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If a bird strike through an airplane engine can cause major damage to an engine, it's not hard to imagine a drone being able to cause damage. I think there's g

If a bird strike through an airplane engine can cause major damage to an engine, it's not hard to imagine a drone being able to cause damage. I think there's got to be some education about no fly zones near airports. Lots of this seems to be common sense, but anyone with some cash can buy a drone and fly it in improper areas. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird_strike https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird_strike

hooo 11y ago
I agree, the birds really need to be educated about no fly zones.
- mmanfrin 11y ago
  Bird law does not follow reason.
bri3d 11y ago
I think birds are more destructive than drones because they travel in flocks, increasing the potential for a catastrophic complete loss of power during takeoff.
- TeMPOraL 11y ago
  I imagine also that skin and bones are much harder than PCBs and paperthin plastic / styrofoam most drones are made of.
  - yompers888 11y ago
    It would seem that, at airplane speeds, mass would be the primary concern. While the first thing you hit on a drone is its cheap plastic propellers and superstructure, at its core is a dense battery, which can be fairly heavy on the common DJI phantom drones (DJI 3 weighs 1280 g (=45 oz. ) with battery.) For comparison, a common pigeon (is that the bird that gets hit?) weighs ~9-13 oz. Having said that, I don't know if these are the drones that pilots are spotting. They're the most common enthusiast drone (~$500-$1k), though I'm sure they're outnumbered by the junk toy variety.
- proee 11y ago
  Drones can also travel in flocks and carry dangerous payloads.
- gozur88 11y ago
  That's what happened in the incident that ended up with the pilot successfully landing on the Hudson River. He lost both engines going through a flock of geese.
ryanbertrand 11y ago
It would be cool if the drone's software can block the usage close to no fly zones automatically. I'm not sure how many have GPS (I assume the more expensive ones?).
- x5n1 11y ago
  It would be cooler for airports to have their own attack drones and/or guns and lasers to destroy any drones entering its airspace.

hooo 11y ago

I agree, the birds really need to be educated about no fly zones.

mmanfrin 11y ago
Bird law does not follow reason.

bri3d 11y ago

I think birds are more destructive than drones because they travel in flocks, increasing the potential for a catastrophic complete loss of power during takeoff.

TeMPOraL 11y ago
I imagine also that skin and bones are much harder than PCBs and paperthin plastic / styrofoam most drones are made of.
- yompers888 11y ago
  It would seem that, at airplane speeds, mass would be the primary concern. While the first thing you hit on a drone is its cheap plastic propellers and superstructure, at its core is a dense battery, which can be fairly heavy on the common DJI phantom drones (DJI 3 weighs 1280 g (=45 oz. ) with battery.) For comparison, a common pigeon (is that the bird that gets hit?) weighs ~9-13 oz. Having said that, I don't know if these are the drones that pilots are spotting. They're the most common enthusiast drone (~$500-$1k), though I'm sure they're outnumbered by the junk toy variety.
proee 11y ago
Drones can also travel in flocks and carry dangerous payloads.
gozur88 11y ago
That's what happened in the incident that ended up with the pilot successfully landing on the Hudson River. He lost both engines going through a flock of geese.

ryanbertrand 11y ago

It would be cool if the drone's software can block the usage close to no fly zones automatically. I'm not sure how many have GPS (I assume the more expensive ones?).

x5n1 11y ago
It would be cooler for airports to have their own attack drones and/or guns and lasers to destroy any drones entering its airspace.