Still not confirmed that the collision was with a UAV....but the hobby gets more bad press.  And if it's determined the cause wasn't by a UAV, it's unlikely there will be an article to state that.  So, damage to the hobby is done.  I think the only hobby that gets worse press than drones, is the firearm industry.  And there is no Constitutional right to protect your drone possession.  We take one more step towards the end of the hobby.  

Drone strike, maybe

There was a hole torn in the nose cone....if it was a drone, there are probably parts of it lodged in there.......crap.

If it really confirms that it was related to a UAV I just don't get how can people put so much at risk with such actions...

I blame the problem on the camera drone industry. They are just too easy to buy and fly for anyone with no prior flying experience.

The biggest issue is that almost anyone can walk into an electrical retail store and buy a camera drone with no idea what they are really about and no idea of safety when flying them. That is certainly the case in the UK anyway. And to make matters worse, the only thing the shop sales assistants are interested in is making a quick profit and their commission. There is no safety information displayed next to the drones and the sales staff just tell you how wonderful these flying machines are and how easy they are to fly without highlighting anything to do with safety.

So you end up getting idiots with too much spare money to burn just buying one on a whim or getting one as a present for someone else who is just as equally clueless. Some of these numpties then just launch them anywhere they want to without thinking twice about the implications or consequences of doing so.

Not to say that the FPV drone hobby is completely void of any blame, but it's not as easy to just walk into a high street retail store and buy one off the shelf unless you go to a dedicated RC hobby shop, but I would expect those to be more responsible in pointing out the safety aspects to an obvious novice. Of course, you can get RTF kits off Banggood and such but usually someone doing that would likely have done a bit of research first during which they would also stumble across some safety related information whether they intended to or not.

In some ways, having to take some kind of test and/or have a license before you're allowed to fly any type of model might be a good thing for the hobby as a whole. The UK are introducing these next year for any drones/multirotors that are 250 grams or more in weight although it's yet to be seen what those tests will actually consist of.

(15-Dec-2018, 01:40 PM)SnowLeopardFPV Wrote: I blame the problem on the camera drone industry. They are just too easy to buy and fly for anyone with no prior flying experience.

The biggest issue is that almost anyone can walk into an electrical retail store and buy a camera drone with no idea what they are really about and no idea of safety when flying them. That is certainly the case in the UK anyway. And to make matters worse, the only thing the shop sales assistants are interested in is making a quick profit and their commission. There is no safety information displayed next to the drones and the sales staff just tell you how wonderful these flying machines are and how easy they are to fly without highlighting anything to do with safety.

So you end up getting idiots with too much spare money to burn just buying one on a whim or getting one as a present for someone else who is just as equally clueless. Some of these numpties then just launch them anywhere they want to without thinking twice about the implications or consequences of doing so.

Not to say that the FPV drone hobby is completely void of any blame, but it's not as easy to just walk into a high street retail store and buy one off the shelf unless you go to a dedicated RC hobby shop, but I would expect those to be more responsible in pointing out the safety aspects to an obvious novice. Of course, you can get RTF kits off Banggood and such but usually someone doing that would likely have done a bit of research first during which they would also stumble across some safety related information whether they intended to or not.

In some ways, having to take some kind of test and/or have a license before you're allowed to fly any type of model might be a good thing for the hobby as a whole. The UK are introducing these next year for any drones/multirotors that are 250 grams or more in weight although it's yet to be seen what those tests will actually consist of.

I understand your point Snow, but if you have spent anytime on Rotor Riot, you will soon see there are a lot of morons over there flying in a manner that is not only grossly illegal but highly dangerous.  

I personally believe that crowd is worse than the camera drone group as the RR guys do their dangerous activity not out of ignorance but out intentional disregard and recklessness.  And if you call them out  on their crappy behavior you are immediately attacked.  

Las Vegas is a hotbed of reckless behavior that has damaged lots of property, put international planes at risk, and aircraft have been damaged.  Some people have been injured either directly by the quad, or by flying debris when the quad crashes.  The problem is so bad that many of the Hotels and Casinos have installed jamming equipment to stop the morons from building diving right over the heads of patrons.

The mindset is worse from the RR types, but because the camera drones have more mass, they tend to be more of a danger to aircraft than the smaller racing quads.  But the RR people are more dangerous to the hobby in the USA.....

Forcing someone to pay for a license and/or take a test doesn't force compliance or good behavior. Just a money grab with a large side of control. For instance, a drivers license.... Or a HAM radio license. Just because you have the "I paid the fee" paper doesn't mean your actions change.

Fine if you don't comply? Then what, jail if you refuse to pay the fine? Confiscation of you personal property? Seems like an awful lot of trouble to create new laws/restrictions. How about just prosecuting the idiots under current laws?

Deal

Oh Deal-E-O, what use would all of the regulatory body that is receiving billions of dollars be if they did not create new regulations and such? They have to justify their ever increasing budgets some how!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-46623754

(20-Dec-2018, 12:05 AM)kaitylynn Wrote: Oh Deal-E-O, what use would all of the regulatory body that is receiving billions of dollars be if they did not create new regulations and such? They have to justify their ever increasing budgets some how!

Absolutely.

Deal

(20-Dec-2018, 12:13 AM)ZERONEST Wrote: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-46623754

I was just going to post that!
If this is real then I don't know why some people can be this stupid to fly near an airport at all... And it's bloody raining today!! (I live 40 mins drive from that airport)

(20-Dec-2018, 12:40 AM)Oscar Wrote: I was just going to post that!
If this is real then I don't know why some people can be this stupid to fly near an airport at all... And it's bloody raining today!! (I live 40 mins drive from that airport)

Yeah I don't get it, they reported two drones as well? like really..

So the Americans are not on the only ones with morons at the sticks.....

This stuff enrages me.

And I have no idea what the solution is. All of the things I can think of to keep oxygen thieves like this out of the air is exactly the stuff which has already been proposed. Licensing won't work because idiots just won't get a license. Transponders are client-side security. Regulations on purchasing parts is draconian and Banggood will just mark everything up incorrectly. Toy-grade stuff will never support no-fly zoning.

I can't believe it, these drones are STILL flying around Gatwick airport right now, I can't understand how they have not been taken down, I don't understand how we don't have the technology to bring them down in seconds if not minutes??

It makes me wonder if these guys are driving around in a car whilst continually flying as not to be caught?

So confused... seriously bad news they have been doing this for 10 hours now, definitely a deliberate planned act

And with over 12 hours of delays and plane diversions to airports halfway up the country including some to the Netherlands, thousands more holiday makers and members of the public will now hate drones even more than they already did. This kind of retarded behaviour by idiots who clearly only have a single brain cell between them is completely killing the hobby
And how come there was further drone activity going on 6 hours after the initial sighting, and at 3am in the morning !!!  

Sadly I don't think they will find the culprits but if they do they should make an example of them and give them the maximum punishable jail term of 5 years for flying drones illegally within 1km of an airport.