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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
by 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 agoThe 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 agoIf 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 agoStill, many things that are both significant and marginal are not worth making a big deal out of.
- _rob 11y agoYou 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...
- Someone1234 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. As you yourself said you're flying ground relative speed of 130 MpH, there's no way in heck a bird can get out the way. They won't even see you until you're right on top of them approaching at that speed. It is extremely wishful thinking to believe that bird strikes don't have more often because birds avoid them.
- SpacemanSpiff 11y agoThis is simply not true in my experience. I have personally seen birds perform significant aerial maneuvers to avoid collision with my aircraft, going very close to 130MPH. By the time I see the bird it is often in a very steep dive, the bird saw my plane long before I saw the bird.
- lutorm 11y agoI'm surprised, not that they do something to avoid airplanes, but that it makes the situation better. Maybe birds are better at this than animals on roads, who often make the situation worse with their actions?
- tmm 11y agoI think birds might just be better adapted to making highspeed course corrections than deer, squirrels, etc. Plus, they have the advantage of another dimension (and gravity) to use for getting out of the way. Consider also that if a deer is spooked and freezes on the highway, you hit it. If a bird is spooked and freezes in mid-air, it falls to the ground.
- SpacemanSpiff 11y agoI totally agree. It seems birds are not dumb enough to do this: https://youtu.be/F4ml61jI5ow?t=207 https://youtu.be/F4ml61jI5ow?t=207 (at 3:42)
- 11y ago