Could you control a ground launched drone from a helicopter?

[Deleted member 103366]

I was watching a clip of the new Kilauea eruption and it got me to wondering.
I guess the USGS can afford good drones probably with enough signal power to fly ground launched and controlled drones into the caldera but............if they can't or if that is simply not possible. Is there any thing to stop them putting a controller and 'pilot' up in a helicopter and have that pilot fly the drone etc. etc.?

 

[old man mavic]

from a purely technical standpoint i would think you could ,but from a safety standpoint ,probably not a good idea, mixing manned and unmanned aircraft in the same area

 

[Flycaster]

I don't see why not. As long as the UAV pilot IS skilled in the flight of said UAV, and they keep it low, and the real heli is above in safety. It would take some practice and protocols, Knd of like when they drop a man down into the basket to pick up the fellow on the ground/in the water....
Let the UAV take the risk...

 

[jnatt]

Theoretically if you were doing this would it not be safer to have drone pilot it the helicopter and drone launch from the ground? Reducing risk of damage to either.. I remember Mythbusters remote controlling a car from a helicopter so the transmission side must be ok..

 

[Deleted member 103366]

.....afer to have drone pilot it in? the helicopter and drone launch from the ground?

as per my original post?

 

[DavidT_ NZ]

I don't see why not. As long as the UAV pilot IS skilled in the flight of said UAV, and they keep it low, and the real heli is above in safety. It would take some practice and protocols, Knd of like when they drop a man down into the basket to pick up the fellow on the ground/in the water....
Let the UAV take the risk...

Getting the drone back inside the helicopter against the prop wash sounds unlikely ...... ? Maybe take off and land within proximity of the crater and stay back, using the controller at altitude might get some good imagery, without risking the helicopter and crew getting too close. But then the aspect of volcanic heat and fumes would apply, too ..... cooked drone for dinner! ?

 

[Flycaster]

They would take off from the ground, and land on the ground, not actually trying to bring the UAV into the real heli...

 

[jnatt]

as per my original post?

Sorry had read it then went away then came back to answer.. should have reread before posting..

 

[Fort Pierce Pilot]

As I recall, in the US, you cannot operate a drone from within an aircraft. Cars, Boats, bicycles are OK but I believe aircraft are specifically prohibited. That may not apply to a government agency, though. Certainly invokes some interesting scenarios.

 

[Deleted member 103366]

As I recall, in the US, you cannot operate a drone from within an aircraft. Cars, Boats, bicycles are OK but I believe aircraft are specifically prohibited. T

That's an interesting rule.

 

[Tentoes]

I think FAA regulations don't allow you to operate a drone from an aircraft.

 

[BigAl07]

Can you? Of course you can.

Can you legally? In the US - Only if you are able to get the correct waiver (§ 107.25 – Operation from a Moving Vehicle or Aircraft), operating under a Section 333 Exemption, or a Public Use COA. I don't see much of a way you could/would do this as a Recreational Flyer but if you could fit it into that "protective bubble" then you probably could since ~44809 does not specifically address flying from vehicle/aircraft (yet). It would depend upon the CBO rules you are following . . .

Can it be done safely? Of course but would require pilot to pilot coordination and strict safety protocols.

 

[Lets Fly]

Getting the drone back inside the helicopter against the prop wash sounds unlikely ......

Impossible.

 

[passedpawn]

It would seem safer to launch an RF repeater of some sort up above the volcano, then just do everything from the ground. The repeater could be on a second drone of some sort - maybe one of those blimp drones I've seen at ball games. So, no humans in the air at all.

Fantasy, sure. Such a repeater doesn't likely exist.

 

[DavidT_ NZ]

Impossible.

There was some licence in my reply ...... ? ? ? ?

 

[Dogpilot]

I was trying out an idea to fly my drone from my amphibious Cessna Caravan, stationery on the water. It has a large cargo door and substantial cargo area. I tried it out static on the ground at an uncontrolled private airfield. The drone defiantly didn't want to go in the cargo door. It just stopped about 2' away and sat there. IF you put it in sport mode, it would get closer, but start getting all squirrely when it got flush with the frame. So the thought of trying it when bobbing about on the water put that idea to rest.

Flying it from a helicopter, even if you worked out the takeoff and landing part of the drone leads to some problems laymen would not be aware of. The speeds a drone flies at are below what you like to maintain in a helicopter when close to the ground. We have what is called the dead man curve. You either need to be going so fast, or be so high as to recover to autorotate in case of engine failure. So you would likely be too high to see the drone, or wizzing by too fast to control the drone.

 

[Tomk_]

Takeoff or landing inside the helicopter would be problematic, but Apache pilots have been flying drones out of AH-64E's for a few years now.

 

[Dogpilot]

There is a tiny difference. We have very specific rules to follow in flying civilian drones. We have to see it. The military is actually trying to kill people with theirs, which I suppose is frowned upon by the civilian sector. Their drones also have a ton more autonomy than a little Mavic 2 Pro. The Navy is going to be flying their new tanker drones from one of my old aircraft the E2 Hawkeye. Squadrons are standing up with them at Pt Magu as we speak. We would not be able to see it at all, but we do have the radar from hell. That and it is a fairly automated system, even the landings on the boat.

 

[Tomk_]

The question was "Could you control a ground launched drone from a helicopter?"
The answer is unequivocally, yes.

 

[Dogpilot]

Sorry, didn't realize this was law school moot court. Legally, you cannot as a civilian, so the correct answer is also no. Physically, well sure you most likely could, depends on what. Yes if I wanted to control a Fire Scout, we have been doing that for years, before that in the 60's QH-50C DASH to drop torpedoes, that could be controlled from multiple platforms. Heck, we are going to control a drone from a spacecraft on Mars soon, so I suppose that qualifies as well, it is coming off a hovering platform. Get real.