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Flying Drones are becoming a life threatening problem here in California.

Stewie26

Stewie26

Feb 15, 2012
1,557
13,571
Redondo Beach-Palos Verdes, California
#1
Here in California our fire season has begun. We have some huge fires going on right now and the fire fighting air tankers had to be grounded for three hours because a couple of idiots were flying their drones over the fire so they could get some good video shots. Being a pilot myself, I can the understand the concern of having a drone come crashing thru the front windscreen and taking the aircraft down. The law making authorities are way behind the technology on regulating these hazards. Like with other things, I am sure they will react after a drone takes an airliner down when on final approach to land and there are plenty of bodies around. . Anyway, that's my rant for today.
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#6
It is my understanding from a drone-involved realtive that even the licensed ones do not have active location(s) and avoidance ability. One will cause a large problem one day as-described by the OP as I don't believe a turbine will like ingesting one.
 
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#9
i watched a higher end quadcopter flying around marina del rey one night. it was really cool to watch for a while - in fact, people gathered to watch how smoothly, effortlessly and far it went.

then it hit a tree and dropped right into the front of a moving car, and between the crash and being run over, it was pretty much in pieces. as cool as i felt it was, i also felt that flying over the street was irresponsible because what caused the quad to drop was the low hanging palm fronds that the operator should have avoided as - duh - they could hit the quad and cause it to crash on some cars. had it been a busier area, it could have caused accidents. there was lots of water and land to fly over where there was no street, and since there was no reason at all to actually fly it over that part of the street... well, that's the problem.

i love quads - the owners? not so much.
 
#10
The firefighting aircraft fly at low altitudes to hit there mark, drones are capable of flying at those altitudes as well, you can see the problem when ariel video enthusists feel they should be able to be there to, maybe they could carry a little water well there in there , you know, something helpful.
 
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#11
Aborgman:-

I don't think they're the same as model airplanes.....

(1) You don't need any kind of "runway" space.

(2) They're easier to fly than a model plane....

(3) Model planes of old generally didn't carry cameras....because you couldn't hover.

(4) You can fly a drone in less required space than a half-decent model plane.

Then again one could make the case that model helicopters have been around for ages........

But when the drone came along, it seemed to get relegated immediately as a tool for spying on people and taking videos.....more so than anything before it.....
 
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#12
ZenG said:
Aborgman:-

I don't think they're the same as model airplanes.....

(1) You don't need any kind of "runway" space.

(2) They're easier to fly than a model plane....

(3) Model planes of old generally didn't carry cameras....because you couldn't hover.

(4) You can fly a drone in less required space than a half-decent model plane.

Then again one could make the case that model helicopters have been around for ages........

But when the drone came along, it seemed to get relegated immediately as a tool for spying on people and taking videos.....more so than anything before it.....
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Fully agree. I think RC model airplane guys have higher IQ's than the drone guys. Most model airplane guys I know have a general interest in aviation, that's why they are going to the trouble to build planes in the first place, and give some serious thought to where and how they fly. The drone guys are more interested in the pictures they capture and have the situational awareness and the conscience of a street paparazzi. Does not matter who they endanger. What ever it takes to get a good photo shoot.
 
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#13
line6man said:
People can think what they want, but I still think that you should have to obtain a special license to operate a drone.
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Yep. I think they should have at least 6 hours or so of ground school to understand how an FAA air chart reads regarding airspace. That way they can fly and out be of the way of airport traffic. Also, during a wildfire, the first thing the FAA does is issue a TFR, (Temporary Flight Restriction) over the fire area so that air tanker pilots don't have to worry about a mid air crash with some lookie lou in a Cessna. If a real airplane pilot violates the TFR, there is a good chance he will have his pilot certificate pulled by the FAA . Just sayin they should teach this stuff to drone operators too. One can learn to read charts with just a few hours of instruction.


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#14
Johnny Crab said:
It is my understanding from a drone-involved realtive that even the licensed ones do not have active location(s) and avoidance ability. One will cause a large problem one day as-described by the OP as I don't believe a turbine will like ingesting one.
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Jet turbine engines don't even like five pound birds. Currently, the FAA allows civilian owned drones up to 50 odd pounds. That can do some real damage to a full size aircraft flying at speed.
 
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#15
aborgman said:
Most modern "drones" are no different than the model aircraft folks have been flying unlicensed for 50 years... and if you want to use one for anything other than recreation, you DO have to be licensed.
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Actually, post 9/11 the FAA published a completely new set of regs for model flight. first, wet fuel models can only be flown from AMA designated flying fields, second, a "park flyer" category was established which allowed small electric aircraft to be flown in otherwise unrestricted airspace. There was also a provision added that required any commercial use of flying models to be cleared by the FAA, which they did on a VERY LIMITED basis. This all happened prior to the quad copter camera platform craze, and since these regs only describe fixed wing and conventional heli configurations, the multi rotor craft fall into a gray area and most LE agencies are reluctant to go after them for this reason. The use restrictions however apply to ALL flying models so restricted airspace, wet fuel, and commercial use cover the quads. The single biggest abuse currently is commercial use but the sheer number of drones sold is creating problems like the one described by the OP.

I'm not sure when this will be addressed, but I know the FAA is currently processing thousands of airspace variance requests from LE at all levels who want to deploy drones in their jurisdictions. I suspect that when that pie is fully carved there will be some serious restrictions placed on civilian use. There is even speculation they may be banned across the board, except for strictly licensed commercial use like news services,
 
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#17
ZenG said:
Aborgman:-

I don't think they're the same as model airplanes.....

(1) You don't need any kind of "runway" space.

(2) They're easier to fly than a model plane....

(3) Model planes of old generally didn't carry cameras....because you couldn't hover.

(4) You can fly a drone in less required space than a half-decent model plane.

Then again one could make the case that model helicopters have been around for ages........

But when the drone came along, it seemed to get relegated immediately as a tool for spying on people and taking videos.....more so than anything before it.....
Click to expand...

What about RC helicopters?
 
#18
I heard a story once about a guy who kept flying his drone around his neighborhood, over people's houses and up to their windows. After his neighbors repeatedly asking him not to do so and him refusing, one neighbor simply shot the drone out of the sky with his 16 gauge shotgun while the owner was flying the drone up to his bedroom window. I'm more surprised that the state of California hasn't instituted a similar measure where flying drones in areas where emergency services are working is a crime and the drone will be confiscated or destroyed if violating said crime.
 
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#19
Kevan Campbell said:
I heard a story once about a guy who kept flying his drone around his neighborhood, over people's houses and up to their windows. After his neighbors repeatedly asking him not to do so and him refusing, one neighbor simply shot the drone out of the sky with his 16 gauge shotgun while the owner was flying the drone up to his bedroom window. I'm more surprised that the state of California hasn't instituted a similar measure where flying drones in areas where emergency services are working is a crime and the drone will be confiscated or destroyed if violating said crime.
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I am thinking that the drone technology is expanding faster than legislators can legislate. Also, our airspace is controlled by the Feds, not the state, so they are probably waiting for the Feds to legislate controls. As it stands right now, it is illegal to fly a drone within approximately five miles
of a controlled airport, (one with a control tower), as that control tower is responsible for the airspace from the ground surface up to at least 2500 feet above ground level. With that said, it is done all the time.
 
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