Drones

Does anybody still think the value of drones outweighs the risks? The FAA says it's only a matter of time until one of these idiot drone operators brings down a commercial jet. All this just for some cool aerial pics. Why are drones still for sale to everybody?

 

A camera can be added to any radio controlled aircraft... You think killing off a 50+ year old hobby is viable?

 

Balloon photograph of the landscape has been around since "balloons and cameras"....

 

We haven't been having these problems for 50 years.

 

https://youtu.be/9Y69LV2peH4

 

Yeah, ban drugs and guns as well. In fact, severe punishments all around for those who even dare to commit thought crime regarding anything which could be used to injure another human being.

(edit: I should have said keep drugs banned)

 

There a story of a guy shooting down A drone cause it was takin pictures of the mans daughter. Google it

 

As usual--the bad will drive out the good. Happens to just about everything. Also as usual--nothing will be done until a cat-ass-trophy occurs.

 

It's already illegal to fly these things anywhere near an airport. A few very public arrests will solve the problem for the most part. Just like the losers who were aiming lasers at cockpits.

I remember when a Drone was just a pilotless aircraft with a basic gyro or a tow cable. It was a target for training Navy gunners and little else. In the early 80s I was on a ship in the Pacific when we were holding a test of the Vulcan Phalanx system. A helicopter from the Hawaiian National Guard flew by the ship towing a dummy drone, made of foam and covered with aluminum so the radar could see it. The Phalanx (a 6-barrel gun that shoots 20mm DU rounds) was activated as the helicopter passed safely. The target was turned into confetti in a matter of seconds.

Then it did something peculiar. It would rotate a half degree and fire a single round, then rotate another half degree and fire a round. About 6 times we heard this Click-Boom, Click-Boom shit. The fire control guys were freaking out because they had been having all kinds of problems with it for months. One of the official observers reported to the ship that the Phalanx was tracking the tow cable and shooting sections out of about a fathom long. Given time it would have eventually tracked up to the helicopter. They were happy to know it was finally operating as it should.

These quadcopter drones look like they will become a real headache in the near future. Especially as they get smaller and quieter. Peeping into people's windows no longer requires ladders and binoculars. Welcome to the 21st century. But don't use a gun to shoot one down, that's illegal. Using a golf ball and a Wrist Rocket sling shot should do the job!

 

I saw a video of drone firing Roman candles.
I want.

 

Drones are rude, or like a hobby remote control plane? I guess when I see one I'll know. I'm guessing they don't all have cameras so there's no real reason for me to be aggravated. But what if it starts taking pictures?! Then I might feel a bit apprehensive.

 

re-read this..

Not sure that's even possible to bring down a airplane with a small plastic toy that only has a battery life of 15mins or so.

Given the aircraft enormous size, and engines that can dice, chop, slice and puree. Maybe it could burn out an engine. But on a multi engine aircraft. Id find it hard to believe it could be fatal to the plane. Maybe cause a forced landing after take off when the plane must use its thrust to escape gravity ..

operator of a drone would have to be pretty good to get it to the aircraft engine. even by accident. the odds are pretty high imo..

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrzU-MMBGIM

 

Also, saw footage on TV of a bald eagle taking one out! That was bad ass!

Hubby says the biggest risk would be just before landing, getting a drone sucked into an intake. Big birds have caused engine failures before, and they don't have metal parts. At that moment, they're close to stalling speed, and the plane is not set up properly for a one engine landing.

How can that law be enforced? Unlike the old hobby airplanes, operators of state of the art drones are often out of sight, watching a computer screen.

Last week, they had problems for several days in a row at JFK, and they weren't able to track down any of the operators. One time, a drone crossed the fence line and was hovering about 60 feet to the left of a runway!

With so many drones hanging around where they shouldn't be, it's just a matter of time until the worst happens.

I don't get the lack of reaction from Congress. Nobody has a constitutional right to own a flying machine, especially without any kind of a license or training, and there's no big money in building or selling drones.

 

simple, just install automated shotgun like turrets around the airports and have them blast anything that fly's too close.

I imagine after some idiot sees his toy that cost a couple grand $$ get blasted to pieces, they may think twice.

 

They would have to buy some land, move some roads and businesses. Expensive. Can't have debris raining down in random places. In Minneapolis, the Mall of America is close to the end of a runway.

 

Same as any law, slowly. First the different agencies will have to determine that they are NOT on the hook for enforcement of this. They will dally around and point fingers for months/years and little will be resolved. But one day a stupid drone operator will catch the video of the decade, his own drone being sucked into an aircraft compressor. It will be followed by grainy surveillance cameras from various angles showing either a plane struggling to slow down and stay in the lane while landing. Or the other side where they barely have enough power to get off the ground and end up in a river or crowded freeway. Or worse, they simply crash and burst into flames, possibly taking out rows and rows of "affordable housing" always placed precariously close to air lanes.

Congress will snap into action and dispatch the fingers to point at the agencies who had been dodging responsibility all this time. Lawyers will jump in from every angle and discipline from personal injury to divorce. And the FBI will be called in to find fingerprints on the drone's remains. Which they will likely find on some component the asshole forgot to wipe down before making the flight, knowing it was illegal to begin with.

The only prevention I see for this will have to come from the airports themselves. They will have to quit trying to make do with a skeleton security crew and maybe even employ their own drones to actually attack the interlopers' drones. The technology for dealing with this problem exists already. But it's costly and the money is currently being wasted on efforts to keep children and little old ladies from sneaking contraband through the TSA net. I have reduced my own flying considerably and haven't been to an airport in months (it's usually a few times each month). Not because of the drone issue, but because I am tired of the horribly mismanaged aspect of air travel. It has become a glorified bus ride.

People used to dress up to fly. Now you're lucky if the fat slob who wants to lift the arm rest between you has had a shower. I will say though that it's funny to see people board a plane that still think flight crew are "supposed" to tolerate their crap. As if they are servants. I've seen people ejected before the door was closed because they loudly demanded a drink "right now" and the like. But no more. If I have to get somewhere in the US, I'll take a Megabus and watch a few movies on my tablet (whilst slamming scotch that I got on board since I don't have to be searched). So far the only offers I'm getting from outside of the country are from places I won't go anyway.

Wow, is that a tangent or what?

Anyway, I personally think anyone who flies one of these in airport airspace or in the flight path should get a minimum of a year in a cage. They should also be forced to help clean up after every aircraft crash that occurs during their probation period. Make the punishment mean something personal to them.

 

Karen, iI've asked the same question and I have two answers;

1) It's making someone a lot of money somewhere. That trumps public safety, anytime. You should know this.
2) The federal government will be using these for domestic surveillance of Americans. How can they argue they are the only ones to have drones?

 

I work in the jet engine industry as an engineer. I can tell you that one of these could easily destroy an engine if ingested. But that's the reason why you have multiple engines on a jet. One is sacrificial.

 

More than likely, several hundred people will be sacrificed in a crash before this is taken seriously enough. Glad I don't fly.