Another idiot helping to ruin our hobby....

[westonmavicpilot]

Just the title of this thread "Another idiot helping to ruin our hobby" goes to show that even us drone operators are misdirecting our anger and frustration.

This is nothing more than a hit piece on our hobby. Whether the reporters are aware of their complicity or not is the only unknown.

Actually I wasn't misdirecting my 'anger'... just pointing out that anyone who flies a drone in a flight path to a Royal Air Force base IS an idiot, not only for putting people at risk but for once again demonstrating the need for regulation. It's highly unlikely an RAF pilot just made this up for kicks because he has a dislike of drone pilots - yes all papers exaggerate, get their facts wrong and scaremonger the public....that's what sells papers but this story clearly wasn't without some facts backing it up. Disappointing to see so many people on here with the poor attitude of 'as if a drone could take down a helicopter' - talk about missing the point.

 

[Rabid Machina]

Chinooks are very agile for their size . I use to watch them practice just outside of fort rucker when I was growing up . I did see one go down when something got blown up from the ground and injested into the engine once . All aircraft are extremely vunerable when close to the ground . people blowing off the danger of a drone in a aircrafts flight path truly show a lack of maturity .

So you witnessed a Chinook suffer a dual engine failure from FOD after an explosion? or was it something you saw on youtube?

 

[Blades]

The prop wash alone would prevent the drone from hitting the Chinook. Not justifying anything, but there was no real danger there.

I am sure the blades can handle a hit or 2.

 

[rydfree]

So you witnessed a Chinook suffer a dual engine failure from FOD after an explosion? or was it something you saw on youtube?

Doubt it was dual engine failure but a friend and I watched one practicing a tactical landing in '79 when something was ingested into the port engine . We were on the fence line of the pasture and he was @200 yards away . All we saw was a puff of smoke and then he landed pretty hard but was ok . We watched for about 20 minutes then started walking up the fence line to get closer and the crew chief and co-pilot walked over to talk to us .

 

[Rabid Machina]

I am sure the blades can handle a hit or 2.

Oh I'm sure it can take more than a couple, lol. The leading edges are reinforced with the titanium caps shown in the exploded view in that schematic.

Used to contract for the 160th as a sheet metal mechanic after my time in the Navy as a Structures and Hydraulics Mechanic on Fighters and Hovercraft.

Doubt it was dual engine failure but a friend and I watched one practicing a tactical landing in '79 when something was ingested into the port engine . We were on the fence line of the pasture and he was @200 yards away . All we saw was a puff of smoke and then he landed pretty hard but was ok . We watched for about 20 minutes then started walking up the fence line to get closer and the crew chief and co-pilot walked over to talk to us .

I'm not that old but I'm sure the times were different then. I witnessed an F-18 crash land in Virginia Beach when I was stationed there and a hovercraft burn up @ Camp Pendleton, at least in the Department of the Navy; NCIS doesn't let anyone but essential personnel (aside from the duty rover) approach the wreckage. I wouldn't want to be around wreckage like that anyway, too many undesirable materials to be around.

Thanks for sharing a bit more on the Chinook crash though. Watching them do there hover checks; it would always look like it was going to get ugly. Quickly. Lol.

 

[rydfree]

Oh I'm sure it can take more than a couple, lol. The leading edges are reinforced with the titanium caps shown in the exploded view in that schematic.

Used to contract for the 160th as a sheet metal mechanic after my time in the Navy as a Structures and Hydraulics Mechanic on Fighters and Hovercraft.



I'm not that old but I'm sure the times were different then. I witnessed an F-18 crash land in Virginia Beach when I was stationed there and a hovercraft burn up @ Camp Pendleton, at least in the Department of the Navy; NCIS doesn't let anyone but essential personnel (aside from the duty rover) approach the wreckage. I wouldn't want to be around wreckage like that anyway, too many undesirable materials to be around.

Thanks for sharing a bit more on the Chinook crash though. Watching them do there hover checks; it would always look like it was going to get ugly. Quickly. Lol.

The Army rented fields from farmers to practice in back then , not sure if they still do or not . I saw my 1st Apache near that time around the same place . All I had seen before that was a drawing in Popular mechanics magazine of the new super copter ,lol . They would play hide and seek with the Kiowas and hide behind barns and stacks of hay bales . We could literally walk to the edge of a field and watch Apaches and Cobras play a few hundred yards away . That's the main reason I joined the Marines in '84 to be a helicopter mechanic . Loved watching them fly .

 

[Rabid Machina]

I think they still have the flying warrant program there at Ft. Rucker. I've been out of the military aircraft mechanic business (lol) for about 5 years now. But last I knew that's where it was. Before getting out I almost converted from Navy to Army through the program I mentioned above. From my understanding you get to fly based on proficiency throughout the program. in the end I'm glad I didn't DOA maintenance isn't as tight as DON. I tried referencing the NAMP to some of the green suiters and they weren't trying to hear it. It's a miracle some of those helos fly at all.

 

[stratos]

Uk drone pilot flying in path of RAF Chinook on approach to base.

Now although this is reported in the mail online which is a rag that I detest for their lack of ability to report the facts correctly the same story was also in the Telegraph which is a more reputable paper...

Drone almost downs £60m Chinook helicopter | Daily Mail Online

£60m RAF Chinook helicopter in near miss with drone as pilot says collision could have downed aircraft

Chinooks can withstand direct hits from 50 calls.
The worst thing the drone could have done is left mark if any.

Still, what a drone idiot pilot.

 

[Rabid Machina]

Chinooks can withstand direct hits from 50 calls.
The worst thing the drone could have done is left mark if any.

Still, what a drone idiot pilot.

That's a lot of calls!!!

 

[Michael Ainsworth]

That's a lot of calls!!!

Probably from a call centre in India. Lol

 

[Dw911]

Another dose of unadulterated, unsubstantiated high-octane fear injected into the masses via the media. Nice that they describe it as a dark grey drone, but show a Phantom. And we know that a 2lb plastic phantom would have brought down a Chinook. Yup. Fear. And the people lap it up like gravy.

Yep last year it was Chinese laser pens and pointers would be bringing down aircraft left right and center, year before that it was devil dogs killing more children than king herald ever managed.
This year it's drones that are the new boggie men, once they have milked all the drone stories and scared a few people in Surrey with tales of planes crashing into their mock tudor houses because of the great unwashed and their drones, they will simply move on to some other 'scary' thing to fill the gaps between the adverts in their newspapers

 

[HiVac]

Probably from a call centre in India. Lol

Julie! (Selling alarm systems!)

 

[geigy]

My father (USAF Pilot - 28 years) used to tell me that they shoot (from an air cannon) 12 pound FROZEN turkeys into the air intake / jet engine intakes on their aircraft to test them for resiliency against bird strikes.

The mavic weighs about ~1.5 lbs. I'm pretty sure that if a small 1.5 pound drone could take down a military helicopter, then the terrorists would be attacking our aircraft with mavics instead of wasting $millions on expensive STA missiles.

And, yeah, have you ever seen the wind-sheer put out by a small helicopter? Much less a chinook. How could a 1.5 pound drone even get close?

Any helicopter pilots on here that can weigh in?

Turbine powered helicopters without intake screens can crash as a result of debris sucked into the intake. The Mavic is unique among smaller drones in that it has a large metal heat sink. If it damages a turbine blade it could cause problems.

You're right the propeller wash is very powerful - but a drone could be sucked downward very easily, or sideways into the tail rotor. The pilot could flinch or take evasive action that resulted in a crash - and you would be responsible for that crash.

It seems to me that we should listen to, and respect the pilots in this matter. They have skin in the game - we just have the purchase price of our drones. It's not for us to decide that their risk is acceptable, and if we act as if it is, we invite stronger laws and regulations to force us to behave responsibly. Saying it ain't fair won't help.

How will this clampdown happen? There are a million ways. For starters, how about encouraging citizens to report all drone flying activity, limiting and taxing the sale of drones and drone parts, jail time for people caught repairing or making drones, or posting drone related info the internet, higher penalties for flying improperly, technology to jam and capture drones using radio signals, netting, and interceptor drones?0

My prediction: people will behave like *****. defiant and minimizing the danger to safety and privacy (while other drone flyers take risks, and hover outside peoples' windows) society will clamp down, and it will be harder and harder to enjoy our hobby.

Carpe dronum - enjoy the golden age of drones while it is here! The public defiance of rules, and lack of common sense, by irresponsible drone flyers who then crow about their adventures on youtube, combined with an irrational fear on the part of the public, will probably result in laws limiting our ability to fly our birds.

 

[stratos]

Turbine powered helicopters without intake screens can crash as a result of debris sucked into the intake. The Mavic is unique among drones in that it has a large metal heat sink. If it damages a turbine blade it could cause problems.

You're right the propeller wash is very powerful - but a drone could be sucked downward very easily, or sideways into the tail rotor. The pilot could flinch or take evasive action that resulted in a crash - and you would be responsible for that crash.

It seems to me that we should listen to, and respect the pilots in this matter. They have skin in the game - we just have the purchase price of our drones. It's not for us to decide that their risk is acceptable, and if we act as if it is, we invite stronger laws and regulations to force us to behave responsibly. Saying it ain't fair won't help.

How will this clampdown happen? There are a million ways. For starters, how about encouraging citizens to report all drone flying activity, limiting and taxing the sale of drones and drone parts, jail time for people caught repairing or making drones, or posting drone related info the internet, higher penalties for flying improperly, technology to jam and capture drones using radio signals, netting, and interceptor drones?0

My prediction: people will behave like a$$e$, defiant and minimizing the danger to safety and privacy (even as others take risks and spy through windows) society will clamp down, and it will be harder and harder to enjoy our hobby.

Carpe dronum - enjoy the golden age of drones while it is here! The public defiance of irresponsible drone flyers on youtube, combined with an irrational fear on the part of the public, will combine to limit our ability to fly our birds.

Tl:dr.... Propeller wash will make any drone loose control and fall. This is fear mongering.

 

[geigy]

I don't think it's fear mongering. Remember, I want drones to be able to fly - I am against the public image that drones are dangerous.

The prop wash logic does not apply if the drone is at a higher altitude than the copter it could easily suck the drone downward. There have been spectacular crashes in the past from debris sucked in through the intake and the Mavic's metal heat sink is probably a large enough chunk of metal to take out a turbine.

It is the copter pilot and his passengers whose life is on the line, and many of them are on record as saying that they can be a concern, if they are up too high where they don't belong.

 

[Drone Police]

If I was a helicopter pilot or passenger on one, I sure as hell wouldn't want to share the airspace these idiots.

Why can't everyone respect the nfz's for *** sake. It's not that hard. To disregard and say it's fine..."the chopper can take the impact" is just as idiotic.
Advocating and giving this behaviour a pass will lead to more stories like this and make it tougher for us. Thanks.

 

[stratos]

Probably from a call centre in India. Lol

Do one thing !!!

I meant .50 cal

 

[stratos]

If I was a helicopter pilot or passenger on one, I sure as **** wouldn't want to share the airspace these idiots.

Why can't everyone respect the nfz's for eff sake. It's not that hard. To disregard and say it's fine..."the chopper can take the impact" is just as idiotic.
Advocating and giving this behaviour a pass will lead to more stories like this and make it tougher for us. Thanks.

I dont see no one agreeing that this isnt dangerous or that the drone pilot was definitely not flying safely.
No one is advocating to that , nor giving a pass to this conduct.

 

[geigy]

Yep last year it was Chinese laser pens and pointers would be bringing down aircraft left right and center, year before that it was devil dogs killing more children than king herald ever managed.
This year it's drones that are the new boggie men, once they have milked all the drone stories and scared a few people in Surrey with tales of planes crashing into their mock tudor houses because of the great unwashed and their drones, they will simply move on to some other 'scary' thing to fill the gaps between the adverts in their newspapers

haha - right on. You forgot the killer bees! Whatever happened to that disaster? I guess they got sidetracked.

 

[geigy]

It would be nice to do some actual testing, drone strike jet engine tests, and see if damage is likely to occur. Maybe drones are not very dangerous, compared to bird strikes. I'm sure a bunch of you think it's perfectly safe, which may be the case, or not. Let's find out.