EssexBOF Posted February 14, 2020 Share Posted February 14, 2020 Interesting flight radar of a registered drone out of Lydd, suspected use by Coast Guard https://www.wired.co.uk/article/uk-drones-migrants-english-channel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon_t Posted February 14, 2020 Share Posted February 14, 2020 http://uas.tekever.com/ar5/ Simon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jef Ott Posted February 15, 2020 Share Posted February 15, 2020 I know it's irrational, but I must admit, I do find that quite scary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon_t Posted February 15, 2020 Share Posted February 15, 2020 1 hour ago, Jef Ott said: I know it's irrational, but I must admit, I do find that quite scary. Why? These are not autonomous operations - they are flown over a radio link, just like ours, but with longer range. The pilot, although based on the ground, is talking to air traffic just like any other pilot, and ATC would not even know (or need to know) it was remote if they had not been told. These sorts of operations have been going on in Switzerland (and other countries) for many years. RuAG have been flying large drones (light aircraft size) with no special rules, slotted into all the other GA traffic. What you might find scary is when true autonomous operations start. (Or lots of GA aircraft flying around with single pilots, who could have a heart attack without warning...). TBH I find biking on the roads scary Simon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oipigface Posted February 15, 2020 Share Posted February 15, 2020 I think Simon it is the idea that the Big Brother who used to stand on the White Cliffs of Dover with a pair of binoculars can now fly a few metres overhead and record what he sees with an HD camera. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon_t Posted February 15, 2020 Share Posted February 15, 2020 They have been flying patrols over the channel for years, with a variety of manned twin engined aircraft. They have cameras, infra-red etc., similar to the drone - As the missions were flown at night I imagine they were mostly using infra-red cameras. Anything to increase the ‘persistence’ of coverage of the channel, especially if it does the same job for a fraction of the cost, is a good thing given the extent of illegal activities in the channel. I am surprised they haven’t done more of this earlier. There have been very capable UK designs that have done border patrol and surveillance trials more than 10 years ago, but the CAA have been painfully slow in understanding how to integrate these into the existing systems. Simon 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jef Ott Posted February 16, 2020 Share Posted February 16, 2020 Nothing you have said has made it seem any better Simon. I was always quietly against small (around 1.5 to 2m etc.) aircraft being flown out of sight of their FPV pilots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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