Drones Again

Just reading a Channel 10 somewhere in CA. www news event
about Drones. According to the article the FAA has had 200
reported incidents since Feb. 2014, a lot at airports. Says new
laws are in the works and should be out within the year. Let's
hope they do what needs to be done.

I never had a problem with RC airplanes and used to build and fly
hand guided planes when younger......took you $200 and a
month to build it and only about 15 seconds to crash it into a
million pieces. Never could afford and wasn't smart enough at
the time to have an RC.

RC airplanes were never a menace that I know of. Seems drones
are of a different breed. Course being a crook and scoping out
your operation for something to steal (like your tractor) wasn't all
that easy either. Now it is. We'll see.

Mark

Computer controlled, high def camera, easy to fly. $1200 or less.

We all want one, we all don't want our neighbor to have one.

Then, here, hold my beer........

What could go wrong?

Paul

Way more fun than shooting skeet.

I heard on the news that FAA want to license everybody that flies them. There only one problem the crooks are not going to get a license.

A model airplane club had a demo in Shea Stadium once during a ball game and a radio controlled plane hit a woman in the head and killed her.

For some challenged people with limited air space and too many trees in yard, I find it more fun to fly RC helicopters. Less damage when they crash. Fly them inside house or pole barn. Grand kids can fly them too.

My boy has a small drone he can fly inside his house too.

Not to mention they are cheaper than RC planes. Can't fly that far on a charge. Safer in my opinion.

We all want one, we all don't want our neighbor to have one.

We produce air pollution and we want our neighbors to have some.

Like these?
indoor flying

here's a recap on the model airplane death
link

I don't care who owns it, if I see one flying over my yard low enough for me to hit it, it's coming down. Just another high tech way for thieves to peek in your windows.

You don't need a drone to see what someone has in the backyard to steel. All you need is a camera with a good zoom lens and a clear shot.
My brother has a camera. He can stand in the cemetery on the hill one mile out of town and take pictures of the cars on main street. The pictures are so clear. You would think he was standing on main street.

Who thought *that* was a good idea in the first place?

Careful..!! It might be you neighbor's, checking field conditions or crop condition..!!

Done more and more often today..

The New Laws are strange..the Police are deputized to question Drone use, but have NO jurisdiction for anything in the AIR..!!

Go figure...

Ron.

Back when I was a kid I had a helicopter. It was attached to a 3 foot wire to a battery pack lol. Maybe we need to go back to that?

c'mon guys
Life is supposed to be fun.
Non-official drone trespassing in...
my drone rises to meet it....
real life video game. way cool

I think UAV's are ok if you keep them on your own property, but I don't see that happening, especially when companies are talking about using them for package delivery.

Have you ever seen the Russian gun guy on Youtube? He has several videos, one called "Quadrotor Drone, with Machine Gun! - PATROLLING AMERICAN SKIES" with his drone. I can't link it here because of strong language and violence, but its a funny video.

After reading Texasmark1's original post, I watched a couple of videos and got an idea. Remember our now retired A-10 Warthog military plane? Pretty durable and lethal. Had a real potent machine gun mounted in its fuselage that fired out its nose? Here's my idea. Buy yourself a Drone and practice it plenty. Then mount a gun in it like the A-10. Maybe a semi-auto .22, maybe a semi-auto .45. First time a drone trespasses on your property and violates your privacy, scramble it into service, and think in terms of a dogfight much like our Air Force would do if or when an enemy plane invaded our air space. If you watch the Russian guy video I told you about, it has a machine gun mounted on it. Imagine what that thing could do to someone's invading drone on your property.

Mark

The FAA did announce some ruling on drones for Ag use. I think, in order to use them for Ag, you must have a private pilot's license and a current medical certificate. The "drone" must not be flown out of sight distance, and no higher than 400 feet AGL.

I'm glad I don't have an AMA license anymore. I haven't had one since spread spectrum overtook FM, and I could fly right from my farm. I was one of the first to have the E-Flite Blade CP, and wore out several of them, and also made a lot of friends by sharing upgrade ideas. I have flown with the best of the best, with nitro helicopters, as a lot of them are from this area. Carnegie Mellon University has a Kawasaki helicopter with a 12 foot rotorspan that is a true UAV. The problem is, the technology is becoming cheap enough that the toys are employing the same gyro stabilization technology along with the gps technology the CMU UAV uses. It is too easy for any idiot to fly.

No offense to any idiots, but this is what happened to the internet in the late 1990's.

Before anyone could get online easily, and browsers were so advanced, and search engines were so advanced, there were simple newsgroups with no pictures, just text, and people were polite and considerate, because everyone was a computer geek, and as a general rule, all of us nerds were pretty docile, non-combatant.

Now, anyone can get online, and look at what the internet is now! It's a rude, disgusting, low-brow place sometimes. People are inventing new languages because they are too lazy to type out full words. Now, I think more people online know what STFU abbreviates, than what NASA abbreviates. It's just how it is.

Unfortunately, with these FPV drones and spread spectrum, too many idiots are taking over what used to be a small club of radio nerds, and aviation nuts who were polite and considerate.



Sorry if this offends anyone who flys. I had my AMA license for over 30 years. I never got into the fpv, because it violates AMA rules. Now that I have Spread Spectrum technology, I just might buy a Telemaster Senior and a camera system myself for checking fields. Of course, looks like I need to get the rest of my hours, and get my private ticket first. :?

Funny I just finished a 1/35 scale model of the Hog. It got it's name from the round headed rivets used in it's after section. Look like warts on a hog.

This is an awesome beast and it's capabilities are fantastic. In it's realm, the arena for which it was designed, it is awesome and no way would I want to be on the receiving end of what it has to offer. The gun fires 30 caliber depleted uranium (big thud when it hits) and carries about 2500 rounds. IT CAN EMPTY THE MAGAZINE IN 40 seconds. It just hums when it shoots. Was designed as a Russian tank killer during the Cold War.

As usual with a 40 year old air frame you have supply issues. However there are vendors that meet that challenge and even if they are expensive, lot less expensive than what's currently being built like the F-35 that I read is being considered to replace it. Look at a hog and a 35 and tell me that there is compatibility.

Mark

Mark

Oops. BIG error in post. Bullets (rounds) are 30 Millimeters in diameter, not 30 Caliber. Let's see at 25.4 mm/inch that makes them1.18" not 0.30". There is a video of the A-10 firing it's Gattling gun on U Tube. Not real clear from a target's perspective, but what amazed me was it's ability to deliver it's ordinance and well before it reaches the target, do a fast pull up and U turn. But, just like a short tongue trailer, with the wings set as far back as they are it makes for a tight turn and the pilot has pretty much unlimited visibility. The pilot sits in a Titanium tub which shields him from 3 sides and below.

If you Google Davis Montham AFB in Tucson, you can see some of them in storage. News says that numerous have been pulled out and put back in service against the new problem in the Middle East.

Mark

The advent of FPV is driving Quad (Drone) Sales wildly now..
FPV is "First Person View", where YOU are virtually sitting IN the pilot's seat of the aircraft..
Makes checking fields and crops nice as you can fix your position and scan/zoom in on problem areas, then move on and never need to walk the fields..
Every kid on the block can have one, so I do not see needing a Pilot's License being a chargeable Offense..as long as they stay away from Airport air space, etc and observe altitude limits (and don't hover over the neighbor's bedroom window)!!.
I know it is a Tech-Shock to see the new Technology..
As with most, there is good with the bad..
FPV is a poor man's chance to get in the Pilot's seat...!!
Ron..

Yep, getting on the bad side of an A-10 wouldn't be a good thing. They are or were pretty potent.

Mark