¤ Drones ¤

[the.tru.albertan]

Originally Posted by TreeGuy

Hi Luxor. I'm going to try and share what I've learned in regards to this topic over the past two years. Take it as you will.

Full disclosure first. I do not currently own an RC helicopter, but have put quite some time into researching a potential purchase. Also, I have flow ( briefly) a DHI Phantom 3 as well as logging about 20 hours on a Blade 350 QX.

First off, I take issue with the word 'drones'. In reality, drones are military aircraft with a very specific purpose, who's technology was largely hijacked from a decades old hobby RC industry. To call them drones IMHO is simply falling into the ignorant and overly dramatic hyperbole spewed from a for-profit MSM.

These aircraft in question, in the VAST majority of cases are small quadcopters. Generally speaking, they measure 16-18" squared, weigh less than a pound, have 20 minutes or less of flight time with highly limited payload capacity. I seriously call into question commercial pilot's reports of sightings while travelling at hundreds of miles an hour. Also, I question the amount of damage a pound of plastic can possibly administer to a large civilian aircraft.

Now there is certainly no disputing that these hobby crafts have been used for less than honourable purposes. Unfortunately, like a certain lion, a hysterical media, a dumb as stump populace and bottom feeding politicians have conspired in a maelstrom of self-serving misinformation to portray these TOYS as being capable of unspeakable horrors.

Simply untrue.

There's some quality RC clubs locally, Luxor. May I suggest you take a couple of hours to visit one and perhaps gain a better understanding of what RC stuff is all about. I can guarantee you'll meet some good folks and likely have a blast. Gets spendy pretty quick though, so don't say you weren't warned. Lol. I hope this post helps.

I think it stems from pilots buying these and breaking criminal code laws, privacy laws, aviation laws, etc.

A good case and point is the forest fire situation. TC clearly says not to fly around forest fires (restricted airspace due to low flying wildfire aircraft?) and to not interfere with first responders.

Maybe they are ignorant to the law. I dunno. But you'd have to be a fool to fly up the side of a condo building and think you're not breaking any laws.

[Luxor]

Tru AB

Same thing.....i get ur point

[Luxor]

Originally Posted by Wild&Free

I blame YouTube and Facebook.

You may be right
Its a very influential medium source
That drone with the shooting handgun went quite viral
And this is the type of thing that raises concerns
Im not worried about the law abiding RC faction

Im predicting this drone/rc activity is going to make headlines more and more as time goes on.

[Luxor]

Originally Posted by roper1

Not looking to argue but I think airline pilots could see one, we see sparrows on a powerline couple hundred yards ahead of us when we're doing buck/20. Apparently the higher-end models are larger & heavier with more altitude & range.

Having said that, one would really have to be in hover mode around my place for a long exasperating time before I would shoot it down. Pretty low upside, pretty high downside.

Even 1 bird or a flock of birds can cause immense plane damage.
Seen or not seen.....anything in a planes space is a danger.

Its my mistake for not being more clear in my opening post on what I intended.

[TreeGuy]

I think some of you folks should probably try one first prior to expressing such strong negative opinions. Their capabilities are strongly exaggerated.

And, Luxor, semantics DO matter. Particularly so in the arena of public opinion. RC or drone? Or, more pertinently of late, hunter or murderer...

In my opinion, 'drones' are simply another conceived distraction to keep the nattering ninnies occupied, because God forbid, the interweb actually takes the time and effort to learn about a topic prior to shooting their mouths off about it.... (Insert Confederate Flag, Black Lives Matter, Cecil the Lion, etc. crap here)

Again, no dispute from this guy on the misuse of these toys. Odd though that RC craft have existed for decades without having an issues. Simply another red herring IMHO. Other's opinions may vary.

[Wild&Free]

Originally Posted by the.tru.albertan

I think it stems from pilots buying these and breaking criminal code laws, privacy laws, aviation laws, etc.

A good case and point is the forest fire situation. TC clearly says not to fly around forest fires (restricted airspace due to low flying wildfire aircraft?) and to not interfere with first responders.

Maybe they are ignorant to the law. I dunno. But you'd have to be a fool to fly up the side of a condo building and think you're not breaking any laws.

If it has no camera, or the camera isn't on, or if the camera is facing away from the building what laws are being broken.

like Luxor said, bad people will do bad things, with a drone/RC aircraft, butter knife, gun or camera. In a free society we have to have some level of trust in our fellow man to do good, and we have rules that, in theory, are beneficial to all. Ignorance is no defence, but the best cure for ignorance is education. I'm pretty sure the vast majority of people are ignorant to most of the laws of our society. I've only read a handful of acts myself, and some are downright confusing. Tax Act is 2500 pages and contains many many circular refernces, and i just skimmed bits of it.

[Wild&Free]

Originally Posted by TreeGuy

I think some of you folks should probably try one first prior to expressing such strong negative opinions. Their capabilities are strongly exaggerated.

And, Luxor, semantics DO matter. Particularly so in the arena of public opinion. RC or drone? Or, more pertinently of late, hunter or murderer...

In my opinion, 'drones' are simply another conceived distraction to keep the nattering ninnies occupied, because God forbid, the interweb actually takes the time and effort to learn about a topic prior to shooting their mouths off about it.... (Insert Confederate Flag, Black Lives Matter, Cecil the Lion, etc. crap here)

Again, no dispute from this guy on the misuse of these toys. Odd though that RC craft have existed for decades without having an issues. Simply another red herring IMHO. Other's opinions may vary.

Waiting for my Hubsan 107c to arrive in the mail. built balsa wood string flown planes whe I was a kid, never flew them, and the ex bought me a junk single prop helicopter that met an nasty end due to poor flight characteristics and my novice skills.

[Luxor]

Originally Posted by TreeGuy

I think some of you folks should probably try one first prior to expressing such strong negative opinions. Their capabilities are strongly exaggerated.

And, Luxor, semantics DO matter. Particularly so in the arena of public opinion. RC or drone? Or, more pertinently of late, hunter or murderer...

In my opinion, 'drones' are simply another conceived distraction to keep the nattering ninnies occupied, because God forbid, the interweb actually takes the time and effort to learn about a topic prior to shooting their mouths off about it.... (Insert Confederate Flag, Black Lives Matter, Cecil the Lion, etc. crap here)

Again, no dispute from this guy on the misuse of these toys. Odd though that RC craft have existed for decades without having an issues. Simply another red herring IMHO. Other's opinions may vary.

Tree

We are focused on 2 different sides.
You are on the law abiding RC side and
Im focusing on the illegal drone use side.
I see your position.....do you see mine?
I dont believe its just a fear mongering media concern.
RC's have been around for a long time yes agreed.
My point is......the use of these things is starting to make it in the controls of the criminally and abusive minded.
I think its something that could and is becoming a growing concern now and in future.

[TreeGuy]

Originally Posted by Luxor

And if they get sucked into a planes engine.....well you know.

Honestly, I don't.

I did however tour Boeing's factory last summer with my family and had a up close view/education on $45-50 million dollar behemoth jet turbine engines. Now I'm no engineer, but I suspect they are more than capable of ingesting a sub 1# piece of plastic. If not, we'd be hearing of a catastrophic event nearly daily. Stop buying into media conjuncture.

[TreeGuy]

Originally Posted by Luxor

Tree



We are focused on 2 different sides.

You are on the law abiding RC side and

Im focusing on the illegal drone use side.

I see your position.....do you see mine?

I dont believe its just a fear mongering media concern.

RC's have been around for a long time yes agreed.

My point is......the use of these things is starting to make it in the controls of the criminally and abusive minded.

I think its something that could and is becoming a growing concern now and in future.

Perhaps. I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you per say, just simply sharing my personal experiences (as an admitted non-expert) and encouraging you to make the effort to experience these toys first hand for yourself. You may be surprised at the result.

[TreeGuy]

Originally Posted by Wild&Free

Waiting for my Hubsan 107c to arrive in the mail. built balsa wood string flown planes whe I was a kid, never flew them, and the ex bought me a junk single prop helicopter that met an nasty end due to poor flight characteristics and my novice skills.

Good luck and have fun with it.

[Wild&Free]

Originally Posted by Luxor

Tree

We are focused on 2 different sides.
You are on the law abiding RC side and
Im focusing on the illegal drone use side.
I see your position.....do you see mine?
I dont believe its just a fear mongering media concern.
RC's have been around for a long time yes agreed.
My point is......the use of these things is starting to make it in the controls of the criminally and abusive minded.
I think its something that could and is becoming a growing concern now and in future.

The change is one associated with technology. my first RC plane cost 120$ in 1990, took about 60hrs to build, was made of balsa wood, had a tiny gas engine(65$)that ran for 5 minutes and if I put the RC equipment in it, servos(20$ each, needed 6), control rods(good wire worked, but about $5x6) receiver(40-70$) and transmitter($200 min) not cheap, and made of balsa, one crash and its done. you can buy RTF one for under $100 now, made of plastics easy to repair so they're becoming more common. kind of like computers or televisions or cars.

there's potential for misuse for sure. but just the same potential as with guns imo. most here would rather minimal restrictions on guns because it's the user not the item that causes misuse. there is always going to be bad and stupid people, they shouldn't dictate what the rest of us should and shouldn't be allowed.

[Luxor]

Originally Posted by TreeGuy

Honestly, I don't.

I did however tour Boeing's factory last summer with my family and had a up close view/education on $45-50 million dollar behemoth jet turbine engines. Now I'm no engineer, but I suspect they are more than capable of ingesting a sub 1# piece of plastic. If not, we'd be hearing of a catastrophic event nearly daily. Stop buying into media conjuncture.

Its not media conjecture tree.
its media facts.
I guess people just believe what they want at times.
Did you read this thread from the beginning and see the posts of actual occurrances?
Im in the middle of my single engine pilots licence.
You cant tell me these flying objects cant do harm to a small plane or helicopter.
Have you seen the video of a flying drone shooting a handgun?

Im not sure what more I can say to you.
I guess we'll just have to see what becomes of this issue in future????????
But remember.....you heard it here first lol

[TreeGuy]

Cannot believe I'm on the same side of an argument with Beeguy Lite!

[Luxor]

Originally Posted by TreeGuy

Cannot believe I'm on the same side of an argument with Beeguy Lite!

Now this I dont understand

[TreeGuy]

Media practically invented conjecture, Lux. Lol. I generally take the rubbish that's thrown at me with a healthy grain of salt.

All the best with your license. Just spent 5 days camping with a bud and his Cub. Good times. Please report back to us is you ever encounter a quadcopter. (Hint: you likely will not). Good luck.

[TreeGuy]

[[/QUOTE=Luxor;2914212]Its not media conjecture tree.

its media facts.
[/QUOTE]



Did you actually manage to type that with a straight face?

[Luxor]

[QUOTE=TreeGuy;2914224]

Originally Posted by Luxor

Its not media conjecture tree.

its media facts.
[\QUOTE]



Did you actually manage to type that with a straight face?

Yes yes I did
Its obvious we are not looking at the same picture and seeing the same things.
Thats ok
Thanks for the luck and you enjoy your remote aircraft.

But what is beeguy lite ??

[TreeGuy]

Haha. Agreed to disagree. Chit happens.

BG is a banned ultra leftward pot stirrer. Jr up there is a bit of a disciple.

[Luxor]

Originally Posted by TreeGuy

Haha. Agreed to disagree. Chit happens.

BG is a banned ultra leftward pot stirrer. Jr up there is a bit of a disciple.

Hmmmm
Well I dont mind stirring the pot at times.
But its more that I just believe in what Im saying.
Some have called it trolling or derailing.
Lots of that on this forum.

Best regards to ya tree

[Wild&Free]

Originally Posted by TreeGuy

Haha. Agreed to disagree. Chit happens.

BG is a banned ultra leftward pot stirrer. Jr up there is a bit of a disciple.

A more disciplined one

I always thought I took after pesky more.

[Luxor]

Originally Posted by Wild&Free

A more disciplined one

I always thought I took after pesky more.

Ok

Now who or what is "pesky more" ????

[Selkirk]

.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbE6BKJ2drQ

What goes around, comes around

Mac

[Luxor]

Mac

You got all the right moves man !!!!

Im going to start a fan club.

[the.tru.albertan]

Originally Posted by Wild&Free

If it has no camera, or the camera isn't on, or if the camera is facing away from the building what laws are being broken.

like Luxor said, bad people will do bad things, with a drone/RC aircraft, butter knife, gun or camera. In a free society we have to have some level of trust in our fellow man to do good, and we have rules that, in theory, are beneficial to all. Ignorance is no defence, but the best cure for ignorance is education. I'm pretty sure the vast majority of people are ignorant to most of the laws of our society. I've only read a handful of acts myself, and some are downright confusing. Tax Act is 2500 pages and contains many many circular refernces, and i just skimmed bits of it.

Well, I have yet to see any sections within the aviation regs that specifically say so, so I'm just going off of the do's and don'ts...

can't fly closer than 150 m from buildings/people/animals/vehicles.
can't fly over populated areas.
can't fly over busy streets.

The interesting thing about trying to fly over the neighbours farm house is that it literally can not be done legally. You can't get any closer than 150 meters to buildings and you can't go over 90 meters in altitude without breaking airspace regs.

A long time ago, I used to be into model rocketry. I have thought about getting back into it and maybe even going into high powered rocketry. I could have been an ignorant fool and just bought a high powered rocket, go out to my moms farm and launch it to 10 000 feet. Instead, I did the research involved first and learned of the many Transport Canada rules against a launch of that magnitude. I'll stick with the small rockets. (Technically, even the small ones break airspace regs but I believe the regs do not apply to model rockets under a certain motor power.)

[Wild&Free]

I tried reading that do's and don't page but my phone scroll locks on it so I can't. when I get home I'll go over it. can't comment any further in that regard.

[Luxor]

Tru ab

You and tree are on the same side.
thats all well and good.

But its the lunatic fringe that im focusing on.

I dont care where this thread goes in perspective.

But dont tell me that there is no potential dangers.
Cause Im telling you now....its not true.

You can post all the legal regs you want but its not going to change the lunatic fringe aspect.

Maybe paranoid.....but the threat is real

[the.tru.albertan]

Originally Posted by Luxor

Tru ab

You and tree are on the same side.
thats all well and good.

But its the lunatic fringe that im focusing on.

I dont care where this thread goes in perspective.

But dont tell me that there is no potential dangers.
Cause Im telling you now....its not true.

You can post all the legal regs you want but its not going to change the lunatic fringe aspect.

Maybe paranoid.....but the threat is real

I agree in both aspects. Legal regs don't keep bad guys from doing bad things. I was just posting from the law abiding citizen side of things.

[Wild&Free]

Originally Posted by Luxor

Tru ab

You and tree are on the same side.
thats all well and good.

But its the lunatic fringe that im focusing on.

I dont care where this thread goes in perspective.

But dont tell me that there is no potential dangers.
Cause Im telling you now....its not true.

You can post all the legal regs you want but its not going to change the lunatic fringe aspect.

Maybe paranoid.....but the threat is real

Don't be afraid of the boogey man in the closet and don't let someone govern you based upon the fear of something bad happening, technically that's called terrorism. we should be protecting ourselves from the bad by actively promoting and supporting the good. That way the bad guys really stand out, and proving they're bad through due process is apparent.

[JD848]

It's not that drones are bad,but their will always be poachers and this just gives them another edge on sneeking up on game and checking the area out so they can't get caught by making sure no one is around.

To the guy who wants something to play with,there is nothing wrong in any new tech stuff if it's in the honest hands of good person.

With the price of a truck at around 30 to 70 grand a 200 or whatever the price drones can give criminals who have been laid back a bit ,a little more self confidence in not being caught,guys can argue back and forth all day on this one but it is what it is.,

I am on the same side of all the good people on this forum and I know drones are not going to go away,but some people have zero respect for the things we all love in the outdoors.