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Right. Very strange. I really don't know what to think in that case.
Can a UAV bring down a plane?
- Thread starter Danchow96
- Start date
Right. Very strange. I really don't know what to think in that case.
MiniPalourde
Well-Known Member
Look, I'm no rocket scientist but I know that if you crash your helicopter because of a small drone, you've done something REAL WRONG.
I was a flight instructor for years and I can tell you that seeing anything small like a bird, even the size of a duck, which fly fast, is not easy to see while flying and when they are at your level, it makes it even more difficult to see due to mixing in and out of the horizon. A duck is larger than say, a Mavic Pro so it would be even more difficult to see that. I have had a few close encounters with birds over the years and they have luckily, always avoided me, but then I was also flying slow between 80-110mph but they came extremely close and they did see and avoid thankfully and my aircraft was an open cockpit. A pilot does not spend most of his time scanning the sky for drones, there is a lot to do and look at, all the time, when piloting an aircraft, although a very important part of all that is scanning the sky. However, seeing another small aircraft and seeing a drone while flying is like you seeing another car coming at you in the air compared to seeing a little sparrow in the air, while driving at 70mph on the highway.
Even an insect stings like hell when hit in the face while flying, ask any motorcycle rider, so being hit with a drone could well be deadly to a pilot in an open cockpit, if not at initial impact, then most probably incapacitating them to continue safe flight. The question was can a drone bring down an airplane, so we have to address that, and as stated yes it can. If the OP meant an airliner, that is less likely (though still possible) than when hitting a small general aviation or Light Sport Aircraft type flying machine. A jet engine will most likely be damaged and even to the point of having to be shut down, so the cost of that is extremely high.
But we need to consider all flying machines up there, because a jet is most probably never going to be in the limited airspace 99.9% of the flyers of drones are flying around in. Therefore we need to consider all other aircraft types, the ones who may well be down in that general area. It is extremely unlikely that the drone will be seen by a pilot and if so, by the time that happens, far too close to do anything about it in the way of avoidance by the pilot. The windscreen on small aircraft like Cessnas etc. are made of Plexiglass, not tempered glass, like many of you may think. So an impact with an object like a drone is going to do damage and may well go through, into the cockpit and hitting an occupant. The other thing to consider is damage to the prop.
The prop may be fine after hitting a drone but it might also become damaged. An aircraft has a fine line between weight and balance along the airframe. A damaged prop can continue to power the aircraft back to a safe landing but equally, it could be come so damaged that it puts it out of balance. Flying with an out of balance prop can quickly cause damage to the engine mount. Depending on the damage, it is possible to cause such vibration that the engine will vibrate the engine mount right off the airframe and if that happens, the pilot had better have jam in his pockets because he is going to be toast. If you want to see how such a thing can affect balance, just go out and cut off a little piece of one of your props on the tip or somewhere along its length on your drone and see how that affects its balance and flying characteristics. then image that on a much larger scale.
The loss of the weight of your engine will mean the aircraft will not be able to sustain flight due to the severe imbalance of its CG. Think of sitting on a see-saw and the person on the other end gets off. There is no way you are keeping yourself level on the other end, you're going down. Such a thing as having the engine come off would result in death to all aboard the aircraft, and that vibration to losing an engine can possibly happen in a matter of seconds, once the prop becomes severely damaged. Then there are your children playing in your back yard. That aircraft may well now be falling toward your back yard and fall right on them. So don't ever think in terms of only the aircraft in the air, think of people on the ground, who may be impacted as it crashes. And all this can possibly happen because someone did not believe that a drone can bring down an airplane.
There are parts on a GA aircraft that are designed to be strong when forces acting on them are appropriate to what they were design to take in loading during flight. If an outside source, such as a drone causes damage to one of those parts, it could possibly bring down that aircraft as the part fails due to it being compromised from an impact. There is far more to think about from a drone impact than just this little piece of plastic hitting a thin skinned metal airplane. Light aircraft are strong when doing what they were designed to do, but being hit with an object while in flight is not one of the things it was design to do or withstand.
So, please, no longer think that it is an almost impossible thing to happen, because it is not. A collision is not very likely but the damage from such an event could cause the airplane to come down, don't forget that.
Even an insect stings like hell when hit in the face while flying, ask any motorcycle rider, so being hit with a drone could well be deadly to a pilot in an open cockpit, if not at initial impact, then most probably incapacitating them to continue safe flight. The question was can a drone bring down an airplane, so we have to address that, and as stated yes it can. If the OP meant an airliner, that is less likely (though still possible) than when hitting a small general aviation or Light Sport Aircraft type flying machine. A jet engine will most likely be damaged and even to the point of having to be shut down, so the cost of that is extremely high.
But we need to consider all flying machines up there, because a jet is most probably never going to be in the limited airspace 99.9% of the flyers of drones are flying around in. Therefore we need to consider all other aircraft types, the ones who may well be down in that general area. It is extremely unlikely that the drone will be seen by a pilot and if so, by the time that happens, far too close to do anything about it in the way of avoidance by the pilot. The windscreen on small aircraft like Cessnas etc. are made of Plexiglass, not tempered glass, like many of you may think. So an impact with an object like a drone is going to do damage and may well go through, into the cockpit and hitting an occupant. The other thing to consider is damage to the prop.
The prop may be fine after hitting a drone but it might also become damaged. An aircraft has a fine line between weight and balance along the airframe. A damaged prop can continue to power the aircraft back to a safe landing but equally, it could be come so damaged that it puts it out of balance. Flying with an out of balance prop can quickly cause damage to the engine mount. Depending on the damage, it is possible to cause such vibration that the engine will vibrate the engine mount right off the airframe and if that happens, the pilot had better have jam in his pockets because he is going to be toast. If you want to see how such a thing can affect balance, just go out and cut off a little piece of one of your props on the tip or somewhere along its length on your drone and see how that affects its balance and flying characteristics. then image that on a much larger scale.
The loss of the weight of your engine will mean the aircraft will not be able to sustain flight due to the severe imbalance of its CG. Think of sitting on a see-saw and the person on the other end gets off. There is no way you are keeping yourself level on the other end, you're going down. Such a thing as having the engine come off would result in death to all aboard the aircraft, and that vibration to losing an engine can possibly happen in a matter of seconds, once the prop becomes severely damaged. Then there are your children playing in your back yard. That aircraft may well now be falling toward your back yard and fall right on them. So don't ever think in terms of only the aircraft in the air, think of people on the ground, who may be impacted as it crashes. And all this can possibly happen because someone did not believe that a drone can bring down an airplane.
There are parts on a GA aircraft that are designed to be strong when forces acting on them are appropriate to what they were design to take in loading during flight. If an outside source, such as a drone causes damage to one of those parts, it could possibly bring down that aircraft as the part fails due to it being compromised from an impact. There is far more to think about from a drone impact than just this little piece of plastic hitting a thin skinned metal airplane. Light aircraft are strong when doing what they were designed to do, but being hit with an object while in flight is not one of the things it was design to do or withstand.
So, please, no longer think that it is an almost impossible thing to happen, because it is not. A collision is not very likely but the damage from such an event could cause the airplane to come down, don't forget that.
MiniPalourde
Well-Known Member
Where I live, we don't crash our helicopters because of small drones. But it may be different in other places, and I respect that.
Maybe all drone and helicopter pilots should move where you live then. So what do you crash them from, where you live?
I think the jury is still out regarding that supposed crash of a helicopter incident due to seeing a drone. With that said, I bet it could possibly happen in the right circumstances, even where you live!
Don't for get about damaged flight control systems...ie: rudder, elevator, ailerons
MiniPalourde
Well-Known Member
That is why I stated this, to cover such things....
"There are parts on a GA aircraft that are designed to be strong when forces acting on them are appropriate to what they were design to take in loading during flight. If an outside source, such as a drone causes damage to one of those parts, it could possibly bring down that aircraft as the part fails due to it being compromised from an impact"
MiniPalourde
Well-Known Member
My bad...I thought I read that you were in Canada...that being said are you a rated pilot
It was 50/50 on your part, he does say Canada or USA. Next month it might be Canada.
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