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£3,000 fine & 6month suspended prison sentence given for illegal drone flying


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I didn't see any mention of him losing his operators licence.

Why was he filming out of sight and why (knowing he had done wrong) did he then put it on the internet ?

Personally I don't believe a word of his courtroom statement, or his defence lawyer.

Hopefully he will also be banned from the video site for uploading content obtained by carrying out an illegal action.

The sad part is that he probably wont.

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And then we have the proud boys of the RAF who low flies their £40 million Typhoons over registered model airfields.

A place where there IS a very high probability that there's models in the air.

If they get a 20 kg airplane in the air intake, then it's good night.

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1 hour ago, Graff said:

And then we have the proud boys of the RAF who low flies their £40 million Typhoons over registered model airfields.

A place where there IS a very high probability that there's models in the air.

If they get a 20 kg airplane in the air intake, then it's good night.

They seem to avoid us quite well as they scream out to play over the Wolds or North Sea.  Apparently a few years ago they didn't but some emails quickly sorted it.....

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9 hours ago, Graff said:

And then we have the proud boys of the RAF who low flies their £40 million Typhoons over registered model airfields.

A place where there IS a very high probability that there's models in the air.

If they get a 20 kg airplane in the air intake, then it's good night.

No better here, Mirage 2000's and Rafale's doing dog fights at less than 150 meters, the Montpellier commercial pilots school also and using our field to stop getting lost, and the occasional Ultra light and powered delta plane who can't obviously read the proper 'this is not a runway for planes sign, Ours is 3 meters square, easy to see at 150 meters !

code-marine-alphabetique-romeo.webp

Edited by Paul De Tourtoulon
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The army are well aware of our flying site.  We told them about it as soon as it became operational. Talkingto a helicopter pilot at an airshow and he told he club secretary that they use our box (the white dot just below the helicopter) as a "tank".

 

They do keep clear of us most of the time but sometimes give us a closer fly past.

 The Apache hovering over our box was taken from my bedroom window. Th other Apache was taken from the field one afternoon.

We also get them flying round and landing and taking off at 11 pm sometimes.

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Does make you feel good that as we've all paid our ten quids, done our multi-guess exam, stuck our numbers on our models and have filled the days of government pen pushers and website developers with something new, that we've made aviation that much more safer and secure. I think not.

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Is there any mention of whether the drone pilot was registered or not?   Was it under 250 grams perhaps?  He seems to have been caught by his online videos and telemetry not by his registration.

 

  Does any of us really believe that a lightweight drone could really down a Hurricane - more likely damage the paintwork or chip the prop!     If it did hit the prop and even cause engine failure the pilots would surely have an engine out procedure and emergency landing area to avoid the crowd.     Exagerated worst case for effect and to get attention no doubt!    A large bird would do the same damage perhaps.........

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It looked rather heavier than the 250 gram drones.

 

Having seen what bird strikes can do to an aircraft it is unlikely that it would bring the Hurricane down. unless it went into the carb intake but even then not in a hurry.

 

I was once involved in a repair where seagull had gone into the intake on a hunter. It had punched holes through both walls of the intake. 1/8" thick dural!!  The hunter landed safely

 

I once saw a picture of a Canadian Argus that had flown through  a flock of seagulls.  It looked as if a bust of cannon fire had gone from one end of the wing leading edge to the other...it still landed safely

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Silly beggar.

 

But this kind of rubbish is irresponsible (my highlighting): 

"Police said the pilot and people watching in the crowds below would have been killed if the drone had collided with the plane."  

May or might have been killed?  NO!  WOULD have been killed, for definite!  If drones had been around in 1940, Galland would have asked Goering for a squadron of them, rather than Spitfires!

"Any drone in the air will pose a danger to any manned aircraft," said PC...".  If a drone takes off in Aberdeen, is a Jumbo going to crash at Heathrow? Nope.

Hyperbole doesn't help.

 

 

 

Edited by Mike T
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The problem is with the way that drones are sold as Peter stated.   Last Christmas a TV advertising programme stated that their drone which had a camera did not need any registration.   The regulations state that registration is required if a camera is fitted and not a toy.      What the TV people did not state is that they were flying indoors in a studio and maybe that is correct - no need to register if only flying indoors?   Obviously anyone buying from them would expect to fly outdoors too! 

Clamp down on the irresponsible retailers.   

 

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I don’t think it’s relevant to consider chances of downing the aircraft - any avoidable risk is too much. 
 

I happened to catch a TV ad a couple of days ago for a camera drone which trumpeted that it was designed not to need registration. A little research revealed that if a seller designated the drone as being marketed for children under 14 it was exempt - but interestingly, the packaging described it as a “pro ultra drone” and the company’s website described it as suitable for 14+ !

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1 hour ago, kc said:

Does any of us really believe that a lightweight drone could really down a Hurricane - more likely damage the paintwork or chip the prop!     If it did hit the prop and even cause engine failure the pilots would surely have an engine out procedure and emergency landing area to avoid the crowd.


So that’s alright then!

 

The guy was breaking the law, in more than one way in fact (flying above a crowd, flying out of sight, endangering an aircraft), he gets caught and is rightly prosecuted.

 

The only down-side of his sentencing was that the prison term is suspended which means he’ll probably never serve it.

 

Brian.

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1 hour ago, kc said:

Does any of us really believe that a lightweight drone could really down a Hurricane - more likely damage the paintwork or chip the prop!     If it did hit the prop and even cause engine failure the pilots would surely have an engine out procedure and emergency landing area to avoid the crowd.     Exagerated worst case for effect and to get attention no doubt!    A large bird would do the same damage perhaps.........

Cessna 172 in Canada that hit a drone (flown by the Canadian police!)

 

image.thumb.png.af21b1ee7fcd91967dc5ae4a791b4196.png

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1 hour ago, Andy Stephenson said:

KC,

 

That was my thought, it's a war-bird designed to be shot at.

I don't think that's the point. To quote the prosecution barrister, "It is the last Hurricane ever built and it is considered priceless.". And as she pointed out, there are only 12 airworthy Hurricanes left in the world.

 

So to risk losing the aircraft or even just getting it damaged in an avoidable accident would seem unconscionable.

Edited by EvilC57
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