Number of US drones will nearly triple by 2020: FAA

[NAC4EV]

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-drone-forecast-20160325-htmlstory.html

Provided by AFP The number of hobby drones is expected to climb from 1.9 million in 2016 to 4.3 million in 2020, while commercial drones are predicted to soar from 600,000 to 2.7 million

An estimated seven million drones will fly in US skies by 2020, nearly tripling the number expected to be in circulation by the end of the year, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

 

[JulesMaximus]

I'm waiting for one of these fucking things to bring down an airliner.

Honestly, I have no idea why so many people buy these things. They seem to be more of a menace than provide anything useful.

 

[NAC4EV]

Honestly, I have no idea why so many people buy these things.

I have two.
They're cool toys.
I also have RC planes and helicopters.

.

 

[Jeff7]

I'm waiting for one of these fucking things to bring down an airliner.

Honestly, I have no idea why so many people buy these things. They seem to be more of a menace than provide anything useful.

Like skis or snowmobiles or bicycles or model airplanes or Playstations or anything else that is fun and comes with some potential risks.

 

[JulesMaximus]

I have two.
They're cool toys.
I also have RC planes and helicopters.

.

There was a news story recently about a commercial airliner on approach to LAX sighting a drone in its airspace. It came within 200' of the aircraft which was flying at 5,000 ft.

They need heavier restrictions for sure.

Like skis or snowmobiles or bicycles or model airplanes or Playstations or anything else that is fun and comes with some potential risks.

None of those things could bring down a commercial airliner. That amount of risk is just unacceptable.

 

[NAC4EV]

None of those things could bring down a commercial airliner. That amount of risk is just unacceptable.

Bird strikes can, and they have.
My son has a kite.
I have a RC sailboat.
What risk do they represent???

 

[balloonshark]

Anything that flys above peoples heads should be heavily regulated. Anybody that does so should also have to carry some sort of insurance. And don't even get me started on the fact most of these things can be abused by carrying a camera to spy on people.

 

[zinfamous]

Bird strikes can, and they have.
My son has a kite.
I have a RC sailboat.
What risk do they represent???

OK, save for a few falconers here and there, in what way are bird strikes the fault of human idiots, much less in any way controllable by human activity?

That isn't something that we can look at and say: "Hey, here is a threat that we can absolutely prevent 100%"

 

[BoberFett]

OK, save for a few falconers here and there, in what way are bird strikes the fault of human idiots, much less in any way controllable by human activity?

That isn't something that we can look at and say: "Hey, here is a threat that we can absolutely prevent 100%"

Dammit man, what do you think global warming is for? Bird strikes are entirely preventable if we can kill them all off.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Bird strikes can, and they have.
My son has a kite.
I have a RC sailboat.
What risk do they represent???

😵 Is your RC sailboat capable of sailing 5,000' above the ground?

Seriously, you might as well say bananas are yummy, yet nobody is calling for a ban on them!

 

[Paratus]

There was a news story recently about a commercial airliner on approach to LAX sighting a drone in its airspace. It came within 200' of the aircraft which was flying at 5,000 ft.

They need heavier restrictions for sure.



None of those things could bring down a commercial airliner. That amount of risk is just unacceptable.

Didn't you use to ride you're bike to work and get a lot of flak from assholes who thought that bikers were a huge risk? :hmm:

Anything that flys above peoples heads should be heavily regulated. Anybody that does so should also have to carry some sort of insurance. And don't even get me started on the fact most of these things can be abused by carrying a camera to spy on people.

They sound like flying weed eaters. No one is going to sneak up on you and take pictures without you hearing them.


Drones now have to be registered and marked with an FAA number. So if someone does something stupid they can be found. If the drone isn't marked they can be fined if caught.

 

[balloonshark]

They sound like flying weed eaters. No one is going to sneak up on you and take pictures without you hearing them.

Drones now have to be registered and marked with an FAA number. So if someone does something stupid they can be found. If the drone isn't marked they can be fined if caught.

They are loud now but what about in 5 to 10 years?

Aircraft like planes and helicopters are heavily regulated, inspected and operated by trained pilots. This is for the safety of the occupants and those they fly over. Why shouldn't the same apply to drones that fly over or near humans?

 

[BarkingGhostar]

Time to break out the paint guns.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Didn't you use to ride you're bike to work and get a lot of flak from assholes who thought that bikers were a huge risk? :hmm:

Yes, I used ride my bike to work, I did that for a few years. What's your point?

BTW-That was a risk to myself, not to anyone else.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I've been toying with buying one but the restrictions make them hardly worth it. I thought the rules were more lax here in Canada but after reading them and informing myself more it seems they're not. I'm not even sure where I even CAN use it legally. It seems the restrictions are tighter for drones than for real aircraft!

 

[Paratus]

Yes, I used ride my bike to work, I did that for a few years. What's your point?

BTW-That was a risk to myself, not to anyone else.

That risk is not only to you. Other vehicles have to avoid you. For a personal anecdote, a friend of mine in high school had is foot slip off his pedal and crashed into a parked car. Almost knocked himself out. He dented the car and busted the windshield. (He was 220).

Bicyclists can and have killed others.

Drones so far have not, (there was a hobbyist killed by an RC helicopter with metal blades - clipped his neck)

The point is a bike and drone are similar in that they are only really a risk if the operator is being careless or stupid with them. Drone operators now have to pay to register with the FAA. Bikes generally don't require anything.

I support the registration because newbs are doing stupid things due to ignorance. Education and maybe a few publicized busts are all that's really needed. IMHO

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Jules is someone that supports banning anything he doesn't use.

Is there proof that a small drone could bring down a commercial airliner, btw? I know I've seen videos of geese getting sucked into a jet engine without the plane going kaboom.

 

[SSSnail]

Time to break out the paint guns.

Yes, let's make them more colorful so we can see them better.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Jules is someone that supports banning anything he doesn't use.

Is there proof that a small drone could bring down a commercial airliner, btw? I know I've seen videos of geese getting sucked into a jet engine without the plane going kaboom.

I think they should treat each incident as it happens instead of banning everything. It's ridiculous now as soon as something new and fun comes out the government is ready to ban it. They don't like people having fun or doing anything different/new. If that same methodology was used back when the car was invented, they'd have ban cars a long time ago. More people die in car accidents than there are drone related incidents or incidents with any other thing that has been banned.

A drone could maybe take down an aircraft but that would require some serious skill, and someone who actually is trying to take down an aircraft is probably going to use rockets or something. Or lasers. Either way to take down an aircraft with a drone you'd probably need some kind of heat seeking tech, not to mention very good speed. I imagine it would be very hard to control it at that altitude as it would be hard to get a good visual on it's exact position. FPV would probably not work that high up. (not sure what the range is, maybe I'm wrong) If someone tries that, punish that person for attempted murder or something, don't ban the whole hobby or make ridiculous restrictions.

 

[Kelvrick]

I think they should treat each incident as it happens instead of banning everything. It's ridiculous now as soon as something new and fun comes out the government is ready to ban it. They don't like people having fun or doing anything different/new. If that same methodology was used back when the car was invented, they'd have ban cars a long time ago. More people die in car accidents than there are drone related incidents or incidents with any other thing that has been banned.

A drone could maybe take down an aircraft but that would require some serious skill, and someone who actually is trying to take down an aircraft is probably going to use rockets or something. Or lasers. Either way to take down an aircraft with a drone you'd probably need some kind of heat seeking tech, not to mention very good speed. I imagine it would be very hard to control it at that altitude as it would be hard to get a good visual on it's exact position. FPV would probably not work that high up. (not sure what the range is, maybe I'm wrong) If someone tries that, punish that person for attempted murder or something, don't ban the whole hobby or make ridiculous restrictions.

I think it can easily do it by proxy by freaking out the pilot by getting too close.

We ban everything now by pandering to the fears of the the most paranoid who are scared of the worst and dumbest of us. RC helicopters and planes before were just as capable, but the admission ticket took a nice investment of time and money to be able buy, maintain, and train. Now, any idiot with $500 can buy a drone that is capable of going hundreds of feet and self stabilization. Those same idiots also don't think things through by getting close to airports and flight paths.

I agree with allowing more freedom, and also severely punishing the stupid idiots who don't think what they do through.

 

[Charmonium]

I'd be more concerned with high end drones carrying C4 or something similar. You don't need a lot to do some serious damage. From one vet I used to know, a piece of C4 the size of a hershey's nugget can blow your foot off. So if have an entire brick, all you'd need to do is get relatively close to your target. And I'm pretty sure the higher end drones could carry something like that w/ no problem.

There's really no good solution to the problem. Any kind of mandated kill code could probably be circumvented by just replacing an IC. You can't jam every frequency that could be used to control them although building and installing an alternate control system would require a bit more expertise.

I think what will eventually happen is that people will develop hunter drones that either capture or destroy other drones in its patrol area.

 

[Paratus]

I think they should treat each incident as it happens instead of banning everything. It's ridiculous now as soon as something new and fun comes out the government is ready to ban it. They don't like people having fun or doing anything different/new. If that same methodology was used back when the car was invented, they'd have ban cars a long time ago. More people die in car accidents than there are drone related incidents or incidents with any other thing that has been banned.

A drone could maybe take down an aircraft but that would require some serious skill, and someone who actually is trying to take down an aircraft is probably going to use rockets or something. Or lasers. Either way to take down an aircraft with a drone you'd probably need some kind of heat seeking tech, not to mention very good speed. I imagine it would be very hard to control it at that altitude as it would be hard to get a good visual on it's exact position. FPV would probably not work that high up. (not sure what the range is, maybe I'm wrong) If someone tries that, punish that person for attempted murder or something, don't ban the whole hobby or make ridiculous restrictions.

FPV can work over several kilometers.

Here's a custom Phantom 1 setup with an analog SD TV transmitter doing over 2.3KM

http://youtu.be/e4dCvwIjvo0

The video in the upper left is the feed from the transmitter. He overlayed it on the GoPro video.

 

[Jeff7]

...
None of those things could bring down a commercial airliner. That amount of risk is just unacceptable.

Model airplanes have also been around for a very long time. And model rockets.

Jules is someone that supports banning anything he doesn't use.

Is there proof that a small drone could bring down a commercial airliner, btw? I know I've seen videos of geese getting sucked into a jet engine without the plane going kaboom.

It wouldn't surprise me if they could. I'm sure that some of the smaller ones could be ingested without incident, but you also have some that are made with sturdy carbon fiber composite bodies. A few pounds of that would do more damage than several pounds of poultry.

...
Drones now have to be registered and marked with an FAA number. So if someone does something stupid they can be found. If the drone isn't marked they can be fined if caught.

Though they say that the registry is or will be public. So...just put someone else's numbers on what you own?


My main beef right now is with the FPV restriction. I'm only interested in this kind of flying: Low to the ground, and not flying over people, cars, or buildings.

FPV can work over several kilometers.

Here's a custom Phantom 1 setup with an analog SD TV transmitter doing over 2.3KM

http://youtu.be/e4dCvwIjvo0

The video in the upper left is the feed from the transmitter. He overlayed it on the GoPro video.

And the farther away you can get from the radio-absorbing ground, the better your range gets.


(Ew, smoke. I wonder how long it'll be until we see a nuclear-powered cruise ship? 😀)

 

[JulesMaximus]

Jules is someone that supports banning anything he doesn't use.

Is there proof that a small drone could bring down a commercial airliner, btw? I know I've seen videos of geese getting sucked into a jet engine without the plane going kaboom.

What you say is completely true. I use commercial airliners and I couldn't give a fuck about drones or their idiot users.

That said, I didn't say they should be banned but they should be regulated and they definitely should be prohibited around the approach and take off areas of airports.

 

[BarkingGhostar]

Yes, let's make them more colorful so we can see them better.

Back in the early 1980's I use to freeze paint balls and then shoot out headlights at the local Cadillac dealership at night. I would imagine they'd be able to do some damage.

Hmm, now to build an automated device using home made radar.