Teckair Posted December 31, 2014 Posted December 31, 2014 Hey, Don't shoot the messenger Teck . . . . Maybe someone did see one but I don't know how. I was not having a go at you but who ever reckons they saw it. Most small drones are about a foot square and usually white and are hard to spot any more than about 50 meters away. How could you spot one as it flashed past at about 150 kts? I would have thought it would be close to impossible.
red750 Posted December 31, 2014 Posted December 31, 2014 How the heck are they going to regulate them? Particularly around Christmas there are stalls in most shopping centres selling quads about a foot square for less than $100, some even down to $50. Parents buy them for their kids who go out and fly them with no regard for regulations, and no perception of altitude. It's like the idiots with laser pointers. 1
Teckair Posted December 31, 2014 Posted December 31, 2014 How the heck are they going to regulate them? Particularly around Christmas there are stalls in most shopping centres selling quads about a foot square for less than $100, some even down to $50. Parents buy them for their kids who go out and fly them with no regard for regulations, and no perception of altitude. It's like the idiots with laser pointers. Those cheap ones are unlikely to be the problem, the ones that are GPS guided and have FPV (First Person View) capabilities are the worry. We have model pilots doing the wrong thing as well, one way or another it will be sorted out. 1
shags_j Posted December 31, 2014 Posted December 31, 2014 Interesting story... My 8 year old brother was given an rc heli for christmas (just one of the little infrared ones). Did the silly thing and took it out into the sun. Anyway, either the sun messed with the infrared or something else went wrong; the thing started going up and just kept going. We couldn't reverse it or anything. It just kept going till I could no longer see it with naked eye. Imagine if that happened somewhere where acft were on final or something.
Teckair Posted December 31, 2014 Posted December 31, 2014 Wouldn't that be a tiny very light one? Much less of a risk than a 2 kilo one. It should not be flown where aircraft are on final, doing stuff like that will attract unwanted attention. 1
shags_j Posted December 31, 2014 Posted December 31, 2014 Imagine your average Joe though opens up his little rc heli goes out and of she goes into the stratosphere. He doesn't know that he lives on final into archerfield. He just complains about the noise from those pesky ultralights. Just saying it's not impossible to all go to shit
Phil Perry Posted December 31, 2014 Author Posted December 31, 2014 Maybe someone did see one but I don't know how. I was not having a go at you but who ever reckons they saw it. Most small drones are about a foot square and usually white and are hard to spot any more than about 50 meters away. How could you spot one as it flashed past at about 150 kts? I would have thought it would be close to impossible. Actually, . . .being a mildly cynical sort of bloke, it HAD crossed my mind that where "Incident" sources are not revealed in detail; . . . some "reports" could be a build up to general acceptance of legislation which is already pending. . . . . I mentioned in my last post that I had briefly seen a headline in the CAA In Touch magazine. . . . Well I'm looking at it now. A report outlining "Urgent" measures planned to safeguard British airspace and privacy. The report highlights the fact that currently, drones which weigh less than 20Kg, can be flown "WITH THE PERMISSION OF THE CAA" within the line of sight of the operator. But if the drone pilot ( their word ) does NOT have CAA permission, it may not be flown over or within 150M of a congested area, . . . may not be flown over or within 150M of an organised outdoor assembly exceeding 1000 persons,. . . . may not be flown within 50M of any vessel, vehicle or structure that is not itself under the coontrol of the person in charge of the aircraft. . . .may not be flown within 50M of any person. What it does not say, is how an operator would get permission from CAA in order to carry out any of the above missions in the first instance. This isn't legislation yet, but it more than likely will be soon. The report does not mention any involvement by the CAA, as it was generated by Birmingham University, and headed by Sir David Ormand, a former chief of the Govt. Intelligence monitoring station GCHQ What sort of negative outcome this will produce for the honest, licensed, sensible R/C aircraft operator, if any, I'm not qualified to comment, ( never having owned an R/C model ) but being a nosey bar$ted, I'll pop in and ask the rather large R/C club which is based 1.5 NM North east of our airfield ( no,. . . . .never had any kind of incident with them during their 23 years of ops. . . they use a lot of jet powered models and are a paragon of virtue with regard to safety and commonsense. . . . . Phil
jeffd Posted January 2, 2015 Posted January 2, 2015 mayb the cockpit crew saw it as they hit it with the window
Teckair Posted January 2, 2015 Posted January 2, 2015 mayb the cockpit crew saw it as they hit it with the window Yeah that's wot happened.
Ultralights Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 i bought one of these drones before christmas, and it came with a CASA form outlining the rules and restrictions for flying it. max height of 400ft agl, not to be flown out of visual range, not to be flown within 30 ft of other people. not to be flown at night. all offences of strict liability of course. also, notes pointing out that to make money using the drone, you need a UAV operators certificate and a licence. it also has a built in airport database, and wont fly within 5 miles of an airfield, restricted and prohibited areas, or if it flies into a restricted zone, it will land.
shags_j Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 That's a good start. now to make sure they all have it.
Happyflyer Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 i bought one of these drones before christmas, and it came with a CASA form outlining the rules and restrictions for flying it. max height of 400ft agl, not to be flown out of visual range, not to be flown within 30 ft of other people. not to be flown at night. all offences of strict liability of course. also, notes pointing out that to make money using the drone, you need a UAV operators certificate and a licence. it also has a built in airport database, and wont fly within 5 miles of an airfield, restricted and prohibited areas, or if it flies into a restricted zone, it will land. If you fly it well it will issue you a pilot's licence too.
Phil Perry Posted January 3, 2015 Author Posted January 3, 2015 i bought one of these drones before christmas, and it came with a CASA form outlining the rules and restrictions for flying it. max height of 400ft agl, not to be flown out of visual range, not to be flown within 30 ft of other people. not to be flown at night. all offences of strict liability of course. also, notes pointing out that to make money using the drone, you need a UAV operators certificate and a licence. it also has a built in airport database, and wont fly within 5 miles of an airfield, restricted and prohibited areas, or if it flies into a restricted zone, it will land. Wow ! ! ! ! ! Now that's what I call a Well Behaved, Politically Correct Drone ! ! ! Looking at the commercial angle; I wonder what are the criteria for obtaining an "UAV Operator Certificate" for sensible and useful applications . . . is there anything on a CASA website listing the qualification details . . . does anyone know ? At present, there are no rules laid down appropos licencing of operators in the UK, outside of R/C model regs. . . . but as I mentioned in an earlier post, there is likely to be some sort of UAV - specific regulation framework soon. . . . The Bham Uni report suggests no flight within 50 Metres of any person,. . . . .whereas Thirty Feet is quoted in your equipment notes,. . . . .they probably won't trust a Pommie operator with only a ten metre biological safety margin ! ! Phil ( Sorry for Drifting the thread a bit, but HAPPY NEW YEAR to all members and their families. ) Phil
Ultralights Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 i think getting the UAV operator certificate requires the passing of the PPL theory exams, as well as a 5 day course, and training with the manufacturer of the drones. and logbooks. then submit paperwork to CASA.. 1 1
DWF Posted January 4, 2015 Posted January 4, 2015 All you ever wanted to know about UAV (Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems) regulations in Oz. DWF
Modelmakeroz Posted January 8, 2015 Posted January 8, 2015 How the heck are they going to regulate them? Particularly around Christmas there are stalls in most shopping centres selling quads about a foot square for less than $100, some even down to $50. Parents buy them for their kids who go out and fly them with no regard for regulations, and no perception of altitude. It's like the idiots with laser pointers. Same sort of parents that buy the cheap go and annoy someone else motorbikes for their kiddies. Wouldn't think of club membership though. Rules, regulations, social responsibility, nah, "my kiddies can do whatever they want so long as it isn't in my face".. The cheaper the product the worse the clientelle. 1
Ultralights Posted January 9, 2015 Posted January 9, 2015 i dont think the $50 to $100 quads are capable of maintaining a signal from the controller to reach up to 500ft. 1
Phil Perry Posted January 9, 2015 Author Posted January 9, 2015 Interestingly,. . . .I saw a Quadcopter of some sort fly over my home yesterday evening, . . . difficult to estimate height not knowing the scale of the thing , maybe - 300 feet. . . . Wifey drew my attention to it . . . I curtailed my lawncutting duties but could not hear any motor noise from it. The thing then disappeared over the treeline about 300 metres up the road and I didn't see it again. It looked as if it was being battered around a bit in the strong wind though. . . . . . . .maybe it was lost ? ? ? ? ( ! )
Modelmakeroz Posted January 10, 2015 Posted January 10, 2015 Unfortunately they or at least some of the fixed wing devices can get to quite some height. I recently came across a bloke that has a 2 metre span RC motor glider. He has attached blue and white ultra bright LEDs to it in a cross formation. He tries to pass it off as a UFU, to the point of putting some hoax video on youtube. Places where he flies are at least bordering on controlled airspace around an Airforce base and in the downwind leg area of a civil airport that I know of. I offered to show him where the local model flying field was. His answer was, "No I'm not registered, the model mob don't approve of what I do." Same bloke flew a model indoors at work around people and still whinges about coming under disciplinary action. In short the gear capable of being misused is easily available and those that will use the gear any way they see fit are plentiful enough. The bloke I refer to is not a child. 1
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