Does our beloved mavic show up in radar of helicopters/planes around? Say if mavic is above 100ft. Are we more then just a bird to them? And what about close to that 500 meter limit?
Can helicopters/planes detect the Mavic in flight?
- Thread starter NaiveFlight
- Start date
F6Rider
Well-Known Member
Too small for a radar return. Although the DEW system touts a "No Sparrow Shall Fall" tag line I doubt its truth, and besides, the radar on a plane just doesn't have the dwell to get a return form something so small.
Commercial aircraft only has TCAS (collision avoidance) if I'm not mistaken and single-pilot aircraft don't have them.
The Mavic, or any other drone for that matter, radar cross-section is very small, so no you won't get detected by any radar. Unless you fly hundreds if not thousands of drones lol
The Mavic, or any other drone for that matter, radar cross-section is very small, so no you won't get detected by any radar. Unless you fly hundreds if not thousands of drones lol
Will not show up on radar, but I can say from experience that it's possible to identify a dji phantom at 180 kts and 2000 ft from a cockpit.
I was wondering the same issue the other day as an Air National Guard Blackhawk came flying right across where I was flying. He was actually flying way lower than he should have been as far as I'm concerned and yeah scared the **** out of me I had to drop my mavic almost into the parking lot to get out of his way
United States Aegis Class Ships can detect a bumblebee from 200 miles away. Unclassified. I was a Sailor for 10 years. Don't fly chasing a DESTROYER leaving port.
2nckayakers
Well-Known Member
I live within 4 miles of a small regional airport (actually right in the approach to one of the runways). We are also about 15 miles from a major military installation and many of the helicopter and some larger planes use the regional airport for training missions. I have them come over the house all the time well under 500 feet.
Doesn't that level of sensitivity create a lot of false alarms?
Nikon1
Well-Known Member
Not disputing that claim - but that sure makes for a heck of a lot of noise for that operator to look through! I would imagine they must have a deep filter control to eliminate all that distraction.
The only drones pilots or ATC can see are the one with a transponder. (IE miltary drones)
Most airplanes are flying at or above 500', so your Mavic should not be too much of an issue for them, assuming that you are not flying within 2 mils of the runway centerline.
I did see a drone once, flying at 3,500 AGL in a rented C-172.
Actually my wife saw it as it passed by our right side by a mere 50 feet.
Needless to say, I have no patience for that kind of behavior, but I am still hopefull we can all share the airspace thru understanding and education.
Helicopters are the biggest threat. By the time they see the drone, it is too late. So they will either miss it, or it will go thru the windshield. The day that happens, you will not want to be THAT GUY!
Most airplanes are flying at or above 500', so your Mavic should not be too much of an issue for them, assuming that you are not flying within 2 mils of the runway centerline.
I did see a drone once, flying at 3,500 AGL in a rented C-172.
Actually my wife saw it as it passed by our right side by a mere 50 feet.
Needless to say, I have no patience for that kind of behavior, but I am still hopefull we can all share the airspace thru understanding and education.
Helicopters are the biggest threat. By the time they see the drone, it is too late. So they will either miss it, or it will go thru the windshield. The day that happens, you will not want to be THAT GUY!
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Ummmmm... (Ex Navy here, then 30 years in the Dept of Defense) Sorry, that's just not true. I heard that repeated over and over again, and laughed each time.
If you stay below the prescribed 400 ft and you aren't near an active runway centerline or heliport, your drone isn't a problem. But, to answer the question precisely, no, a Mavic wouldn't present a radar return.
I have F-35's and A-10's flying directly over my house daily on their downwind for final to Hill AFB. They are always high enough that even if my drone was airborne at a legal height, it would pose no threat whatsoever. If they are ever low enough for my drone to be a problem, they have way bigger problems at hand than my drone (I've personally witnessed 2 F-16 crashes, both off base, one with a successful ejection, one with a pilot fatality, within 2 miles of my home in the last 36 years here. Sorta scary....)
JohnC
Well-Known Member
Unlikely, and TCAS relies on aircraft that are transponding, which your Mavic doesn't!
You never heard that repeated once in your life because it was never said. I literally made that factoid up. In reality we can see grains of sand. Stuff is noise filtered before being processed and sent for display on the consoles.
Anyways ESWS qualified Operations Specialist here whom served on 3 different Aeg Destroyers back to back, then went to the dirty Navy. Don't get me started on LCAC facts - you will lose.
Yeah the dude claiming 30 years in DOD after the Navy means he served before the full implementation of the Aegis tech. Anyways there is some very deep filtering going on and its all adjustable. There is a reason the technology is referred to on ships that have it as "Shield of the Fleet"!
The point is, the system isn't seeing a bumblebee. Filtering is a different layer of topic. That is still a silly statement to make about a phased array system.
I love topics where people have no idea what they are talking about yet beat thier chest as if they know everything.
Do you even know what the term phased array means without using some wiki site? Internet has made everyone a know it all these days it seems.
The point is ...yes aircraft if dialed in correctly will see your stupid drones on thier radar. The mavic is big enough and has enough metal to provide a reflection and the common civilian helo doesn't even have a radar as they are prohibitively expensive in many cases.
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