So I was coming in to work this morning and see a drone at about 200 feet AGL. I drive every day past the AFB and they fly the "real drones" all the time. Touch and go's practice landings etc. When I get about 1/2 a mile away I see one of the Air Force Drones. They are about the size of a small plane. Anyway I am passing the the end of the runway and look up... a helicopter passes about 100 yards from the drone. Holy crap! My first thought was why was why are they both fling at relatively the same altitude. I'm certain they were different altitudes but still they were too close. Second why in the world is the helicopter flying on the same side of the runway. It seemed really stupid. I know, I know, I am certain that they both had contact with the tower and were coordinated in their flight but... why would they not give more room. They absolutely did not need to fly that close. It's like you pull up to the stadium parking lot. You are the first one there and some jackhammer parks in the next space to your car. Any of you pilots know why they would do this??
The drone actually made a really sharp turn to create distance. Could have been really bad and it was really not necessary. The nearest plane aside from these two is 100 miles in any direction. Visibility is about 70 miles. Unecessary risk if you ask me but I'm just a dumb MP operator.
The drone actually made a really sharp turn to create distance. Could have been really bad and it was really not necessary. The nearest plane aside from these two is 100 miles in any direction. Visibility is about 70 miles. Unecessary risk if you ask me but I'm just a dumb MP operator.