[aquila]

Originally Posted by bcsaltchucker

umm you realize this 'stabilized unmanned aerial weapon platform' is at least a 35 year old reality? Governments and lots of private companies have had these for a long time.

But there are other probably worse ways to use a small quad copter - like carrying a grenade. though the military hasn't seen it to be practical (yet). Kind of like you can make a machine in the US or Canada, but it surely is illegal to do so.

for sure the secret service and FAA needs a way to ensure these things can't fly in no fly zones. So make them such that they cannot run without GPS in place and locked, and with firmware loaded with all the no fly zone data. So that would mean they could not fly indoors though.

I realize that the technology has been available for decades. But until very recently it was not easily attainable by the average person cost wise nor feasible to pilot one with no experience. Now they are inexpensive and available at your local toy store for just a couple hundred bucks. No longer are they the multiple thousand dollar pieces of specialized equipment that they used to be.
You mention other worse ways to use them which is my whole point of this thread. It shows clearly the potential for these to be used accurately and from a remote location. Between this and the recent close calls between FPV models and full scale aircraft it is easy to see the potential for disaster more than ever.

[stegl]

Totally agree with Jeremy.... The potential is there and so is the government there to start regulating our hobby rather than we regulating it ourselves through MAAC . The old proverb " if you won't regulate it yourselves we will do it for you " holds very true and that is the point Jeremy is trying to make.

[scochrane]

Saw a video of a helicopter with a hand gun underneath, that was scarey for its potential. Fortunately the guy only shot at targets in the woods but imagine it on a crowded street.

[aquila]

Problem with these videos is that the location, weapon etc has little to no relevance when it's showing the potential capable with these models. Those with the most concern will watch a video of a quadcopter in a field with fireworks and realize it could be a city street with high explosives. Could be any number of things.

This is where MAAC and AMA are so crucial and it's so important to follow their rules and guidelines. When the line in the sand is drawn our safety record and voice with those organizations will be all we have to try to keep our hobby safe and accessible to all of us.

[bcsaltchucker]

Originally Posted by scochrane

Saw a video of a helicopter with a hand gun underneath, that was scarey for its potential. Fortunately the guy only shot at targets in the woods but imagine it on a crowded street.

once again, I think you refer to the fake Russian video? which was all CGI?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lID1VGQ9Da0

[cosmith]

IMHO the biggest problem here is that people film this stuff and then distribute it on the internet...which leads to other people seeing it and getting bent out of shape, which could then lead to legislation that hurts our hobby. People have been doing stupid stuff like this for ever, but the uber responsible people of the world never knew about it before Youtube.

I think FPV is the area of our hobby that is at greatest risk, and for good reason I believe. FPV is something I don't particularly like, but I do recognize that there are applications for it and some people enjoy it responsibly. I don't think we should be allowed to fly outside line of sight and I don't like the privacy issues that come with this equipment being so mainstream. I'm sorry if FPV is your thing, but I don't like it...it's too easy for the pervert down the street to get a hold of one these very easy to operate FPV quads to look in your daughter's bedroom window.

As far as the actual act in the video goes, I'm not so old that I forget the really stupid things I did when I was a teenager. In the video, nobody else is around and there aren't any structures to catch fire, etc. The greatest risk is to their own safety...and when I was that age nobody wore a helmet when doing these types of things. Is this something I would do or would approve of my children doing? Absolutely not! However, I think it really is an evolution of some of the stupid things all of us did in our younger years.

All that said, I am a MAAC member, I limit my park flying to Twisted Hobbies 32" EPP planes and smaller (never within range of other park users), and I do everything in my power to ensure my planes are safe to fly and don't irritate other folks. I certainly don't want to be the guy that draws negative attention to the hobby, and I hope that the "bad" FPV'ers that are filming and distributing their exploits aren't the cause for blanket legislation...hopefully this is where MAAC would help us out.

[davidmc36]

Originally Posted by cosmith

....it's too easy for the pervert down the street to get a hold of one these very easy to operate FPV quads to look in your daughter's bedroom window....

I'm sure there are many times more perverts taking a much lower risk, easier to accomplish approach, like binoculars from a distance, than strapping on FPV gear to get their jollies.

[bcsaltchucker]

there is this scare-mongering whining about 'drones and perverts.' Millions of them sold, no evidence of them being used for such sexually harrassing purposes to date. Mainly because they are not capable of it anywhere near as well as other means of surveillance. red herring and truly folks you need to give your head a shake if you think amateur drones are being used to invade privacy. They most certainly are not so far. Never seen any videos like that and the handful of cases of complaints turned out to be completely incorrect.

but there are other misuses of these aircraft, like the kids shooting fireworks at each other, or flying over downtown, near airports and national parks, or too close to people. This is the real worry manifest so far.

we need more FPVers video their flights and posting them. The ones that demonstrate responsible acceptabnle use. like mine, I hope

[cosmith]

Pervert is one example...regardless of whether or not people are getting caught do you really believe that nobody is looking at something they shouldn't be with these?

What better way is there to look at something that isn't in line of sight for a few hundred bucks?

Edit: google search for drone pervert
Or better yet: google search for "drone peeping tom"

[davidmc36]

Originally Posted by cosmith

Pervert is one example...regardless of whether or not people are getting caught do you really believe that nobody is looking at something they shouldn't be with these?

What better way is there to look at something that isn't in line of sight for a few hundred bucks?

Edit: google search for drone pervert
Or better yet: google search for "drone peeping tom"

You're kidding, right?

Ebaum staged video and the well known case of the chick going nuts cause the guy was flying on a public beach where she was dressed however she was dressed out in public where anybody could just walk down the beach and see whatever there was to see without using any sort of device other than their own eyes.

Doesn't pass the sniff test dude.