Drones and Common Sense Rant

10,000+ bird strikes yearly in the U.S. Yet the media is helping to fan the flame over something that really is insignificant safety wise. IMO.
 
Wouldn't be surprised..

During the 2012 fire season I remember the threat of a meteor shower temporarily grounding firefighting aircraft.
 
wheelsup said:
Exactly. How many billions of birds are there and the risk is below imperceptible yet people are going ape over a 1.2 lb quad.
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Might have something to do with the fact that we have absolutely no idea what the effect will be on a jet engine of ingesting said drone. We have lots of data on investing soft tissue.

Your hobby is not as important as safety.
 
USMCmech said:
Getting "peppered" with #8 shot isn't exactly like hail, it's more like getting sandblasted for a second. However it's hardly life threatening.
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That's if you're using the Dick Cheney technique. You would be aiming up into the sky quite a bit to hit a drone, the pellets would lose all their velocity.
 
ATN_Pilot said:
Might have something to do with the fact that we have absolutely no idea what the effect will be on a jet engine of ingesting said drone. We have lots of data on investing soft tissue.

Your hobby is not as important as safety.
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You're absolutely right! We have a lot of data on what bird strikes do to engines and airframes.

Yet, it's an acceptable risk despite the billions of them out there.

Here are some:

bird-strike-engine.jpg


bash9098-page-01-image-0001.jpg


kalula-flight-birdstrike-forced-an-emergency-landing4.jpg


800px-JT8D_Engine_after_Bird_Strike.jpg
 
I'm not going back and reading all the posts, but based on the last few we seem to be at-

There are billions of birds.

Birds damage airplanes.

We spend millions trying to mitigate the risk of bird strikes.

We shouldn't do anything to regulate hobbyist uavs because there are birds, and birds damage airplanes.
 
wheelsup said:
You're absolutely right! We have a lot of data on what bird strikes do to engines and airframes. Yet, it's an acceptable risk despite the billions of them out there. Here are some:
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It takes a really big bird, or a whole lot of them, to do any damage. Regardless, we can't get rid of birds. We can sure as hell get rid of that hobby, though.
 
Sure we can....Where's the dodo bird?

We can get rid of birds, Lions, Elephants, Giraffes, or you name it.........
 
ATN_Pilot said:
It takes a really big bird, or a whole lot of them, to do any damage. Regardless, we can't get rid of birds. We can sure as hell get rid of that hobby, though.
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Seeing as how nearly 500 people have been killed from collisions between GA and transport category aircraft, it would be much more prudent to start there than something that hasn't even hit a plane yet.
 
wheelsup said:
Seeing as how nearly 500 people have been killed from collisions between GA and transport category aircraft, it would be much more prudent to start there than something that hasn't even hit a plane yet.
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I think we can handle more than one thing at a time, and I'm not interested in waiting for people to die instead of preventing it in the first place.
 
99% of UAV operators are aviation enthusiasts, poorly educated enthusiasts.

Follow the HAM or high-powered rocketry model and you'd have a much better educated population of users. Teach them to check and understand NOTAMs and develop a mobile app that warns of hazardous operating areas and you've pretty much solved the problem. Add age restrictions and harsh penalties and I'd be happy.
 
A Life Aloft said:
Everyone pretty much understands that in Ca. we have severe issues every year with wildfires.
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Stunning pics.
Sometimes I think the equation is:
California = Excessive Heat + Too Many Kooky People
Seems like a sure fire recipe for stooopid stuff.
Texas is the same equation. Just a different, more dangerous, kind o' kooky folk.
 
Pilot Fighter said:
99% of UAV operators are aviation enthusiasts, poorly educated enthusiasts.

Follow the HAM or high-powered rocketry model and you'd have a much better educated population of users. Teach them to check and understand NOTAMs and develop a mobile app that warns of hazardous operating areas and you've pretty much solved the problem. Add age restrictions and harsh penalties and I'd be happy.
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@Pilot Fighter, smart thinking. But except for the HAM model, I believe the other stuff you suggested is out there already.
So how do we do this? Better marketing?? Put a URL in every drone kit box with a label on the exterior of the box warning of fines and dire consequences for not following the rules described on the website? Have a competition - a la Grammys or X-Games - scattered with PSAs - for the best drone-based aerial photography done legally? I don't know. But the word needs to get out. I have lots of righteous indignation about drones and their drivers; You'd think folks would have more sense. Sadly, they don't. So, despite ignorance of the law being no excuse, I don't believe harsh punishments are appropriate until the teenagers and dweebs flying these things have some concept that what they're doing is stoopid and dangerous. They need to be informed - most ricki tick. So what's the best way to do that? Sacrificial lambs can be effective but only at inordinate cost to the first offenders. Kinda like Lehman Bros. in the 2008 financial crisis. Thoughts?
 
ATN_Pilot said:
There's no such thing as common sense. That's why we need strict laws on these things. Outlaw the sale to anyone who doesn't have a pilot certificate.
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Didn't you mean... "who has an ATP, is a ALPA member, and works for a 121 op." They should probably have a 1st class medical, too. ;)
 
MikeD said:
The military is exceptionally inefficient; the epitome of fraud, waste, and abuse. When the day comes when we actually have to fight a peer enemy, we may not be as successful as we think we may be.
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Amen, brother! I realized this the day I showed up at Pensacola. The evidence built from there.
 
RDoug said:
The Post Office would be making a profit today, right now, if not for a congressional requirement passed in 2006 that forces the Postal Service to do something no other corporate entity is required to do — prepay the healthcare costs of every current and future employee who will retire over the next seventy-five years. It's called the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act. If the Post Office is required to do it but corporate America is not, then you have to ask what the real intent behind this legislation is. I think that's rather obvious — make the service financially unsustainable so as to force privatization and placement into corporate hands, at which point that "requirement" is going to disappear so that corporate America can profit from it.

In other words, they were intentionally set up to fail.
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Well, see, that makes it soooo much easier to sell all their prime-time downtown assets to private real estate funds for pennies on the dollar. Maybe you need a refresher course... it's all ball bearings these days.;)
 
Crop Duster said:
@Pilot Fighter, smart thinking. But except for the HAM model, I believe the other stuff you suggested is out there already.
So how do we do this? Better marketing?? Put a URL in every drone kit box with a label on the exterior of the box warning of fines and dire consequences for not following the rules described on the website? Have a competition - a la Grammys or X-Games - scattered with PSAs - for the best drone-based aerial photography done legally? I don't know. But the word needs to get out. I have lots of righteous indignation about drones and their drivers; You'd think folks would have more sense. Sadly, they don't. So, despite ignorance of the law being no excuse, I don't believe harsh punishments are appropriate until the teenagers and dweebs flying these things have some concept that what they're doing is stoopid and dangerous. They need to be informed - most ricki tick. So what's the best way to do that? Sacrificial lambs can be effective but only at inordinate cost to the first offenders. Kinda like Lehman Bros. in the 2008 financial crisis. Thoughts?
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Think about HAM radio. Studying and testing is a pain in the butt and a license is not required to purchase radios. Yet, there is a surprising level of compliance.

High-powered rockets - these things are exceeding 40,000 feet ... and not making headlines.

Age? All GPS-enabled should be restricted to licensed flyers, 16 or over. GPS is the enabling technology that makes these things a threat.

Insurance. If an association offered insurance to licensed flyers operating legally, it would be attractive. The AMA offered insurance to RC, free-flight, and control-line flyers at one time.

Most parents think these things are expensive toys. When they find out they require a license, many will scrutinize their kids more.
 
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