It's not how SOPHISTICATED they are, it's how EASY they are to fly. Fixed wing RC required skills & practice, and camera resolution was poor until recently. Now you can buy a RTF HD-quality Phantom, charge the battery and be in the approach path of your local airport within an hour, no skills required.
Drones and Common Sense Rant
- Thread starter A Life Aloft
- Start date
Don't forget about the RC helies. Computer control is a major reason for the ease of flying multirotors....well really they are the reason there are multirotors today. When you fly a multirotor you are simply telling the controller what you would like the craft to do, rate or change. It then decides what needs to be done to make that happen. Much like flybarless controllers on RC helicopters.
Because of education. And they are a little more difficult to fly.
JMK
Well-Known Member
It could be a stability thing too, as far as capturing a steady image is concerned. I bet those little fixed wing RC's get their asses kicked in any wind. The multirotors probably get thrown around a bit but keep their attitude with all those gyroscopes spinning.
Edit: I also wanted to add, I honestly think giving CalFire 1 shotgun with birdshot shells only per engine would solve this problem. CalFire is already permitted to carry firearms in certain situations. Its not even a risk to anyone, bird shot coming down would feel like hail at worse.
Edit: I also wanted to add, I honestly think giving CalFire 1 shotgun with birdshot shells only per engine would solve this problem. CalFire is already permitted to carry firearms in certain situations. Its not even a risk to anyone, bird shot coming down would feel like hail at worse.
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So a swift kick to the nuts is out then?
Roger Roger
Bottom of the list
Richman
JC’s Resident Curmudgeon
This is getting close to the issue. RC Aircraft, for decades, had a fairly substantial barrier to entry in terms of cash, skill in building and skill in flying. Chances were good that if you tried to learn to fly it yourself, you'd re-kit your $500 investment rather quickly, so you always joined a club at the local flying field. This meant you got some indoctrination as to how to be a "good citizen". The high performance models, like the old "pre-turnaround" pattern ships were HOT, and required a good amount of skill.
This started to change when the ARFs first came on the scene, but they weren't all that sexy, so you didn't really see the "more money than brains" phenomenon that is so common with "shiny objects". At my club, we started to see the RTF turbine models pop up...unlike the RTF "ugly stiks", these things had a high "shiny" factor. The only thing that saved the day was these models require prepared surface, so a RC field was a requirement, which allowed for some adult supervision/intervention.
The AMA, like the ARRL, convinced the Feds that self-policing was the way to go, and it worked for a long time. Unfortunately, these kinds of things generally don't last if there is money to be made. "Gentlemen's agreements" are usually the first things ignored once someone figures out they can make a buck or two.
Like everything, it's the people who play by the rules, and have done so for years, that are going to get hammered.
As far as drones....shooting at them is sheer stupidity.
Richman
deadstick
Well-Known Member
Lufthansa plane in near miss with drone on Warsaw approach
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-33605869
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-33605869
Runincolorado
Well-Known Member
Reminds me of a time I was trying to encourage a kid to be more involved with science and bought him a model rocket kit. Little did I understand that he AND his father thought it was a great idea to launch them out of the back yard. Yes, close to a class D airport runway. I had to more than explain why this was not a good idea. It never occurred to them that launching a rocket in to the flight path on departure or short final would be a problem. (yet the loved watching the planes fly over their house)
I think that the drone operators had no clue they were hampering the fire fighting effort or doing anything wrong. They just wanted the pictures, so why not? I hope though by more news coverage and therefore more education about the problem that drones cause to aviation will help the problem at least in the short term.
A Life Aloft
Well-Known Member
I have a difficult time believing this out here. The issue with the drones and the hampering of aircraft being grounded has happened several times now. It's been on all the local news channels, on various talk shows on tv and the radio, and in the newspapers quite a long time. We are in the middle of fire season, we are in a drought and it's a huge topic in the media here. Every time it's mentioned, the drone subject also comes up. Even the weathermen have been discussing it. This issue has also been on several national news stations. So unless they are living under a rock, I find it hard to believe that they haven't heard about this. I believe they simply don't care and feel like they won't be caught, since no one else has at this point.
It's gotten so serious that a Bill has now been proposed up in Sacramento, to allow Firefighters and LEOs to use some type of jamming equipment/signal to bring the drones down. There were FIVE of them hovering over and around the I-15 freeway fire and that was the 4th incident in a month of this b.s. Helos had to wait until all of the drones left the area before they could even begin their drops and by that time, several vehicles had caught on fire. The Bill will also prevent first responders from being held liable for responsibly destroying a drone flown over an emergency site and apparently (I have not seen a text of the Bill yet) will allow first responders other means of taking down the drones besides just jamming. There is a second Bill proposed, that would increase the fines and jail times for these idiots as well.
Crappily, the Legislators are still on their Summer break and won't be back until August.
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A Life Aloft
Well-Known Member
Bejebus! That's all we need now. Be great when some psychobag decides to fly something like that into a large crowd in a public place. Some idiot 18 year old kid and his even more idiotic college professor actually thought this was a good idea for a school project? Really? Goes to show the massive decline in cognitive thinking that has become the norm in our educational systems. Maybe they could load some C4 onto one next.
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RDoug
Well-Known Member
5Right_5Left
Well-Known Member
Ugh yet again, this time in B.C. Canada.
http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/multip...alt-air-operations-near-kelowna-b-c-1.2498186
WEST KELOWNA, B.C. -- Crews have been forced to halt air operations on a wildfire burning near West Kelowna, B.C., due to multiple drones flying overhead.
The B.C. Wildfire Service says a helicopter supporting ground crews and involved in water delivery in the Westside Road fire has now been grounded.
The service says all wildfires are flight-restricted under the Canadian Air Regulations and the operation of any aircraft not related to fire suppression efforts is illegal.
It says drones, also known as unmanned aerial vehicles, pose a significant safety risk to crews, especially when low-flying firefighting aircraft are present.
The RCMP is working with the service in relation to the incident.
The fire danger rating throughout the Kamloops Fire Centre is high to extreme and officials are urging everyone to use caution in the backcountry.
http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/multip...alt-air-operations-near-kelowna-b-c-1.2498186
WEST KELOWNA, B.C. -- Crews have been forced to halt air operations on a wildfire burning near West Kelowna, B.C., due to multiple drones flying overhead.
The B.C. Wildfire Service says a helicopter supporting ground crews and involved in water delivery in the Westside Road fire has now been grounded.
The service says all wildfires are flight-restricted under the Canadian Air Regulations and the operation of any aircraft not related to fire suppression efforts is illegal.
It says drones, also known as unmanned aerial vehicles, pose a significant safety risk to crews, especially when low-flying firefighting aircraft are present.
The RCMP is working with the service in relation to the incident.
The fire danger rating throughout the Kamloops Fire Centre is high to extreme and officials are urging everyone to use caution in the backcountry.
Roger Roger
Bottom of the list
Yeah at this point I'm pretty ok with jamming, shotguns, SAMs, tarring and feathering of operators, etc.
