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Drone Fliers being arrested.


Captainbob

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I thought this was interesting, and surprised it took this long to be recognized as a problem. Flying an RC aircraft or Drone, or kite for that matter, within 5 miles of an airport, for instance, is a federal offense. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/11/drones-arrests_n_5575371.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000042

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Knew about the RC planes.. Learned that kites were a no no in San Diego while trying to fly at Coronado beach. The Navy Seals train there, and have an airfield at the end of the island. While I wasn't arrested, I was shut down and warned very quickly. Very.

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I thought this was interesting, and surprised it took this long to be recognized as a problem. Flying an RC aircraft or Drone, or kite for that matter, within 5 miles of an airport, for instance, is a federal offense. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/11/drones-arrests_n_5575371.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000042

It's one of the reason I've sold much of my quadcopter stuff. They are getting way too much bad press. More restrictions are sure to follow. Besides as a pilot I don't need my job threatened because I've done something stupid while using one. I've backed waaaay off on their use. More money for kites! :)

Bill

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I thought this was interesting, and surprised it took this long to be recognized as a problem. Flying an RC aircraft or Drone, or kite for that matter, within 5 miles of an airport, for instance, is a federal offense. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/11/drones-arrests_n_5575371.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000042

It's one of the reason I've sold much of my quadcopter stuff. They are getting way too much bad press. More restrictions are sure to follow. Besides as a pilot I don't need my job threatened because I've done something stupid while using one. I've backed waaaay off on their use. More money for kites! :)

Bill

I flew from Ft Lauderdale to Pahokee back in the 80's, and was going to do a touch and go. I touched down, and started my takeoff roll, and I heard on the unicomm someone announcing that they were landing on a very short closed cross runway in about the middle of the long runway I was taking off on. I couldn't see any aircraft approaching, so I quickly decided to abort my takeoff and set back down and slam on the brakes on the 172 I was flying, figuring that this would get me stopped before I hit the cross runway. Lots of burning rubber smell and skidding of tires and I came to a halt about 50 feet from the short runway, and a RC aircraft with about a 6 foot wingspan flew across the runway I was on and landed on the closed runway. I looked to my right, and there was the idiot holding a RC radio and wearing a headset, flying this aircraft and talking on a radio that he had tuned to Unicomm freq. I taxied over to where he was standing and threatened to pick up his model and beat him over the head with it. If my wife at the time, hadn't been there, I probably would have done it.

Taxied back, and began my takeoff, and of course, now the tires on my Rental 172 are making a thump-thump-thump sound as I took off. Nice flat spots etched into the tires.... :ani_wallbash::ani_wallbash:

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I thought this was interesting, and surprised it took this long to be recognized as a problem. Flying an RC aircraft or Drone, or kite for that matter, within 5 miles of an airport, for instance, is a federal offense. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/11/drones-arrests_n_5575371.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000042

It's one of the reason I've sold much of my quadcopter stuff. They are getting way too much bad press. More restrictions are sure to follow. Besides as a pilot I don't need my job threatened because I've done something stupid while using one. I've backed waaaay off on their use. More money for kites! :)

Bill

I flew from Ft Lauderdale to Pahokee back in the 80's, and was going to do a touch and go. I touched down, and started my takeoff roll, and I heard on the unicomm someone announcing that they were landing on a very short closed cross runway in about the middle of the long runway I was taking off on. I couldn't see any aircraft approaching, so I quickly decided to abort my takeoff and set back down and slam on the brakes on the 172 I was flying, figuring that this would get me stopped before I hit the cross runway. Lots of burning rubber smell and skidding of tires and I came to a halt about 50 feet from the short runway, and a RC aircraft with about a 6 foot wingspan flew across the runway I was on and landed on the closed runway. I looked to my right, and there was the idiot holding a RC radio and wearing a headset, flying this aircraft and talking on a radio that he had tuned to Unicomm freq. I taxied over to where he was standing and threatened to pick up his model and beat him over the head with it. If my wife at the time, hadn't been there, I probably would have done it.

Taxied back, and began my takeoff, and of course, now the tires on my Rental 172 are making a thump-thump-thump sound as I took off. Nice flat spots etched into the tires.... :ani_wallbash::ani_wallbash:

He got off easy. I'm sure that you could have made major trouble for him.

Bill

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I thought this was interesting, and surprised it took this long to be recognized as a problem. Flying an RC aircraft or Drone, or kite for that matter, within 5 miles of an airport, for instance, is a federal offense. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/11/drones-arrests_n_5575371.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000042

It's one of the reason I've sold much of my quadcopter stuff. They are getting way too much bad press. More restrictions are sure to follow. Besides as a pilot I don't need my job threatened because I've done something stupid while using one. I've backed waaaay off on their use. More money for kites! :)

Bill

I flew from Ft Lauderdale to Pahokee back in the 80's, and was going to do a touch and go. I touched down, and started my takeoff roll, and I heard on the unicomm someone announcing that they were landing on a very short closed cross runway in about the middle of the long runway I was taking off on. I couldn't see any aircraft approaching, so I quickly decided to abort my takeoff and set back down and slam on the brakes on the 172 I was flying, figuring that this would get me stopped before I hit the cross runway. Lots of burning rubber smell and skidding of tires and I came to a halt about 50 feet from the short runway, and a RC aircraft with about a 6 foot wingspan flew across the runway I was on and landed on the closed runway. I looked to my right, and there was the idiot holding a RC radio and wearing a headset, flying this aircraft and talking on a radio that he had tuned to Unicomm freq. I taxied over to where he was standing and threatened to pick up his model and beat him over the head with it. If my wife at the time, hadn't been there, I probably would have done it.

Taxied back, and began my takeoff, and of course, now the tires on my Rental 172 are making a thump-thump-thump sound as I took off. Nice flat spots etched into the tires.... :ani_wallbash::ani_wallbash:

He got off easy. I'm sure that you could have made major trouble for him.

Bill

True, but this airport is in the middle of nowhere, and I would have had to stay around for hours to have anything done, so I just chalked it up to experience.

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I can't believe he was flying his RC at an actual airport.. There is a big RC club near me, but they have their own field nowhere near an airport. There is a guy down the block who flies his plane once in a while and we're near a municipal airport, but he keep his planes very low.

As for the guy in the story who didn't know the helicopter was coming, if these drones have a decent range the cops wouldn't have known where to look for him to let him know. It's not their priority to try and track a guy down who is interfering with a crime/accident scene. Prosecute him. I didn't know is not a defense.

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Not only there.

Today I was run off a National Parks service fort location by an armed ranger...after the unarmed ranger didn't like my comment of "ok, the sidewalk is public property right?" ....with no reply. The camera was not even on.Just testing rig performance and kite before a real session.

Kites are ok ...but once you add the camera. It becomes a commercial unmanned aircraft and forbidden from use.

Drones were the cause of this change....

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Not only there.

Today I was run off a National Parks service fort location by an armed ranger...after the unarmed ranger didn't like my comment of "ok, the sidewalk is public property right?" ....with no reply. The camera was not even on.Just testing rig performance and kite before a real session.

Kites are ok ...but once you add the camera. It becomes a commercial unmanned aircraft and forbidden from use.

Drones were the cause of this change....

That makes absolutely no sense at all. I'd like to see that regulation.

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Not only there.

Today I was run off a National Parks service fort location by an armed ranger...after the unarmed ranger didn't like my comment of "ok, the sidewalk is public property right?" ....with no reply. The camera was not even on.Just testing rig performance and kite before a real session.

Kites are ok ...but once you add the camera. It becomes a commercial unmanned aircraft and forbidden from use.

Drones were the cause of this change....

I don't understand. Was he worried you were going to invade after your scouting or something or taking pictures to make a calendar? "US Park Rangers like you've never seen them before!"

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I fly my Kites at Canarsie pier(Brooklyn NY). People there fly so high that they are actually flying over the Belt Parkway. which is very close to JFK airport. I have seen people who routinely let out so much Kevlar Line that they have Mechanical Winders to retrieve their Kites. I have also seen Go Pro's attached to them as well. I am curious if the pier is more or less than 5 Miles from the Airport.- if so... we are in violation of federal Law. I also wonder if ANY flying device Kite, Drone, RC heli and fix wing would show up on the tower radar.

Those 2 guys in the City were not so lucky...... Dummies.... flying a drone and messing with a NYPD helicopter.. just asking to get locked up- and ruin the Hobby for the rest of us.

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Gig, I'm surprised the NYPD still lets people fly there. I have actually seen a kite go down on the Belt and get run over by traffic. I hadn't seen any kites there recently, and figured they had banned kite flying like the spot over by the Verrazano.

NoKitesNYC.jpg

This is one of my favorite 'no kites' pictures.... notice the telltale ribbon tied to it. It was taken further in on the Belt, by the Verrazano.

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Bill,

Thanks for the reply..

I am surprised that people are allowed to fly there as well.... but it is fun... Lots of lazy fliers there though.. let out 200 miles of line and then tie it to an object.. I have to Admit that there are some fliers there who are not lazy.. The last time I went there a kite came down on my truck as I was leaving the parking lot... The line got caught in my roof rack.. was a mess , but I was able to free it and myself.

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<snip>

Those 2 guys in the City were not so lucky...... Dummies.... flying a drone and messing with a NYPD helicopter.. just asking to get locked up- and ruin the Hobby for the rest of us.

If you read the comments, the NYPD copter was chasing the drone, not the other way round. So who is to blame there?

[ my 'aitch" key just died this morning. I have to cut'n'paste every h from somewhere else on the page. Arrgh! ]

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<snip>

Those 2 guys in the City were not so lucky...... Dummies.... flying a drone and messing with a NYPD helicopter.. just asking to get locked up- and ruin the Hobby for the rest of us.

If you read the comments, the NYPD copter was chasing the drone, not the other way round. So who is to blame there?

[ my 'aitch" key just died this morning. I have to cut'n'paste every h from somewhere else on the page. Arrgh! ]

The police were chasing the drone, because the drone flyer was doing something potentially catastrophic to anyone flying in that airspace, not to mention the danger to someone getting hit by the drone.

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<snip>

Those 2 guys in the City were not so lucky...... Dummies.... flying a drone and messing with a NYPD helicopter.. just asking to get locked up- and ruin the Hobby for the rest of us.

If you read the comments, the NYPD copter was chasing the drone, not the other way round. So who is to blame there?

[ my 'aitch" key just died this morning. I have to cut'n'paste every h from somewhere else on the page. Arrgh! ]

The police were chasing the drone, because the drone flyer was doing something potentially catastrophic to anyone flying in that airspace, not to mention the danger to someone getting hit by the drone.

If a drone is dangerous to a helicopter, and a drone is dangerous to people on the ground, then how can the NYPD pilot justify risking the 'copter by bringing it close to a drone while the 'copter is over said crowd? Supposedly he was arrested for flying too close to the copter.

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<snip>

Those 2 guys in the City were not so lucky...... Dummies.... flying a drone and messing with a NYPD helicopter.. just asking to get locked up- and ruin the Hobby for the rest of us.

If you read the comments, the NYPD copter was chasing the drone, not the other way round. So who is to blame there?

[ my 'aitch" key just died this morning. I have to cut'n'paste every h from somewhere else on the page. Arrgh! ]

The police were chasing the drone, because the drone flyer was doing something potentially catastrophic to anyone flying in that airspace, not to mention the danger to someone getting hit by the drone.

If a drone is dangerous to a helicopter, and a drone is dangerous to people on the ground, then how can the NYPD pilot justify risking the 'copter by bringing it close to a drone while the 'copter is over said crowd? Supposedly he was arrested for flying too close to the copter.

I read the report of the arrest, and it is pretty clear to me that the drone was breaking multiple laws, including flying at 2,000 feet in FAA controlled airspace. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/09/nyregion/two-men-arrested-after-drone-flies-near-new-york-police-helicopter.html?_r=0

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