Drones and Common Sense Rant

ATN_Pilot said:
Exactly. When any idiot with two hundred dollar bills to rub together can walk into the local Verizon store and buy a drone, that's a problem. Get rid of that, and I'm not too worried about the handful of nerds who might build their own.
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More like two large, but they are somewhat too ubiquitous already.

I think licensing is a good solution. Drone pilot certificate, and require flight reviews from actual CFIs.
 
MikeD said:
Not just that. Aerial fireworks being shot, some of which go a good few hundred feet in the air, I've seen. Didn't know when parts of PHX and TUS all of a sudden became night one of Baghdad, when I'm working urban calls. :) But seriously though, when working a ground support search operation, nearly all the attention of the helo observer is on the ground situation, whether visually or in using a video camera/FLIR, as well as doing all the tactical coordination over the radio. The pilot is busy with maintaining the orbit the observer needs, coordinating with ATC and/or helo common for traffic avoidance, and avoiding hitting the ground, but more importantly not hitting things attached to the ground such as wires, structures, cell towers/poles, and other towers that aren't easily seen. The time available to look for and avoid some tiny drone is minimal at best, and if one of those goes through the rotor system.....especially the weaker tail rotor....it could be disasterous.
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The pilot had actually stated that he had just looked up (so I assume he was looking either at the ground or through some video camera pointed at the ground, because they had been in the same small area for just over 30 minutes trying to find a suspect) and when he looked up, there was the drone right in his path fairly close to him. Then he said he had to take some evasive movement (and I wish I could remember the exact terminology that he used - I saw the report on a local news channel) but he said something about how it stressed the engines of the helicopter to make this maneuver, or something close to that.

The idiot on the ground first tried to tell the LEOs that he hadn't even seen the chopper. What b.s. They were at the time flying fairly close to the ground, lit up with various lights, rather large in size, most of the fuselage is painted white (the nose and tail are black- even the newer choppers have a mostly white fuselage and part of the tail is also white) and those choppers are damn noisy. Plus he had been circling the area as I stated, for some 33 minutes. He didn't see it my ass. The LEOs stated that the drone operator finally admitted that he was using the drone to capture video of the police investigation. Bejebus, and while this nonsense was going on and the search for the subject they had been pursuing, he was able to get away and evade the police. Good job asshat.

There are all sorts of buildings that are rather tall in that area (Hollywood) and some of them even have billboards or large signs on top of the roofs and antennas etc. It would be hell to navigate. The police are saying that the drone "swooped in within 50 feet of the helicopter." What the hell might have happened if the pilot hadn't looked up at the last moment? Those choppers are just under 5,000 pounds and can carry up to 143 gallons of fuel.

In doing some brief research on line, there have been several LEO choppers nearly hit by drones last year and this year as well.
 
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gne in prog said:
When you guys are copying/pasting the articles could you please post a link as well? Thanks.
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I comboed the story that I put in quotes from several sources in post 178.


http://ktla.com/2015/08/28/man-deta...ne-interferes-with-lapd-helicopter-officials/

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/l...Near-LAPD-Helicopter-Hollywood-323232591.html

http://www.dronenewshub.com/2015/08...-flying-drone-too-close-to-police-helicopter/

http://abc7.com/news/drone-operator-taken-into-custody-after-close-call-with-lapd-helicopter/960511/

http://www.dailynews.com/general-news/20150828/drone-gets-too-close-to-lapd-helicopter-man-detained

http://www.fox46charlotte.com/home/13132420-story

Here are the links to post 172's 3 articles quoted:

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-drone-debate-civilian-lax-city-hall-20140821-story.html

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2015...-in-close-calls-between-drones-and-airplanes/

http://www.latimes.com/local/political/la-me-pc-assembly-drones-body-cameras-20150824-story.html
 
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MikeD said:
Not just that. Aerial fireworks being shot, some of which go a good few hundred feet in the air, I've seen. Didn't know when parts of PHX and TUS all of a sudden became night one of Baghdad, when I'm working urban calls. :) But seriously though, when working a ground support search operation, nearly all the attention of the helo observer is on the ground situation, whether visually or in using a video camera/FLIR, as well as doing all the tactical coordination over the radio. The pilot is busy with maintaining the orbit the observer needs, coordinating with ATC and/or helo common for traffic avoidance, and avoiding hitting the ground, but more importantly not hitting things attached to the ground such as wires, structures, cell towers/poles, and other towers that aren't easily seen. The time available to look for and avoid some tiny drone is minimal at best, and if one of those goes through the rotor system.....especially the weaker tail rotor....it could be disasterous.
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How about Washington National on the 4th of July? Insane behavior. Salvos of bottle rockets and Roman candles.
 
That app is in beta. DJI - manufacturer of the Phantom & Inspire - uses geofencing around certain airports, but not all, and not to the full five-mile radius from the geographic center. Some of these idiot operators then think, "If the motors start then I must be good to go."

I use FAA guidelines, Foreflight, the DistMeasure app and common sense to know where to operate, and under what rules.
 
tomokc said:
That app is in beta. DJI - manufacturer of the Phantom & Inspire - uses geofencing around certain airports, but not all, and not to the full five-mile radius from the geographic center. Some of these idiot operators then think, "If the motors start then I must be good to go."

I use FAA guidelines, Foreflight, the DistMeasure app and common sense to know where to operate, and under what rules.
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I wonder why DJI dropped waypoint navigation on the Phantom 3. Maybe they fear a Federal crack-down.
 
drunkenbeagle said:
More like two large, but they are somewhat too ubiquitous already.

I think licensing is a good solution. Drone pilot certificate, and require flight reviews from actual CFIs.
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Healthy background check from
HSI couldn't hurt, plus registration and chain of registration seems appropriate.
Don't think Gub'mint isn't checking us out 24/7. Why not these other flying machines?
 
I just found this thread and I want to give my two cents.
I have a private pilot certificate since 20 years and I am an RC model flyer since 30 years. Since about one year I fly small Unmanned Arial Vehicles (sUAV). You call it drones.
We are talking here about safety. There is no doubt that safety has the highest priority.
No law can keep some people away from doing stupid things. But a lot of people just don’t know what is right. My suggestion is that every dealer, who sells sUAVs, should hand out a flyer where people can learn what is legal and where they can get information about airports, TRA, etc. (I use skyvector.com).
For old fashioned RC models 400 ft AGL is mostly enough, but sUAV are different. I am convinced that they are safer than normal RC models. I saw some flyaways from RC models and it happened once to me in the 1980s. I had crashes with RC planes, but nothing since I fly sUAV.
My second suggestion is that the FAA gives some airspace to sUAV flyers. Outside of the cities you could establish a "Drone Zone" where people can legally fly up to 10,000 ft AGL in a radius of 10nm. These "Drone Zones" are in the VFR maps and all the air traffic can easily fly around. Some big boys with there big toys think that all the sky belongs to them. But that must change. Soon there will be more sUAV pilots than full scale pilots.

One more thing: this discussion about drones is exaggerated. We have more than 11,000 deaths by gun violence in the United States every year (source: Wikipedia: Gun violence in the United States). So if we talk about safety these drones are nothing. We had 11 dead people at a flight show in Switzerland last month. Do we forbid flight shows? Do we forbid weapons? Again: you can explain people how to safely operate a sUAV, but you can’t do very much against stupidity.
 
Safety is a top priority? For who?
There are only a very few frequencies available for any given area. How will that work in a "Drone Zone"?

"Some big boys with there big toys think that all the sky belongs to them" Well, it sort of does. And always will. Fuel trucks have to give way to me on the ramp too.

I fly "drones" as a hobby also. But I am realistic to know to stay the hell away from any metropolitan area, airports, or anything else that could be construed as a hazard. I also stay pretty damn low, and close, with a group that keeps an eye (and ear) out for any possible full scale. They own the sky.
 
I'll just leave this here.


image.jpeg


 
Drone Flyer said:
I just found this thread and I want to give my two cents.
I have a private pilot certificate since 20 years and I am an RC model flyer since 30 years. Since about one year I fly small Unmanned Arial Vehicles (sUAV). You call it drones.
We are talking here about safety. There is no doubt that safety has the highest priority.
No law can keep some people away from doing stupid things. But a lot of people just don’t know what is right. My suggestion is that every dealer, who sells sUAVs, should hand out a flyer where people can learn what is legal and where they can get information about airports, TRA, etc. (I use skyvector.com).
For old fashioned RC models 400 ft AGL is mostly enough, but sUAV are different. I am convinced that they are safer than normal RC models. I saw some flyaways from RC models and it happened once to me in the 1980s. I had crashes with RC planes, but nothing since I fly sUAV.
My second suggestion is that the FAA gives some airspace to sUAV flyers. Outside of the cities you could establish a "Drone Zone" where people can legally fly up to 10,000 ft AGL in a radius of 10nm. These "Drone Zones" are in the VFR maps and all the air traffic can easily fly around. Some big boys with there big toys think that all the sky belongs to them. But that must change. Soon there will be more sUAV pilots than full scale pilots.

One more thing: this discussion about drones is exaggerated. We have more than 11,000 deaths by gun violence in the United States every year (source: Wikipedia: Gun violence in the United States). So if we talk about safety these drones are nothing. We had 11 dead people at a flight show in Switzerland last month. Do we forbid flight shows? Do we forbid weapons? Again: you can explain people how to safely operate a sUAV, but you can’t do very much against stupidity.
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I think I've found the first poster who's inspired me to add him to my ignore list based entirely upon his screen name. Impressive.
 
Itchy said:
Safety is a top priority? For who?
There are only a very few frequencies available for any given area. How will that work in a "Drone Zone"?

"Some big boys with there big toys think that all the sky belongs to them" Well, it sort of does. And always will. Fuel trucks have to give way to me on the ramp too.

I fly "drones" as a hobby also. But I am realistic to know to stay the hell away from any metropolitan area, airports, or anything else that could be construed as a hazard. I also stay pretty damn low, and close, with a group that keeps an eye (and ear) out for any possible full scale. They own the sky.
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ATN_Pilot said:
I think I've found the first poster who's inspired me to add him to my ignore list based entirely upon his screen name. Impressive.
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I think you two just grossly misunderstood this person because of a language barrier.
 
mshunter said:
I think you two just grossly misunderstood this person because of a language barrier.
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Well, I'm all ears. Not sure where I misread or what. He lost me on the Big Boys with Big toys part. I take that as Captain Joe in his Cirrus or C 172 heavy.
 
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