Mavic vs Apache Gunship confrontation (Literally!)

[_milo_]

If your really far from home point and have obstructions between you and your aircraft, you should consider that when you get close to the ground you'll loose RC link, and if RTH is set it will rise to set altitude and start coming back.

In the highly unlikely event an apache helicopter is heading at your MP at low altitude, the only safe thing would be to do a CSC command to shut off the motors and drop it. I'd try flying low as possible though.

We had a helicopter kept buzzing our RC AMA field really low, just to be a PIA to us I think, we dropped really low, and changed course or landed. You could be 500 feet away and the pilot might say you nearly struck him, so give a wide berth to aircraft, and be aware of FAA guidelines.


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[Squamer]

This is also the one instance that I would've had no problems paying for a new Mavic if I was able to get him on camera shooting it down! How cool would that have been

 

[ascension]

Just as a heads up on this issue.
I used to fly A7's. When we weren't deployed on our carrier, we trained extensively using areas all over the west. A lot of our training was quite low. You can see these areas on sectional charts, called MOA's. There is no prohibition flying in there.
In addition there are low level training routes displayed on sectionals by black lines with the letters "VR" followed by digits identifying the route. IR routes are depicted as well, but are above 1500'.

We would fly these VR routes at about 200' AGL and about 420+/- knots, and nearly always as a flight of 2-4 aircraft, so if you see one, don't assume he's alone.
These routes exist throughout the US, and are not confined to restricted airspace.

 

[Starz]

Several would be my guess. Some are still looking for their mp.(remote landing)

 

[erkme73]

You must yield to all manned aircraft, responsible to see and avoid them, even if you think the helicopter was reckless, still must yield, up to grounding it if he were to approach you MP. I've seen some incidents involving helicopters claims of remote pilots coming close to their aircraft, when they were actually piloting the helicopter at the direction of the remote aircraft. You don't want to be the next big news story.

Thanks for sharing your story, very cool that you got some pictures.


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You are dead on with this comment. Recall the NYPD helicopter that was "chased" by a drone operator? The pilots feared for their lives? They watched as the drone landed, and a SWAT-like response arrested two guys. They were charged out the wazoo, and only after a small fortune of legal expenses, were the charges dropped.

At the time, it was front page news how the reckless operator harassed and endangered the heroic police officers in the helicopter. Months and $10k's later, charges were dropped after it became clear the helicopter actually chased the Phantom.

Think that retraction/story was ever on page 1?

Here's a more open-minded (with more detail on the operator's take) story. NYPD Helicopter Flew at a Drone and Never Feared Crashing, Recording Confirms - Motherboard

 

[Rich Sugden M.D.]

Landing remotely w. the Mavik shouldn't be a problem w. their "autoland" .. Just bring it down to a hover (hopefully over flat land), and pull the throttle back and it will land softly ... Problem if over rocks or water though!!

 

[erkme73]

Landing remotely w. the Mavik shouldn't be a problem w. their "autoland" .. Just bring it down to a hover (hopefully over flat land), and pull the throttle back and it will land softly ... Problem if over rocks or water though!!

The problem is if the MP is at a distance where it needs the elevation to maintain contact with the RC. If it gets too low, and loses contact, it'll RTH. If it successfully triggers auto land and then loses contact, it'll land, but he won't be able to restart it. That doesn't take into account what happens if the ground is "not suitable for landing", or there's a confirmation prompt asking if you're really, really sure you want to land...

 

[cobra46]

This is one of those cases where manned aircraft and UAS's legally share the same airspace. Out in open BFE areas, airplanes and obviously helicopters are not limited to the 500' minimum altitude. UAS pilots MUST give way to all manned aircraft.

Helicopters are not limited to the 500' rule. Out in BFE a fixed wing would only have to remain 500' feet away from you and your vehicle but could be 20' off the ground.

 

[Phxbird57]

I had a weird situation, today. I live in Tucson, AZ...and decided to drive (off-road) to extreme BFE on the desert BLM public lands to fly my Mavic. I was bringing my Mavic back home and out of nowhere...comes an Apache helicopter flying no more than 100 feet high. He literally starts circling me less than 1/4 mile away. My Mavic was still round 1/2 mile out and at 35% battery life, so I had to bring it home. As the helo passes in front of me, I held up my controller and pointed to it. He just continued to circle, but eventually understood and took off. Questions:

1) What would happen if he would have ran into my Mavic?
2) Would I be responsible for any damage?

Here's what I was doing before the Apache shows up:

I've had the war birds flying over head many times when I was out shoot. North east of Phx. They have a test area out in that area.
By chance were you close to the Barry Goldwater firing range just west of Tucson?
Mavic did not have any sidewinder on board. " to close for missiles switching to guns".

 

[Eric17]

Whats the ah64 landing for? Did it just sit there or take back off? It probably seen you 5 miles away and decided to play around. We used to ride our dirtbikes near a firing center and the helis would always fly right over us waving and whatnot, one time they where so low we thought they were gonna land and come bs with us.

 

[rydfree]

I would have quickly set the AH64 as a POI and have the Mavic circle it