Drones back but now at Heathrow!

[Jim Young 2,356]

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-46803713

[Guest]

Yeah, one can track a frequency source with some degree of accuracy these days, just need to get the equipment and training to the Heathrow police department.

Cheers, Rob.

[Johnny19 344]

word not allowed, stupid people can never be less dumb. They always surpass themselves with their idiotic doings it seems. 

[Bob Scott 7,718]

18 minutes ago, Rob Ainscough said:

Yeah, one can track a frequency source with some degree of accuracy these days, just need to get the equipment and training to the Heathrow police department.

Problem is, many drones can be preprogrammed to fly a preset flight profile without need for the control transmitter to be active, and the newer generations often use spread-spectrum RF control links, which make it very difficult to get a DF track, especially if there are other signals interspersed on the channels.

I considered getting myself a new Phantom 4 drone for Christmas, but did not, because I'm getting that hinky feeling that major restrictions or bans may soon be coming in the wake of the kind of misbehavior we're seeing from the enviro-terrorists in the UK, and with the many other as-yet unrealized nefarious possibilities for misuse.  All it's gonna take is one successful deployment of an explosive or poison-delivery weapon with a drone, and the doo-doo is gonna hit the fan.

Regards

[Guest]

Yep, just takes a few to spoil it for everyone and they know that ... rebel without a cause.  I seem to recall an incident in UK (Brands Hatch) where 3 kids drove their street VW onto the track while a race was in progress ... they did it for "laughs" ... race had to be red flagged.  Their "laugh" has since cost everyone involved in the sport of auto racing to fork out more cash to hold and attend a race event as more security is now required and more regulations ... etc. etc.

It's why a society without regulations could never exist successfully ... someone will always (without exception) screw it up for everyone else ... like someone building a nuclear reactor next to one's home and then dumping the radioactive rods into your local favorite fishing spot.  I guess it's built into human DNA, we must be regulated because we apparently are unable to employ common sense, courtesy, and compromises.

I might be flying in Heathrow next month, so I hope they can come up with something quickly to resolve this issue.

Cheers, Rob. 

[tttocs 301]

1 hour ago, w6kd said:

I considered getting myself a new Phantom 4 drone for Christmas, but did not, because I'm getting that hinky feeling that major restrictions or bans may soon be coming in the wake of the kind of misbehavior we're seeing from the enviro-terrorists in the UK, and with the many other as-yet unrealized nefarious possibilities for misuse.

My wife bought me a cheap drone for a fun Christmas "toy" this year which has definitely caused the drone bug to bite.  The Phantom 4 is one I've also been drooling over the last few weeks.  Like you, however, I'm hesitant to invest in more serious hardware given recent activities and increasing regulation, with a strong possibility of far more to come.

Scott

[Chock 17,769]

What the people (or person) doing this does not know, is that there has been some pretty serious (R.A.F.) experimental equipment deployed to track down this sort of thing down now, as a direct result of the other incident a few weeks back in the UK. Someone who is in the know about this operation (at my works) told me a little bit about it, although obviously not in great detail. It sounded to me all very sci-fi in terms of its capabilities.

[John_Cillis 2,406]

1 hour ago, Chock said:

What the people (or person) doing this does not know, is that there has been some pretty serious (R.A.F.) experimental equipment deployed to track down this sort of thing down now, as a direct result of the other incident a few weeks back in the UK. Someone who is in the know about this operation (at my works) told me a little bit about it, although obviously not in great detail. It sounded to me all very sci-fi in terms of its capabilities.

We will need it, otherwise our world will become like the future shown in the Terminator movies, where robots and drones menace humans under control of terrorist organizations or repressive governments.  It is the government's use of drones I am worried about, I guess the birds flying around are worried about them too.  The Wright Brothers were so PO'd when the government started to turn their invention into an instrument of terror, but they sold out to the military.  Santos Dumont was the first real champion of general aviation with his cute little ultralight Demosille. Some say he preceded the Wrights in the invention of flying, since I was not around at that time I could not say.  It really comes down to successful, controlled flight, especially when shown overseas.  The Wright's tried to patent flying, just like someone whose name I will not say, the Tom Riddle of flight simulation, tried to patent our hobby as his own idea.  I prefer flight simulation to RC flying, because it has become so realistic with the two dominate sim makers and their competitors, it is just preferable to be in the cockpit, in control, guiding an aircraft rather than letting it fly you, as my CFI's used to say.  I only use autopilot for cruise flight, once I get within 20 miles of an airport I switch to manual flight, no automated approaches for me since there is no challenge there.  Drones that follow preprogrammed flight paths are not the fun that my RC Motorized Glider flying was, which brought out my neighbors in awe of flight since my glider was a park flyer, but just barely since it had a 30 knot speed on approach and no spoilers to slow it down,  like real gliders have.  So I quit RC park flying until they create a prebuilt glider that can be slowed for landing.

John

[Boomer 1,619]

Totally don't see the point to having a drone.

[jabloomf1230 2,445]

If you were a queen bee you wouldn't be asking that.

[John_Cillis 2,406]

1 hour ago, Boomer said:

Totally don't see the point to having a drone.

Many do it for aerial photography, they want to see their house by the air, but Google Earth has that really covered well, I have used it to see all my old residences, places I've stayed for an extended time, like on business trips, and where my ex wife and I live now.  If I see weeds in her yard, I come over to trim the verge for her, something we enjoy doing together....

John

[tttocs 301]

2 hours ago, Boomer said:

Totally don't see the point to having a drone.

Leaving aside the fact that flying one is just plain (plane 🙂 ) fun - in a word - photography, both still and video.  Take a look at the Phantom 4 that Bob and I both reference.  The opportunities for incredible aerial photography are endless. 

A shame that a few bad actors spoil the show.

Scott

[heavy1216 35]

It seems to me like this was a DJI Drone. I think DJI needs to extend the No Fly Circle over Heathrow. Right now it's really small and you could fly your drone on the approach path

[Rhinozherous 90]

I also thought about buying a drone, just for fun and interest in all things which fly... But when I think about all the stupid things happened over the last years since drones are a hype, I dont want to be recognized as 'one of this drone idiots' when flying in public. 

Humans are too dumb for drones. Sad but true. 

[Chock 17,769]

6 hours ago, Boomer said:

Totally don't see the point to having a drone.

Drones have certainly made aerial shots in movies a much more affordable proposition for directors and they are useful for making inspections of tall or inaccessible structures and such. Both of these endeavours used to be prohibitively expensive for anyone who couldn't afford to hire a helicopter and probably also a steadicam or other gimbled camera rig of some sort too. But all of those things are the sort of stuff businesses would do professionally and that's a very different proposition from some toerag with no idea of what he or she is playing at flying a drone in some restricted airspace, although having said that, even someone at home could use one to inspect the roof of their house, which might actually be a useful thing to do.

So I've no wish to spoil people's fun if they like flying them, but in my opinion, the things should be licensed and they should have transponder or some other sort of easily trackable system on them too. Nobody who wants to use a drone sensibly can really have an objection to taking a basic competency test which covers knowledge of airspace restrictions to ideally result in the user acquiring a license. So so long as it isn't stupidly expensive or needlessly bureaucratic to achieve this, which I can't imagine it would be, then I don't see how anyone with a degree of responsibility could object to this.