Rest assured I don't. Only when on the forum when trying to make a point. When asked by the public I always refer to them as quadcopter.
Fox News at 3:53PM EST just featured a 2+
- Thread starter Channel70Productions
- Start date
I have been thinking of a way for the UAV community to create a more positive outlook on these units especially when it comes to the general public.
I haven been in emergency services my entire adult life. I am military retired and after coming home I served as our Counties Fire/Rescue Chief. In conjunction of firefighting we are also tasked with all emergency rescue operations such as vehicle extrication, ground search and rescue, water rescue and recovery, high angle rope rescue and the list goes on. I currently serve as a Deputy Sheriff and a Paramedic and have since retired after 16 years of service in the fire rescue service.
All regions in the United States have agencies that are tasked with rescue operations and most all have instances of lost/missing children, Alzheimer patients as well as overdue outdoorsmen. These emergencies occur everyday somewhere in the United States and 90% of these emergency operations are conducted by professional volunteers with limited staffing and resources.
I will be personally offering my services and my PV2+ free of charge to assist with rescue operations especially with ground search and rescue missions. Counties like mine that are very rural in geography with vast agriculture and woodlands are hard to search by foot and the use of ATV's, and other vehicles cause extensive damage to many clues and also create an emissions footprint which makes using SAR K9s near pointless because the fumes emitted by these machines prove problematic for the K9s. A PV2+ utilizing the Ground Station software can be programmed to fly very slowly over a specific area and can cover much greater distances than a manned search team can in a shorter amount of time.
No, the PV2+ is not a replacement to highly skilled and trained ground teams but it is a very valuable resource. Most counties can obtain access to a helicopter for search and rescue operations but this can take time and most providing air agencies limit the time they will spend due to fuel costs, manpower and other factors. The presence of the PV2+ on a SAR mission would greatly free up manned resources allowing them to concentrate on other search areas and will allow larger search areas to be covered in a shorter amount of time. Granted areas with larger woodland cover would still require a manned search presence while the PV2+ searches the more open and less confined areas thus freeing up manned resources.
You would be surprised to know that most county rescue agencies are operated by highly trained and skilled professional volunteers and most would be more than grateful to have such a resource available. Most of these agencies survive financially on fundraisers and donations alone with little to no state or federal funding so purchasing one of these units is not feasible when comparing their other needs. I feel if more of us UAV Pilots would approach these agencies and educate them on their abilities, offer our time and services it would make a huge difference in changing the overall public perception.
This will not occur overnight but I think most would rather see a PV2+ credited for saving the life of a lost child or missing Alzheimer patient rather than seeing a national news story where they are criminalizing them. What better way to educate the public while simultaneously making a real difference in someones life and quite possibly saving a life. I can personally tell you, there is no better feeling in the world.
I haven been in emergency services my entire adult life. I am military retired and after coming home I served as our Counties Fire/Rescue Chief. In conjunction of firefighting we are also tasked with all emergency rescue operations such as vehicle extrication, ground search and rescue, water rescue and recovery, high angle rope rescue and the list goes on. I currently serve as a Deputy Sheriff and a Paramedic and have since retired after 16 years of service in the fire rescue service.
All regions in the United States have agencies that are tasked with rescue operations and most all have instances of lost/missing children, Alzheimer patients as well as overdue outdoorsmen. These emergencies occur everyday somewhere in the United States and 90% of these emergency operations are conducted by professional volunteers with limited staffing and resources.
I will be personally offering my services and my PV2+ free of charge to assist with rescue operations especially with ground search and rescue missions. Counties like mine that are very rural in geography with vast agriculture and woodlands are hard to search by foot and the use of ATV's, and other vehicles cause extensive damage to many clues and also create an emissions footprint which makes using SAR K9s near pointless because the fumes emitted by these machines prove problematic for the K9s. A PV2+ utilizing the Ground Station software can be programmed to fly very slowly over a specific area and can cover much greater distances than a manned search team can in a shorter amount of time.
No, the PV2+ is not a replacement to highly skilled and trained ground teams but it is a very valuable resource. Most counties can obtain access to a helicopter for search and rescue operations but this can take time and most providing air agencies limit the time they will spend due to fuel costs, manpower and other factors. The presence of the PV2+ on a SAR mission would greatly free up manned resources allowing them to concentrate on other search areas and will allow larger search areas to be covered in a shorter amount of time. Granted areas with larger woodland cover would still require a manned search presence while the PV2+ searches the more open and less confined areas thus freeing up manned resources.
You would be surprised to know that most county rescue agencies are operated by highly trained and skilled professional volunteers and most would be more than grateful to have such a resource available. Most of these agencies survive financially on fundraisers and donations alone with little to no state or federal funding so purchasing one of these units is not feasible when comparing their other needs. I feel if more of us UAV Pilots would approach these agencies and educate them on their abilities, offer our time and services it would make a huge difference in changing the overall public perception.
This will not occur overnight but I think most would rather see a PV2+ credited for saving the life of a lost child or missing Alzheimer patient rather than seeing a national news story where they are criminalizing them. What better way to educate the public while simultaneously making a real difference in someones life and quite possibly saving a life. I can personally tell you, there is no better feeling in the world.
The FAA does not apparently have teeth in the "no commercial flight" rules, but if the Phantom operators took the Phantom outside of Class G airspace (Class G ceiling anywhere near NYC is 700 AGL), then the FAA DOES have teeth there.dezunka said:
e.g. fly over 700AGL in a place where the class G ceiling is 700 AGL and the FAA CAN nail you. - http://skyvector.com/ (Class G ceiling is 1200AGL in some areas, but not anywhere near NYC.)
Details are still scarce here - in some cases it's implied the Phantom flying fairly predictably and that the helo approached IT, in other cases it's implied the Phantom operators flew towards the helo. There's also the claims from the operators themselves that they have taken the aircraft up to 2000+ feet, which is just plain reckless and clearly well outside of the Class G airspace limits.
I like srandall25's supposition the best. Most cops are good guys in my opinion (in fact I have a bunch of 'em as friends), but they are still human... and curious. And the report I heard was that the Police chopper had to deviate from its planned flight path to avoid the quad. Who knows how the entire story will play out. I hope they follow it in the court system.
I'm not really sure the best way to say this without coming across as being a bit of a jerk, but were I on the jury trying the case there would be no chance of a guilty verdict on anything here. No life was endangered, and nobody was hurt. This whole thing is really more of a "nothing to see here, folks; move on" type of incident, and the police over-reaction is typical of big-city police mentality.
- Joined
- Jan 24, 2014
- Messages
- 1,220
- Reaction score
- 196
Live it up while it lasts. Here is the latest headline...
NYPD: Terrorists looking at drone attacks...
http://www.myfoxny.com/story/25971336/drones
NYPD: Terrorists looking at drone attacks...
http://www.myfoxny.com/story/25971336/drones
Whats funnny is the media/others thinking that Phantoms are somehow the beginning of RC flight. A quick search on Youtube shows decades of RC flight, including helicopters and jet engined planes that are actually armed with rockets and missiles that actually FIRE. Planes and heli's that weight in some cases at least ten times MORE than a Phantom.
But somehow the threat just started with DJI and the Phantom.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUHB2NoZBfo[/youtube]
But somehow the threat just started with DJI and the Phantom.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUHB2NoZBfo[/youtube]
gfredrone said:
This is so ludicrous when it comes to small quads like the Phantom.
What is the payload of a Phantom? Perhaps a pound or two tops?
Hmmm...gonna make a really big blast with that.
Wonder when the "Terrorists Looking at Car & Truck Bomb Attacks" expose' comes out?
Drive 'em while ya can, folks! :roll:
Entropy512 said:
The question is really how high were they and exactly where were they located. As a professional pilot, I fly into the New York area airspace quite often and it is some of the busiest airspace in the world. If they were in Manhattan or under the class B airspace (which goes to the surface in some areas) then flying anything above the building tops would cause problems. There is a vast difference in us flying our quads in open air space in quite communities and someone flying them in New York City.
I have mentioned this before, but the last thing I want to see on final into a busy airport is a remote-controlled aircraft. The day an aircraft hits one - we will all be shut down.
At the end of the day, it's about the fines. It will get pled down. Law enforcement is the largest revenue generating entity in the US. As a matter of fact, it's their job. I am a PI so I work with law enforcement quite often. Most of us laugh and joke about the sad truth of it.
Hearing how the media reports this without having all the facts is really frustrating to hear. i.e. nearly collided, forced the helo to change it's course?? I seriously doubt there was a near collision... and i keep hearing 800' and now 2000'... which is it? If the helo had to change its course, why did it then choose to 'follow' the drone? I almost have no doubt this is a clear case of exaggeration. The media is notorious for blowing these things up.. Their job is to create a story. My mom is a retired cop of 23 years and father retired state trooper, so i have nothing against law enforcement but I'm also a realist in this. There is much greater danger in us driving our vehicles on the road every day than what I'm seeing reported.
srandall25 said:
Law enforcement looks for violations that will raise revenue. Bigger violations result in larger fines. Just sit it on municipal court one day and observe.
Well - I would not want to endanger my Wantons - I love Chinese food - and copters.
Just a few idiots that manage to ruin it for the rest of us.
Just a few idiots that manage to ruin it for the rest of us.
Key unanswered/unclear facts
Key facts:
- how high was the Phantom??
- how close was the police helicopter?
- who approached who (i.e., did the phantom fly towards the police helicopter, or was the phantom stationary and the heli flew toward it?)
And, great comments from the pilot who flys in this airspace, interesting.
Key facts:
- how high was the Phantom??
- how close was the police helicopter?
- who approached who (i.e., did the phantom fly towards the police helicopter, or was the phantom stationary and the heli flew toward it?)
And, great comments from the pilot who flys in this airspace, interesting.
The FAA was shut down by NTSB and a Superior Court Judge several weeks ago. The ruling was that the FAA has no jurisdictional authority to regulate RC Aircraft. They can regulate the 400' limits. But they cannot us what we can do with them and what we cant. That requires a law and that takes legislation. They just can't wake up one day and make those decisions and they learned that the hard way.
I'm not sure where you see the involvement of a "Superior Court," which is a state court. Huerta v. Pirker, Docket CP-217, was decided on March 6, 2014, in front of an administrative judge of the NTSB. It is now being appealed to the full Board. The FAA (Huerta) filed an appeal brief on April 14, 2014, and Pirker filed a reply brief on May 12, 2014. Several amicus curiae briefs have been filed in favor of Pirker, including one by Angel Eyes UAV and one under a conglomerate of interested parties simply called News Media. Siding with Huerta are Former FAA Officials and the National Agricultural Aviation Association. I assume the latter are crop dusters.kymedic121 said:
Even though the administrative judge found that the FAA hadn't gone through the proper rulemaking process to regulate our UAVs, the FAA is desperately trying to assert their authority, and along those lines, Huerta published in the Federal Register the FAA's Interpretation of the Special Rule for Model Aircraft on June 18, 2014, offering their interpretation of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012. See Pub.L. 112-95, Sec. 336.
That should provide everyone with plenty of reading materials.
NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN THE NYC BRIDGE CASE
it seems the police helicopter approached the Phantom ... not the other way around
They never had to use evasive maneuvers
And they have tower transmission recordings
http://motherboard.vice.com/read/police-recording-confirms-nypd-flew-at-a-drone-never-feared-crash
And witness statements
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmBrkGlp-Zc
it seems the police helicopter approached the Phantom ... not the other way around
They never had to use evasive maneuvers
And they have tower transmission recordings
http://motherboard.vice.com/read/police-recording-confirms-nypd-flew-at-a-drone-never-feared-crash
And witness statements
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmBrkGlp-Zc
DBS said:
Translation: "This really p*sses us off, and we're going to grab these guys. We just need to think up some crime to charge them with."
