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I was walking down Hollywood Blvd one day when they suddenly shut the street down for about 5 minutes to do a fly-by RC helicopter shot. This was a few years b

I was walking down Hollywood Blvd one day when they suddenly shut the street down for about 5 minutes to do a fly-by RC helicopter shot. This was a few years before lightweight drones and cameras were on the market and this helicopter reminded me of a flying lawnmower! As it whizzed by me and thousands of other people, I was pretty sure it could easily have taken off a limb. I have a fairly cheap drone with a built-in camera and, no doubt, it could cause a scratch or bruise if it hit you at full speed, but luckily it's nothing like they used to be.

relet 11y ago
That is until your cheap drone hits a paraglider, or other light vehicle that is actually allowed to operate in this air space. In most legislations I am aware of, RC flight requires an operator to be in control of the drone.
- dzhiurgis 11y ago
  I would love Mythbusters to throw the biggest drone you can get into a jet engine. Pretty sure nothing, but some good entertainment would happen.
  - gridspy 11y ago
    I'm fairly confident it would destroy the jet engine. The shrapnel from the drone is likely to blow the very tight tolerances between the compressor blades and the body of the jet engine, causing jams.
    - dzhiurgis 11y ago
      Yet somehow it survives ice.
      - medecau 11y ago
        Drones are not made of ice.
        dzhiurgis 11y ago
        Ice happens to hit the engines though.
  - kefs 11y ago
    http://www.uasamericafund.com/assets/micro-uav-safety-analysis.pdf http://www.uasamericafund.com/assets/micro-uav-safety-analys...
  - btgeekboy 11y ago
    No need. A Canada Goose[1] can take out an engine; a flock can take out an airliner.[2] There are many drones larger than the geese, so I would expect this to be a distinct possibility. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_goose http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_goose [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Airways_Flight_1549 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Airways_Flight_1549
    - dzhiurgis 11y ago
      > usually weighs 2.6–6.5 kg Flock of drones is unrealistic too.
- hueving 11y ago
  >That is until your cheap drone hits a paraglider, or other light vehicle that is actually allowed to operate in this air space. Why is the paraglider flying under the drone 50ft off the ground?
  - relet 11y ago
    Because he was soaring on a hillside while you were riding your mountain bike down the trail.
dba7dba 11y ago
I believe NYT carried an article last year about an RC chopper flyer who got beheaded by his own chopper's main rotor. It happened in the Central Park. It was a large RC Chopper and something went wrong and he ended up get killed. He apparently liked to do some dangerous stunts apparently... However I would think these drones' propellers are shorter thus less dangerous? Any ideas?
- icebraining 11y ago
  Not beheaded, though the blows did kill him, sadly. But yes, the huge blades [1] compared to the small and softer wings of a quadcopter make a big difference. [1] http://i.ytimg.com/vi/bA3wp9h3abI/maxresdefault.jpg http://i.ytimg.com/vi/bA3wp9h3abI/maxresdefault.jpg (same model that killed him)
- soylentcola 11y ago
  These little quads use much smaller propellers and they run on smallish batteries. I've got a cheap quad and it's so light you can chuck it at someone as hard as you can and would only hurt them if it hit them in the eye. When I'm flying it anywhere that has even a chance of other people being around, I use the prop guards on it (at the expense of weight/flight time) so nobody would get smacked by a spinning rotor if it somehow ended up near them. For the most part, these little ones can probably hurt you as much as being hit with a rogue frisbee in the park. No decapitations. The bigger ones (Phantoms and the like) are more autonomous and better at avoiding crashes. Still, it's always a possibility and if you think you have any business flying one, you will know not to do so in a manner that makes it likely to hit anyone. I think of it like riding a bike or a motorcycle. When you ride a bike you are supposed to stay on the road but a lot of people (especially kids with smaller bikes) will sometimes ride on the sidewalk or through the park anyway. This isn't usually a big deal because they won't do any major damage in the unlikely event of a crash. But an adult on a large bike or a motorbike will get a ticket for riding on the sidewalk because you can do a lot more damage and you're probably moving a lot faster. As an adult on a big bicycle or motorcycle, you're obligated to only ride it in such a way that you don't put people at unnecessary risk. I think of the little toy quads as the equivalent of kids' bikes and the Phantoms and larger video-centric copters like motorcycles. Sure, fly the toy in the house or in the park but if you're carrying cameras and gimbals and big battery packs and larger rotors, you really need to plan your shoots and locations to avoid the greater risk (IMO). It's a fair tradeoff for a fun hobby.
branchan 11y ago
They still make those same gas-powered RC copters. The ones you have are designed to be slower, low powered electrics.

relet 11y ago

That is until your cheap drone hits a paraglider, or other light vehicle that is actually allowed to operate in this air space. In most legislations I am aware of, RC flight requires an operator to be in control of the drone.

dzhiurgis 11y ago
I would love Mythbusters to throw the biggest drone you can get into a jet engine. Pretty sure nothing, but some good entertainment would happen.
- gridspy 11y ago
  I'm fairly confident it would destroy the jet engine. The shrapnel from the drone is likely to blow the very tight tolerances between the compressor blades and the body of the jet engine, causing jams.
  - dzhiurgis 11y ago
    Yet somehow it survives ice.
    - medecau 11y ago
      Drones are not made of ice.
      - dzhiurgis 11y ago
        Ice happens to hit the engines though.
- kefs 11y ago
  http://www.uasamericafund.com/assets/micro-uav-safety-analysis.pdf http://www.uasamericafund.com/assets/micro-uav-safety-analys...
- btgeekboy 11y ago
  No need. A Canada Goose[1] can take out an engine; a flock can take out an airliner.[2] There are many drones larger than the geese, so I would expect this to be a distinct possibility. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_goose http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_goose [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Airways_Flight_1549 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Airways_Flight_1549
  - dzhiurgis 11y ago
    > usually weighs 2.6–6.5 kg Flock of drones is unrealistic too.
hueving 11y ago
>That is until your cheap drone hits a paraglider, or other light vehicle that is actually allowed to operate in this air space. Why is the paraglider flying under the drone 50ft off the ground?
- relet 11y ago
  Because he was soaring on a hillside while you were riding your mountain bike down the trail.

dba7dba 11y ago

I believe NYT carried an article last year about an RC chopper flyer who got beheaded by his own chopper's main rotor. It happened in the Central Park. It was a large RC Chopper and something went wrong and he ended up get killed. He apparently liked to do some dangerous stunts apparently... However I would think these drones' propellers are shorter thus less dangerous? Any ideas?

icebraining 11y ago
Not beheaded, though the blows did kill him, sadly. But yes, the huge blades [1] compared to the small and softer wings of a quadcopter make a big difference. [1] http://i.ytimg.com/vi/bA3wp9h3abI/maxresdefault.jpg http://i.ytimg.com/vi/bA3wp9h3abI/maxresdefault.jpg (same model that killed him)
soylentcola 11y ago
These little quads use much smaller propellers and they run on smallish batteries. I've got a cheap quad and it's so light you can chuck it at someone as hard as you can and would only hurt them if it hit them in the eye. When I'm flying it anywhere that has even a chance of other people being around, I use the prop guards on it (at the expense of weight/flight time) so nobody would get smacked by a spinning rotor if it somehow ended up near them. For the most part, these little ones can probably hurt you as much as being hit with a rogue frisbee in the park. No decapitations. The bigger ones (Phantoms and the like) are more autonomous and better at avoiding crashes. Still, it's always a possibility and if you think you have any business flying one, you will know not to do so in a manner that makes it likely to hit anyone. I think of it like riding a bike or a motorcycle. When you ride a bike you are supposed to stay on the road but a lot of people (especially kids with smaller bikes) will sometimes ride on the sidewalk or through the park anyway. This isn't usually a big deal because they won't do any major damage in the unlikely event of a crash. But an adult on a large bike or a motorbike will get a ticket for riding on the sidewalk because you can do a lot more damage and you're probably moving a lot faster. As an adult on a big bicycle or motorcycle, you're obligated to only ride it in such a way that you don't put people at unnecessary risk. I think of the little toy quads as the equivalent of kids' bikes and the Phantoms and larger video-centric copters like motorcycles. Sure, fly the toy in the house or in the park but if you're carrying cameras and gimbals and big battery packs and larger rotors, you really need to plan your shoots and locations to avoid the greater risk (IMO). It's a fair tradeoff for a fun hobby.

branchan 11y ago

They still make those same gas-powered RC copters. The ones you have are designed to be slower, low powered electrics.