Washington Post: When Drones fall from the Sky

Lots of sketchy info in that article. For the most part UASs crash for the same reasons manned aircraft do.
 
I am more concerned with the military's track record and the fact that the companies who build these things are lobbying for their commercial use stateside.
 
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esa17 said:
Lots of sketchy info in that article. For the most part UASs crash for the same reasons manned aircraft do.
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What sketchy info? I thought it was a fairly well researched article and pretty well written considering most journalists are forced to use some sensationalism to get articles published by their editors. It's also pretty accurate from what I've seen here in Afghanistan.
 
Every close call I had in Afghanistan was because a manned pilot disregarded an instruction and entered my sector. The two aircraft I planted were because of engine failures due to manufacturing defects. Mechanicals and pilot error are what generally bring UASs down. In the article a lot of the technical was wrong, mostly due to the nature of the beast.
 
I've never flown a drone, neither has anyone else.

My two engine cuts were on a tactical UAV, about 10x10 powered by a RC engine. Throttle back on the fearmongering.
 
Interestingly enough my DJI Phantom fell out of the sky yesterday. It's been fine up until now, but yesterday I launched it, brought it up to about 30 feet, started traveling to the right, and all 4 motors just stopped. I didn't realize it until watching the video, but they start up again just before impact, way too late to save anything. Thankfully it landed in some really tall grass and wasn't damaged (and didn't hit anybody), but I'm a bit worried about flying it now.

 
ATN_Pilot said:
Wait, you yourself had two drones crash? I don't care if it's manufacturer defect, that's an unbelievable failure rate. The more I hear, the more I hate these things.
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I have read that the accident rate is actually pretty typical of new military products. It's fairly high to start and starts tapering down. IIRC the article I was reading compared it to the F-16 program which also initially had a high accident rate.
 
BobDDuck said:
Interestingly enough my DJI Phantom fell out of the sky yesterday. It's been fine up until now, but yesterday I launched it, brought it up to about 30 feet, started traveling to the right, and all 4 motors just stopped. I didn't realize it until watching the video, but they start up again just before impact, way too late to save anything. Thankfully it landed in some really tall grass and wasn't damaged (and didn't hit anybody), but I'm a bit worried about flying it now.

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I think Phantom's are pretty much the bottom rung when it comes to these things (aside from the toys out there).

Check out some of 3D-Robotics stuff.

PS I looks like you still need to balance your props??
 
esa17 said:
Every close call I had in Afghanistan was because a manned pilot disregarded an instruction and entered my sector. The two aircraft I planted were because of engine failures due to manufacturing defects. Mechanicals and pilot error are what generally bring UASs down. In the article a lot of the technical was wrong, mostly due to the nature of the beast.
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What specifically, "technical[ly] was wrong? Also, what "beast"?
 
esa17 said:
I've never flown a drone, neither has anyone else.

My two engine cuts were on a tactical UAV, about 10x10 powered by a RC engine. Throttle back on the fearmongering.
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What does that mean?
 
Crop Duster said:
What specifically, "technical[ly] was wrong? Also, what "beast"?
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Read deeper in the article into the technical specs and the way they explain the datalinks. Their lost comm description is also flawed.

UASs are in their infancy, as far as the general public is concerned, any little hiccup is going to be used to drive fear and evade any attempt at understanding.

ETA: Drone is a word for waterheads. UASs don't make decisions on their own. They do only what was programmed into them.
 
ATN_Pilot said:
Wait, you yourself had two drones crash? I don't care if it's manufacturer defect, that's an unbelievable failure rate. The more I hear, the more I hate these things.
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The Global Hawk has an accident rate of ~15 every 100,000 flight hours. No bueno! Such is always the case with new technology.
 
wheelsup said:
I think Phantom's are pretty much the bottom rung when it comes to these things (aside from the toys out there).

Check out some of 3D-Robotics stuff.

PS I looks like you still need to balance your props??
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I agree it's entry level. Still fun to fly though. The 3DRobotics has been making cool stuff for a long time.

The blades are actually brand new. This was the first time I used them. They are composite, from China. Supposedly pre balanced. Although, apparently they aren't.
 
BobDDuck said:
I agree it's entry level. Still fun to fly though. The 3DRobotics has been making cool stuff for a long time.

The blades are actually brand new. This was the first time I used them. They are composite, from China. Supposedly pre balanced. Although, apparently they aren't.
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Yeah get a blade balancer the video should be silky smooth. The Phantom is a decent quad.

Hawaii looks wonderful, sure beats Philly.
 
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