It's Brazil's answer to Baywatch. While California has Pamela Anderson and company romping around in red swimsuits, Rio has muscle-bound lifeguards patrolling its golden sands in flying machines. Instead of relying on the traditional boat method, the six-man team flies above the city's famous Copacabana and Ipanema beaches in microlite aircraft, pulling troubled bathers from Rio's choppy waters.

Coastguard Vanderley Carvalho Alonso jnr, part of the flying squad, says: "During the summer season, we are on patrol every single day, searching for tourists in trouble. It might look strange to people on the beach when they see us flying past in our little machines, but it's actually much more practical than they realise."

Rio's coastguards introduced the three microlites, which cost around £20,000 each, after budgets were slashed by local authorities. Instead of hiring helicopters to help those far out at sea, the unit was forced to opt for cheaper alternatives.

Jose Ricardo Leal de Oliveira, leader of the flying coastguards, explains: "We needed some way of reaching vessels that had capsized off the coast. If we used ordinary lifeboats on patrol, it would take us 10 hours to survey an area a microlite can do in just two."

The coastguards have also used their flying machines in less conventional circumstances. One unit recently chased a car on a main road outside the city. Coastguard Alonso says: "We were radioed by a police unit that noticed we were patrolling the area outside greater Rio. They asked us to chase this particular car because it was being used as a getaway vehicle by two men who had robbed a bank. For some reason, the police couldn't catch up with it and they didn't have a helicopter in the region, so we were happy to help."

Alonso steered the microlite above the road, keeping track of the escaping criminals. He radioed colleagues on the ground, who positioned officers further down the road, where they arrested the men.

Their all-action approach has certainly given Rio's coastguards a high public profile, and the team has been inundated with fan letters.

"I suppose you could say we've become some people's heroes," Alonso says bashfully. "When we did the ordinary beach work, no-one gave us a second thought - but now it's all different. I don't mind all the attention, but my wife isn't so happy about it."