4 ms·

That you think a few pounds of low speed balsa wood and a high explosive guided missile are equally dangerous to an aircraft exemplifies the problem.

by ynniv 12y ago

balls187 12y ago
How about I throw a few pounds of low-speed balsa wood into your car windshield at 75 mph/120kmph and see what happens? Now imagine what happens if you can get a car up to airline speeds. Your ignorance of the dangers of high speed collisions exemplifies exactly why this is alarming. Also, I recommend familiarizing yourself with Airline and Foreign Object Damage before continuing further.
- ynniv 12y ago
  It's fine that you are worried about high speed collisions. Bird strikes are a serious problem, especially for small craft, and there's no reason to allow the public to increase the frequency of them. However, you compared them directly to guided, high explosive ordinance that are intentionally, reliably fatal for any sized aircraft. This is not a valid comparison, and is the core problem with the term "drone". I have had a few pounds of wood hit my windshield at high speed, and while it really scared me it had no long term impact on me or my car. I would not fair so well against a Hellfire missile. Edit: Impact of 2lb at 75mph ~= 1 Kj. Detonation of a Hellfire missile (9kg of TNT equiv) is 37.66 Mj. That's a four orders of magnitude difference, not taking into account the suitability for inflicting damage.
- baddox 12y ago
  > How about I throw a few pounds of low-speed balsa wood into your car windshield at 75 mph/120kmph and see what happens? I'll take that over a missile any day.
artmageddon 12y ago
I would counter that your ignorance exemplifies the problem. We already have hordes of idiots who shine laser beams into the flight decks of moving airplanes, blinding the pilots and causing major issues for flight operations. Living, breathing birds, which only weigh a few pounds, can take down single-engine airplanes as well as large jets, much like the one that landed in the Hudson River just outside of NYC a few years ago. You can bet a plane such as the one you describe would have disastrous effects, too.

That you think a few pounds of low speed balsa wood and a high explosive guided missile are equally dangerous to an aircraft exemplifies the problem.

by ynniv 12y ago

That you think a few pounds of low speed balsa wood and a high explosive guided missile are equally dangerous to an aircraft exemplifies the problem.

balls187 12y ago

How about I throw a few pounds of low-speed balsa wood into your car windshield at 75 mph/120kmph and see what happens? Now imagine what happens if you can get a car up to airline speeds. Your ignorance of the dangers of high speed collisions exemplifies exactly why this is alarming. Also, I recommend familiarizing yourself with Airline and Foreign Object Damage before continuing further.

ynniv 12y ago
It's fine that you are worried about high speed collisions. Bird strikes are a serious problem, especially for small craft, and there's no reason to allow the public to increase the frequency of them. However, you compared them directly to guided, high explosive ordinance that are intentionally, reliably fatal for any sized aircraft. This is not a valid comparison, and is the core problem with the term "drone". I have had a few pounds of wood hit my windshield at high speed, and while it really scared me it had no long term impact on me or my car. I would not fair so well against a Hellfire missile. Edit: Impact of 2lb at 75mph ~= 1 Kj. Detonation of a Hellfire missile (9kg of TNT equiv) is 37.66 Mj. That's a four orders of magnitude difference, not taking into account the suitability for inflicting damage.
baddox 12y ago
> How about I throw a few pounds of low-speed balsa wood into your car windshield at 75 mph/120kmph and see what happens? I'll take that over a missile any day.

artmageddon 12y ago

I would counter that your ignorance exemplifies the problem. We already have hordes of idiots who shine laser beams into the flight decks of moving airplanes, blinding the pilots and causing major issues for flight operations. Living, breathing birds, which only weigh a few pounds, can take down single-engine airplanes as well as large jets, much like the one that landed in the Hudson River just outside of NYC a few years ago. You can bet a plane such as the one you describe would have disastrous effects, too.