the known distance between the marks, then operating the time switch to determine target speeds. Cruisers waiting below stop the violator and write the ticket. Contrary to popular belief, radar cannot be used from aircraft.