4 ms·

As a current student pilot, I have been doing a whole lot of circling. Hope no one thinks I'm the FBI in a ratty old C172. :) When it comes to military aircraf

As a current student pilot, I have been doing a whole lot of circling. Hope no one thinks I'm the FBI in a ratty old C172. :) When it comes to military aircraft, the situation there is kind of interesting. There's no general exception for the military, military aircraft are generally "required" to transmit ADS-B unless they have a specific reason not to (and I believe this requires authorization from somewhere up the chain of command). I put "required" in scare quotes though as many military aircraft are simply not equipped... the DoD has drug its feet on installing ADS-B out and the FAA has basically relented by setting very lax objectives. FAA requested DoD to have ADS-B installed on 21% of aircraft by the first of this year and I believe they met that goal... but it's still less than a quarter. Over time more and more military aircraft should be appearing in ADS-B data, but I suspect it's going to be some years before it's almost all of them.

repiret 6y ago
> Hope no one thinks I'm the FBI in a ratty old C172 C172 and C182 both make fine planes for running surveillance. They're inexpensive (to buy and operate), reliable, inconspicuous, and have enough space and useful load to tack on specialized equipment. I used to own a 182 that was originally owned by the Washington State Police. While in WSP service, it was modified to have an automotive-style muffler for "stealth" surveillance.
- jcrawfordor 6y ago
  Yeah, I'm largely joking here, as I've seen a C172 in livery of the state police here before, and I don't think it was a new one either. The cops have payments to make too.
- kitteh 6y ago
  206s seems to be the most popular out there. Plenty of room in the back for the surveillance gear and there's a few companies that cater to fitting in all the gear in there (FLIR/TV tracking pod, additional radio gear etc.). The step up are the B1900s that CBP has which have additional sensor capabilities.
  - JoblessWonder 6y ago
    B1900 is a few steps up. They have single engine turboprops (Pilatus PC-12 and Cessna Caravan) and the much more common ex-military King Air (the B1900's smaller ancestor.)
- dpifke 6y ago
  The California Highway Patrol mostly uses—or used, as of 10-ish years ago—206s. I know this because a member of my flying club was a patrolman who was trying to get enough hours in a C206 to switch to aerial patrols. We went on a couple of mountain flying trips to Colorado together. According to him, the state much preferred to take cops and turn them into pilots, than to take pilots and turn them into cops. But anyone who wanted to go that route had to pay for their own flight time. (Commercial rating requires 250 hours, and I think they wanted at least a hundred hours "time in type." I don't think they required an ATP rating, but my recollection about that could be incorrect.)
  - JoblessWonder 6y ago
    Just FYI, they have almost fully upgraded their fleet to GippsAero GA8 Airvan's.
jacobwilliamroy 6y ago
be careful flying around homesteads. My drone's been shot at before, and honestly given how the country's going, I dont blame them.
- GaryNumanVevo 6y ago
  I believe the parent comment is referring to a Cessna trainer plane: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cessna_172 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cessna_172 However, if you have a full-sized drone I would love to buy a kit from you.

repiret 6y ago

> Hope no one thinks I'm the FBI in a ratty old C172 C172 and C182 both make fine planes for running surveillance. They're inexpensive (to buy and operate), reliable, inconspicuous, and have enough space and useful load to tack on specialized equipment. I used to own a 182 that was originally owned by the Washington State Police. While in WSP service, it was modified to have an automotive-style muffler for "stealth" surveillance.

jcrawfordor 6y ago
Yeah, I'm largely joking here, as I've seen a C172 in livery of the state police here before, and I don't think it was a new one either. The cops have payments to make too.
kitteh 6y ago
206s seems to be the most popular out there. Plenty of room in the back for the surveillance gear and there's a few companies that cater to fitting in all the gear in there (FLIR/TV tracking pod, additional radio gear etc.). The step up are the B1900s that CBP has which have additional sensor capabilities.
- JoblessWonder 6y ago
  B1900 is a few steps up. They have single engine turboprops (Pilatus PC-12 and Cessna Caravan) and the much more common ex-military King Air (the B1900's smaller ancestor.)
dpifke 6y ago
The California Highway Patrol mostly uses—or used, as of 10-ish years ago—206s. I know this because a member of my flying club was a patrolman who was trying to get enough hours in a C206 to switch to aerial patrols. We went on a couple of mountain flying trips to Colorado together. According to him, the state much preferred to take cops and turn them into pilots, than to take pilots and turn them into cops. But anyone who wanted to go that route had to pay for their own flight time. (Commercial rating requires 250 hours, and I think they wanted at least a hundred hours "time in type." I don't think they required an ATP rating, but my recollection about that could be incorrect.)
- JoblessWonder 6y ago
  Just FYI, they have almost fully upgraded their fleet to GippsAero GA8 Airvan's.

jacobwilliamroy 6y ago

be careful flying around homesteads. My drone's been shot at before, and honestly given how the country's going, I dont blame them.

GaryNumanVevo 6y ago
I believe the parent comment is referring to a Cessna trainer plane: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cessna_172 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cessna_172 However, if you have a full-sized drone I would love to buy a kit from you.