F-16 Drone

[Robbo]

[Gnarly Gnu]

OK what defines a drone from a radio controlled aircraft (which it seems is what this is)? Should a drone have at least some degree of self-flying autonomy?

 

 

[Robbo]

Well it does have a full autopilot as well, can also fly a pre programmed flight.

 

 

[Deskpilot]

With all the money spent on it, perhaps the 'hunters' should be armed with missiles loaded with paint-balls and not H.E.

 

 

[tillmanr]

Early this year I visited Pima at Tucson and the military boneyard where the guide pointed out that F16s were being converted to targets. With recent developments worldwide the suggestion(good oil) is that some are being refurbished for active duty.

 

 

[Deskpilot]

Apparently a lot of those 'stored' aircraft are run up on a 12 monthly cycle........just in case they're needed.

 

 

[cscotthendry]

The F16 is still a premium fighter. Converting them to targets shows how much the military industrial complex controls US government spending.

 

It's just plain wrong to take good airplanes and just blow them up.

 

 

[Robbo]

Better idea is for them to give a couple to me

 

 

[PA.]

Better idea is for them to give a couple to me

And then blow them up.

 

 

[Russ]

Below is an extract from an incident report on a near miss that happened a couple of day ago:

 

“Tracking NW from Byron Bay returning to Tyagarah Airport. Straight and Level at 80 KIAS, a drone appeared directly in front of the gyro. There was insufficient time to initiate evasive action. Drone passed under the rotor disc on the right hand side of the gyro, missing the rotor disc by approximately 1 metre below and missing the right hand undercarriage strut by a similar distance. I turned around and climbed in an attempt to locate the drone and follow it to it’s landing place. I was unable to visually locate the drone. It was about 1 m across and had 6 propellers attached to it. The body of the drone was black and the propeller support struts were white. Unable to locate the drone, I returned to Tyagrah for a normal landing.”

 

The speed at which this event occurred really caught the pilot by surprise, such that he did not have time to react in any way, let alone attempt evasive action.

 

The media has stated during the last week or so, that drones are a very popular gift choice this Christmas. That being the case, pilots must display extra vigilance and I suggest that you avoid areas where these airborne menaces are likely to be driven: beaches, parks, football fields etc.

 

There are regulations governing the operation of unmanned aerial vehicles, but the likelihood of any member of the public adhering to the rules is somewhat remote. If you’re interested, look up CASR Part 101 H.

 

Fly safe and take care.

 

 

[Geoff13]

Actually the likely hood of some members of the public adhering to the rules is probably very good.

 

I purchased one of these for my wife for Christmas as she has wanted one for a while.

 

It came with a fairly comprehensive set of instructions as well as operating guidelines based on the CASA handout.

 

I had already before purchase made myself well aware of these guidelines.

 

The question I must ask is having purchased a fairly high level one of these items and having read the instructions although she has not had the chance to fly it yet due to the weather, it gives a guideline of being controllable to not more than 100 metres but recommended to be kept within 25 metres of the controller.

 

So unless there are some super duper models out there I would think an incident should be unlikely unless the pilot was flying below 500'. This thing of my wife's is a big unit, but I can tell you now that at 500' I do not think that I would be able to see it, let alone be capable of determining if it was going up/down/forward or backward. My point is if you are obeying VFR it should be unlikely to come within cooee of one. Of course if someone is flying one near an ALA that could be different.

 

You that minimum 500' can protect us as well as Joe Public.

 

 

[SDQDI]

With some half decent fpv gaining in excess of 500 feet is fairly simple. Having said that the units capable of that would be more than your hundred dollar kids toy and you would hope that anyone spending a decent amount of cash would be the sort of person who reads the pamphlets in the box. There will always be exceptions though no doubt. I bought a small rocket kit that goes in excess of 1000 feet, I know that is different to a quadcopter but I still wouldn't like to have one hit me on a 500 foot scenic flight!

 

Techair has always been sceptical about their (drones) ability to be spotted but I was flying the other day and spotted a hawk (not a wedgie, just a small hawk) at what I guessed to be 500 metres in front of me. I know I am a slow plane but seeing something that small that far away at my height surprised me and I have no doubt that in the right circumstances a large quadcopter could be spotted some distance ahead.

 

 

[Robbo]

Actually the likely hood of some members of the public adhering to the rules is probably very good. I purchased one of these for my wife for Christmas as she has wanted one for a while.

It came with a fairly comprehensive set of instructions as well as operating guidelines based on the CASA handout.

 

I had already before purchase made myself well aware of these guidelines.

 

The question I must ask is having purchased a fairly high level one of these items and having read the instructions although she has not had the chance to fly it yet due to the weather, it gives a guideline of being controllable to not more than 100 metres but recommended to be kept within 25 metres of the controller.

 

So unless there are some super duper models out there I would think an incident should be unlikely unless the pilot was flying below 500'. This thing of my wife's is a big unit, but I can tell you now that at 500' I do not think that I would be able to see it, let alone be capable of determining if it was going up/down/forward or backward. My point is if you are obeying VFR it should be unlikely to come within cooee of one. Of course if someone is flying one near an ALA that could be different.

 

You that minimum 500' can protect us as well as Joe Public.

A wife that wants a drone??

Gotta love that Geoff :)