Drones and Military Jets

[AClineman]

That would have been so freakin cool to see a jet zip right on past. I doubt a little plastic mavic could do much damage to it unless it got sucked into the engine and the lipo battery exploded. In saying that though, I've heard and seen the F35 and they are LOUD. You'd hear them coming from miles away, plenty of time to bring your drone down to a safe height or land it entirely. I highly doubt the pilot could see your drone, nor would he/she have time to react.

Not so sure about that.
We have a base near us the 177th where our son in law works which regularly send up F16’s
While it’s true they are loud, they are also super fast. By the time you hear them they are already past you. You’re hearing and looking left and they are to the right.

 

[Bigbird48]

I have encountered Air Force jets flying less than 400AGL about 45 miles north of Phoenix many times.running radar evasion runs, in fact this winter one hit a 500KVA powerline and took its wing tip off.forced to land in Phoenix most likely required a change off the pilots briefs I would not want to have been that pilot when he had to explain it to his CO.

F-16 pilot lands safely in Phoenix after striking a cable

yep that happened less then 5 miles from my house, they fly over my house all the time, but usually there more then 500 feet when they fly over then go lower as they go into the Tonto National forest and the mountains

 

[Bigbird48]

That would have been so freakin cool to see a jet zip right on past. I doubt a little plastic mavic could do much damage to it unless it got sucked into the engine and the lipo battery exploded. In saying that though, I've heard and seen the F35 and they are LOUD. You'd hear them coming from miles away, plenty of time to bring your drone down to a safe height or land it entirely. I highly doubt the pilot could see your drone, nor would he/she have time to react.

You don't hear them coming from miles away , their hard to hear on the approach and difficult to tell where their coming from, and when their following a curved pattern thru thro the mountains at 400 mph their past you before you even realize their there. I don't think a drone or a bird is going to break a F-35 windscreen, these are fighter jets for petes sake, their windscreen are pretty thick high grade poly-carbonate and bullet proof, yes if sucked into an engine it could do some damage.

 

[FlyGuy8675309]

Also wonder what the consequences are if he hit my drone, is the Air Force going to cover my loss .

Consequences are is you get to be on the national news as the first military jet to hit a consumer drone in the US.

 

[Bigbird48]

Check this out

 

[Marko9219]

I have F-35s flying directly over my head daily. Scores of them daily. I live under the flight path at Hill AFB, UT and we have them stationed here. I chat with pilots frequently on base, and yes, consumer drones are a concern to them. They are talked about in safety briefings. Oh and yes, they are definitely loud.

 

[Jonny_Pain]

Did that first video of the bird strike... did the pilot stall the plane and then had to eject? It looked like he could have been more nose down for speed

 

[787steve]

If all of that is true... The better question would be, why was a jet flying there?

Most likely answer. Training.

 

[787steve]

Did that first video of the bird strike... did the pilot stall the plane and then had to eject? It looked like he could have been more nose down for speed

Firstly, be aware that most people on this board have little or no knowledge of what happens when an aircraft hits something at high speed, or an engine ingests something at high power. Anyone who says that a Mavic could not bring down a jet is simply uneducated about the facts. Though it might seem to be a sensible statement, it is totally off the mark.

The bird going down the intake caused the engine to fail. Going more nose down would simply have caused the accident to happen a few seconds earlier. Audio sounds like it was a student, as you can hear another voice, perhaps a wingman, or instructor telling him to bring it "around the horn, restart" That is how you start, or restart the engine, by moving the throttle outboard around a detent, which activates igniters, then forward to the normal position. Then "try to get a relight going" (more confirmation that the engine is not producing thrust) followed by a reminder to "fly the plane". Then the pilot says the engine is stopped. At that point, the instructing voice has him get ready to eject. A bird, (or a mavic) going into a jet engine at high power has a very good chance of causing engine failure. It isn't the broken canopy that most often down the airplane, but the loss of an engine in a single engine fighter is pretty much the end of your day.
BTW, I had a friend who impacted a turkey buzzard on a low level and it penetrated the canopy and hit him in the head. Only his helmet, visor, and O2 mask saved him. But he was barely conscious and had to eject which resulted in the loss of the aircraft.
Here is a pic of a helmet I found on line which looked pretty much like his after the accident. All the "red stuff" used to be inside a bird. And believe me, a Mavic has a lot more penetrating capacity than a bird with soft tissue and hollow bones.
If you haven't been in a fighter at power, at speed, at low altitude, the physics are hard to imagine.

Fly safe, other people's lives may depend on it.

 

[Qoncussion]

Most likely answer. Training.

The question was more rhetorical, in response to the drone-police post above it.

 

[blurred55]

Actually, you would not hear it for miles. The reason we fly low and fast is to avoid radar and to be on the people on the ground before they know we are coming. When you are going near Mach, you are running forward with the sound. Check out this video.

Would you have time to lower your drone?

Fly safe

Yup despite all the drone police in here yelling at him, how is OP supposed to yield to something like that?

I guess we should just ban drones all together because there's no possible way to yield to a jet flying that low and know its coming in time

 

[AClineman]

Yup despite all the drone police in here yelling at him, how is OP supposed to yield to something like that?

I guess we should just ban drones all together because there's no possible way to yield to a jet flying that low and know its coming in time

Pretty lame. Who’s yelling at him?

 

[787steve]

The one thing you can do is check the sectional charts. You will see lines marked VR with a number after them. These are approved low level navigation routes where military aircraft operate for low level training. When I was flying them, most had a floor of 200', though there were areas in the desert where there were no floors. We were cleared to the deck. Also check NOTAMS to see if there is a military operation in effect in your intended area of flight. Obviously, except for air shows, most of these ops take place "in the middle of nowhere". Just where most drone operators feel the safest. They are few and far between. Just be smart and check the charts.
And the "drone police" whining is a bit overused here, don't you think?

 

[gnirtS]

I guess we should just ban drones all together because there's no possible way to yield to a jet flying that low and know its coming in time

Or the less over-reactionary method is simply fly where there aren't any or at times you know they arent flying. Its not as if every square inch of the countryside has fast jets at 200ft 24/7 is it.

 

[Viciam]

To be onest it seem like its ur fault because planes always fly around 300ft. u shouldn,t be flying that high it gives rest of us a bad name

 

[gnirtS]

300ft is perfectly legal. For both low flying manned aircraft and drones.
Operating well within the law doesn't exactly give anyone a bad name.

 

[neggy]

when you look at a sectional, and see a VR route, if it has 4 digits, least one segment is going to be below 1500' AGL, if it has 3 digits VR XXX, all of it is going to be above 1500' AGL.

VR routes are aerial corridors across the United States in which military aircraft can operate below 10,000 feet faster than the maximum safe speed of 250 knots that all other aircraft are restricted to while operating below 10,000 feet. The routes are the result of a joint venture between the Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Defense to provide for high-speed, low-altitude military activities.

 

[neggy]

300ft is perfectly legal. For both low flying manned aircraft and drones.

I can tell you as a Part 61 pilot, the FAA takes a very dim view of private planes below 500' as you are supposed to be 500' above any object, except in an emergency or landing/take off.

If you look at a sectional and see areas in yellow, those areas are heavily populated areas where you have to be at least 1000' above any object , so you are 1000'+ to be above buildings, trees, structures, etc

The exception is VR routes

 

[Viciam]

yes but even the concords usd to fly close to 300 hundred ft alot so you have to be careful these days

 

[neggy]

yes but even the concords usd to fly close to 300 hundred ft alot so you have to be careful these days

well a Concorde would not be supersonic at 300' AGL, the number of times they went supersonic over land could be counted on fingers. If the Concorde was at 300', it would be at the end of a runway which is why it is illegal to be within a mile of an airport flying a drone. Even a 107 can not fly inside a mile from a runway in any direction.

And any airport in the USA the Concorde ever flew into was Class B airspace and we all know the rules about Class B airspace