4 ms·

I think it's good that the FAA is documenting close calls with drones, however the press is a little overblown. This long time pilot views drones less of threat

by tswartz 11y ago

I think it's good that the FAA is documenting close calls with drones, however the press is a little overblown. This long time pilot views drones less of threat then geese or other large birds. That may change if drones get bigger and heavier, but all things point to drones getting smaller. A pilot's view on drones: https://jethead.wordpress.com/2015/08/08/airliners-vs-drones-calm-down/ https://jethead.wordpress.com/2015/08/08/airliners-vs-drones...

tromobne8vb 11y ago
My biggest question is what is a 'close call'? Is it something that a layperson would also agree is a close call? Some of the examples in the article don't sound too scary. "Whizzed underneath aircraft as it approached a runway" leaves a lot of room for interpretation. Other examples in the article do sound more scary, but is that just cherry picking or typical?
- acveilleux 11y ago
  Technically, the FAA defines a "near mid air collision" as an incident where there was a possibility of collisions with a proximity of less then 500 feet. Keep in mind that's an airbus A380 is approx. 240 ft. long, 260 ft. wide and 80 ft. tall. In that context, 500 ft. is actually quite close.
  - Dylan16807 11y ago
    Though in the context of drones being limited to 400 feet of altitude, the whole flight could be considered a near miss with the ground...
    - mannykannot 11y ago
      The way some people fly, it is.
mast 11y ago
I don't see signs of drones getting smaller. It seems to me they will only get bigger and heavier especially if companies like Amazon are going to be using them to deliver products.
- Mindstormy 11y ago
  In reality they will most likely go down both paths. Amazon and others looking to ship goods via drones will want something bigger, while sports enthusiasts will wants something smaller.
- bigiain 11y ago
  I'm an anecdata point for the "my drones are getting smaller" side here: My first couple of quadcopters were 10 and 12 inch prop sized, weighing in around 2 or 3 pounds - all me recent ones are _much_ smaller - 6 and 5 inch props with my "light" one being just under 200g (under half a pound) and the other three in the 1 to 1.5 pound range (depending on battery size and how much gear it's got on board - gps/video adds extra weight) Tiny drones are much more common now as well - I've got a drawer full of Cheerson CX10s which weigh all of 30g or so (about an ounce). I strongly suspect the bulk of the "700,000 drones sold" are made up of devices closer to my CX10s than they are to "washing machine sized" ones capable of getting to 10,000 feet.
dzeanah 11y ago
That's the view of an airliner captain. There are lots of us out there flying planes whose gross weight is well under 3,000 lbs, with a windshield that's made of plastic one eighth of an inch thick. You're not necessarily wrong - I suppose it depends on how you define "overblown." Personally I have no desire to fly into a 12 lb drone at 130 miles per hour when the only thing protecting me is a thin piece of plastic. Or to have my prop destroy said drone while spinning at 2,400 RPM (which will require an engine tear-down, or possibly a 5-figure engine replacement). Or have one hit my horizontal stabilizer. All of these may lead to a crash, which can lead to 1-4 deaths. Which may be inconsequential in the grand scheme of things, but it feels significant to me.
- lutorm 11y ago
  The point made by the airline captain, that birds outnumber drones by a vast number, applies no matter what aircraft you fly, though. Unless you're certain that your canopy will survive a birdstrike fine, it seems that the marginal risk increase is minimal.
  - dzeanah 11y ago
    If drones acted like birds and actively got the hell away from the big, loud, flying thing approaching them then I would agree with your assessment. And it's not my position that this is anything other than a marginal increase in risk; my position is simply that the risks associated with drone strikes can be quite significant.
    - Dylan16807 11y ago
      Still, many things that are both significant and marginal are not worth making a big deal out of.
    - _rob 11y ago
      You might know more as a pilot but I was under the impression that birds don't get out of the way of big loud flying things. I found a source about birds not getting out of the way for cars once the cars are beyond a certain speed, but I couldn't find anything for airplanes. http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/282/1801/20142188 http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/282/1801/2014...

by tswartz 11y ago

tromobne8vb 11y ago

My biggest question is what is a 'close call'? Is it something that a layperson would also agree is a close call? Some of the examples in the article don't sound too scary. "Whizzed underneath aircraft as it approached a runway" leaves a lot of room for interpretation. Other examples in the article do sound more scary, but is that just cherry picking or typical?

acveilleux 11y ago
Technically, the FAA defines a "near mid air collision" as an incident where there was a possibility of collisions with a proximity of less then 500 feet. Keep in mind that's an airbus A380 is approx. 240 ft. long, 260 ft. wide and 80 ft. tall. In that context, 500 ft. is actually quite close.
- Dylan16807 11y ago
  Though in the context of drones being limited to 400 feet of altitude, the whole flight could be considered a near miss with the ground...
  - mannykannot 11y ago
    The way some people fly, it is.

mast 11y ago

I don't see signs of drones getting smaller. It seems to me they will only get bigger and heavier especially if companies like Amazon are going to be using them to deliver products.

Mindstormy 11y ago
In reality they will most likely go down both paths. Amazon and others looking to ship goods via drones will want something bigger, while sports enthusiasts will wants something smaller.
bigiain 11y ago
I'm an anecdata point for the "my drones are getting smaller" side here: My first couple of quadcopters were 10 and 12 inch prop sized, weighing in around 2 or 3 pounds - all me recent ones are _much_ smaller - 6 and 5 inch props with my "light" one being just under 200g (under half a pound) and the other three in the 1 to 1.5 pound range (depending on battery size and how much gear it's got on board - gps/video adds extra weight) Tiny drones are much more common now as well - I've got a drawer full of Cheerson CX10s which weigh all of 30g or so (about an ounce). I strongly suspect the bulk of the "700,000 drones sold" are made up of devices closer to my CX10s than they are to "washing machine sized" ones capable of getting to 10,000 feet.

dzeanah 11y ago

That's the view of an airliner captain. There are lots of us out there flying planes whose gross weight is well under 3,000 lbs, with a windshield that's made of plastic one eighth of an inch thick. You're not necessarily wrong - I suppose it depends on how you define "overblown." Personally I have no desire to fly into a 12 lb drone at 130 miles per hour when the only thing protecting me is a thin piece of plastic. Or to have my prop destroy said drone while spinning at 2,400 RPM (which will require an engine tear-down, or possibly a 5-figure engine replacement). Or have one hit my horizontal stabilizer. All of these may lead to a crash, which can lead to 1-4 deaths. Which may be inconsequential in the grand scheme of things, but it feels significant to me.

lutorm 11y ago
The point made by the airline captain, that birds outnumber drones by a vast number, applies no matter what aircraft you fly, though. Unless you're certain that your canopy will survive a birdstrike fine, it seems that the marginal risk increase is minimal.
- dzeanah 11y ago
  If drones acted like birds and actively got the hell away from the big, loud, flying thing approaching them then I would agree with your assessment. And it's not my position that this is anything other than a marginal increase in risk; my position is simply that the risks associated with drone strikes can be quite significant.
  - Dylan16807 11y ago
    Still, many things that are both significant and marginal are not worth making a big deal out of.
  - _rob 11y ago
    You might know more as a pilot but I was under the impression that birds don't get out of the way of big loud flying things. I found a source about birds not getting out of the way for cars once the cars are beyond a certain speed, but I couldn't find anything for airplanes. http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/282/1801/20142188 http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/282/1801/2014...