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Drones flying nighttime patterns over NE Colorado leave law enforcement stumped

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Re: Drones flying nighttime patterns over NE Colorado leave law enforcement stumped

#121

Post by vkou »

godelski wrote: post #111
objclxt wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> As a pilot I can go fly my plane at any altitude I wish as long as I am not entering any controlled airspace. Well, no. That’s not true. Firstly there are rules about the altitude you can fly at when it’s greater than 3000’, and second you are required to file a flight plan any time you are flying IFR.

They specified "controlled airspace". Those rules you are talking about are controlled airspace. The previous comment clearly doesn't explicitly mean class A. It's too complicated to say anything but controlled airspace because that varies all over and can frequently extent up to class A. And why are you bring up IFR? Most private pilots are flying VFR, even if they are IFR certified. But even in controlled airspace…

> This is pretty common among pilots too. I'm not sure why drone pilots should be held to higher standard. Really they should be held to lower.

Drone pilots have to be held to a higher standard, because they have no skin in the game.

If a plane pilot flies like an idiot, they might hurt other people in the air... But they are very likely to also get themselves killed in the process.

This creates an incredibly strong incentive to not fly like an idiot.

A drone operator flying like an idiot is far more likely to get other people killed, than they are to get themselves killed.

If drone pilots could only operate them, while wearing a suicide vest that explodes if the drone crashes, I'd be more open to holding them to a lower standard than pilots.

Re: Drones flying nighttime patterns over NE Colorado leave law enforcement stumped

#122

Post by twoflower9 »

ianai wrote: post #79
cmroanirgo wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> He urged people not to try to shoot the drones down, both because their batteries can cause intense fires and also because shooting a drone is a federal crime. Shooting an inanimate object hovering over your property is illegal? ... on the federal level? I suppose it would have to be, but... Edit: Now I know: "Under Title 18 of the United State Code 32, the sabotage of an unmanned aircraft could carry a maximum sen…

Not to mention shooting into the air launches the projectile in a very large path that could kill people. Never fire into the air!

*unless you're at a wedding. We shouldn't be disparaging to other cultures.

Re: Drones flying nighttime patterns over NE Colorado leave law enforcement stumped

#123

Post by some_random »

saagarjha wrote: post #2

Off topic, but in Reader View the page seems to apply a Caesar Cipher with shift one on the content after a couple of seconds to make reading annoying.

Works fine for me on Firefox

https://i.imgur.com/yQGb6Nq.png

Re: Drones flying nighttime patterns over NE Colorado leave law enforcement stumped

#125

Post by godelski »

vkou wrote: post #121
godelski wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They specified "controlled airspace". Those rules you are talking about are controlled airspace. The previous comment clearly doesn't explicitly mean class A. It's too complicated to say anything but controlled airspace because that varies all over and can frequently extent up to class A. And why are you bring up IFR? Most private pilots are flying VFR, even if they are IFR certified. But even in controlled airspace…

> This is pretty common among pilots too. I'm not sure why drone pilots should be held to higher standard. Really they should be held to lower. Drone pilots have to be held to a higher standard, because they have no skin in the game. If a plane pilot flies like an idiot, they might hurt other people in the air... But they are very likely to also get themselves killed in the process. This creates an incredibly strong…

> A drone operator flying like an idiot is far more likely to get other people killed

IF something catastrophic happens. Issue is that a 2lb drone is much less likely to do damage than a plane. You seriously can not compare the two. The danger levels of the two are nothing alike. If they were, I'd agree with you, but these things have magnitudes of difference in danger.

Re: Drones flying nighttime patterns over NE Colorado leave law enforcement stumped

#126

Post by heelix »

godelski wrote: post #113
sathackr wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Drones over 249g are required to be registered have a registration number affixed. Your point is valid, in that every other motor vehicle that operates on public property has a requirement to be able to be positively identified to a owning entity. But there is no requirement that this be identifiable from great distance. A drone in the air does create a unique challenge that a transponder would help resolve. But just…

I'm not sure why everyone thinks a transponder code is an ultimate solution. A transponder code is easier to fake or hide than a license plate number. If you are doing a ham operated, you just transmit another number. If it's a store bought and you have zero tech savviness, you just don't register it (which is going to happen quite frequently, just because people don't know, will forget, or just not care enough and t…

Transponders also use a lot of power.. assuming you are looking for 'real' aircraft to see them. Most of the hobby class drones don't have the payload capacity for extra battery. Even a Cessna can't pull of a transponder if the alternator goes bad (for very long).

The N number is there for when the drone crashes into something/someone. They had dropped the requirement for a while - looks like it is back on again.

Re: Drones flying nighttime patterns over NE Colorado leave law enforcement stumped

#127

Post by crocodiletears »

sanguy wrote: post #105

We have similar going on in Annapolis Maryland. You can see the lights, particularly the red/green on either side. They seem to just loiter for several hours at a time.

Likewise. This article caught my eye, because it describes a phenomenon similar to one I've observed locally over the past year. I'd be curious about how well this meshes with what you've seen.

We have a fleet of (at least) 30 drones operating in a similar manner over Indiana. All of them reliably following paths between fixed waypoints. Upon reaching their waypoints, they tend to loiter place for a bit, change elevation, then move to the next point on their route. They typically come out around 7 pm, and disappear around 5 in the morning. They never fly in poor weather conditions.

The bulk of them seem to be Delta-wing aircraft, with lights at each point of their triangular bodies, and another array of three white, rectangular lights beneath them which will often flash, be disabled, or even on in lieu of the lights at their wingtips. I've estimated them to be between 6 and 15ft in wingspan.

They have a forward-swept vertical control surface with a red light at its apex, that I've variably seen at the top, and the bottom of the craft.

I've seen them fly forwards, backwards, and taxi side to side in rotating triangular formations of four, with one at the epicenter. They typically fly around 50mph.

They first appeared in the large numbers around south-central indiana July of 2018, but operate at lower densities across much of the southern half of the state.

I've always attributed it to the nearby naval warfare research center, due to the lack of public comment on the part of our local government, or regulatory bodies.

Re: Drones flying nighttime patterns over NE Colorado leave law enforcement stumped

#128

Post by jlgaddis »

crocodiletears wrote: post #127
sanguy wrote: post #105

We have similar going on in Annapolis Maryland. You can see the lights, particularly the red/green on either side. They seem to just loiter for several hours at a time.

Likewise. This article caught my eye, because it describes a phenomenon similar to one I've observed locally over the past year. I'd be curious about how well this meshes with what you've seen. We have a fleet of (at least) 30 drones operating in a similar manner over Indiana. All of them reliably following paths between fixed waypoints. Upon reaching their waypoints, they tend to loiter place for a bit, change eleva…

> ... over Indiana.

> ... the nearby naval warfare research center, ...

I'd be interested in more details (either here or via e-mail to my username at gmail) as to where you've seen these flying. I'm basically in between Bloomington and Crane (which is, I assume, where you're referring to) and have several friends who work at various levels in law enforcement in the area and even more friends who work at Crane.

This is the first I've heard of anything like this in the area, though.

Re: Drones flying nighttime patterns over NE Colorado leave law enforcement stumped

#129

Post by chance_state »

twoflower9 wrote: post #122
ianai wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to mention shooting into the air launches the projectile in a very large path that could kill people. Never fire into the air!

*unless you're at a wedding. We shouldn't be disparaging to other cultures.

Is this sarcasm? (Seriously asking.)

Re: Drones flying nighttime patterns over NE Colorado leave law enforcement stumped

#130

Post by 5bolts »

godelski wrote: post #115

If this is such a high concern, why don't they go on a fox hunt? HAM is pretty popular in rural areas and HAMs love fox hunts. With the frequency and length that these things are up, they should be able to close in on the operators fairly quickly.

amateur radio is pretty popular in rural areas. While i guess the pork product is as well.

and as a ham we don't capitalize it, its not an acronym.

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