admin (Simon W) Posted October 6, 2016 Share Posted October 6, 2016 SW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slim Posted October 6, 2016 Share Posted October 6, 2016 I doubt there was no damage. The lines it snagged are likely to have had some of their outer sheaths damaged surely. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
admin (Simon W) Posted October 6, 2016 Author Share Posted October 6, 2016 I am tempted to agree with your thought process. SW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slim Posted October 7, 2016 Share Posted October 7, 2016 And the fact that this time nothing majorly bad happened is no guarantee that next time the drone might not hit the pilot in the face or chest. Even a drone strike on the wing is unlikely to mean the paramotor crashing from the sky but it is likely to rip the canopy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptwizz Posted October 7, 2016 Share Posted October 7, 2016 Somewhere between this account and the paranoid ranting of the Daily Mail, lies the truth about the risks posed by drones. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted October 7, 2016 Share Posted October 7, 2016 I had one very close to me a couple of years ago. It wasn't random, it was being flown towards me and followed my attempts at avoiding it - I guess because the person flying it thought it would be cool and that maybe I'd think it was cool too. It was immensely stressful not taking my eyes off it whilst trying to lose it by putting it out of range of the controller - altitude and full trim downwind did it. It was only a few minutes but I swore then that I never want to encounter one of those things ever again. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calcifer Posted October 11, 2016 Share Posted October 11, 2016 the drones are the "social networks" of the air. Everybody, even the most stupid kid, can fly them without control, and this could be a major safety issue non only for the personal privacy, but even for the other flying objects. I personally hate them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon_dunn Posted October 11, 2016 Share Posted October 11, 2016 On 10/7/2016 at 11:02 AM, Steve said: I had one very close to me a couple of years ago. It wasn't random, it was being flown towards me and followed my attempts at avoiding it - I guess because the person flying it thought it would be cool and that maybe I'd think it was cool too. It was immensely stressful not taking my eyes off it whilst trying to lose it by putting it out of range of the controller - altitude and full trim downwind did it. It was only a few minutes but I swore then that I never want to encounter one of those things ever again. If one comes near me when I'm flying, and it persistently follows, or tries to 'engage' then I'm going to 'take it down!' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptwizz Posted October 11, 2016 Share Posted October 11, 2016 4 hours ago, calcifer said: the drones are the "social networks" of the air. Everybody, even the most stupid kid, can fly them without control, and this could be a major safety issue non only for the personal privacy, but even for the other flying objects. I personally hate them. There are individuals who 'hate' paramotors, just because one irresponsible individual behaves badly. It has become far too common in recent years to take the lazy approach and simply ban the thing which is abused, rather than deal with the abusers. Unmanned aircraft, whether they are 'drones' with some level of autonomy or simple R/C fixed wing aircraft, have been around for longer than paramotors. The new element is abuse by a small number of individuals. That is the element which needs to be addressed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calcifer Posted October 11, 2016 Share Posted October 11, 2016 I do only partially agree with you, @ptwizz , simply because we are talking about different "levels of availability" . A paramotor need a certain amount of money and training for to put a person in the condition to abuse of it. A drone can be purchased and abused by a 10 y.o. boy with no training. That's why I've compared a drone to a social network, and why in the last year I've seen 2 different drones fly around my house and my windows. I've nothing to hide and the privacy is not a concern to me, but for somebody else could be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptwizz Posted October 11, 2016 Share Posted October 11, 2016 Some of the issues with rogue paramotorists have come about because individuals have bought kit from ebay and gone flying with no training. I am aware of a couple of individuals near where I work who did exactly that, their only guide being youtube videos. I agree that the scales are different (quadcopter from <£100, paramotor kit from ebay <£1000) but the principles are the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
admin (Simon W) Posted October 11, 2016 Author Share Posted October 11, 2016 Catapult / sling shot with ball bearings will sort it 'from the ground at least' Legal to own a catapult and all bearings SW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted October 11, 2016 Share Posted October 11, 2016 Keep at the front of your mind when discussing this how much a pilot with a drone tangled up in his lines, or worse, has to lose compared to the guy on the ground with a control box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwi k Posted October 11, 2016 Share Posted October 11, 2016 I agree with Steve! but if you study the video you will notice he's flying among other Paramotorists, so if this is the case why was he not more observant about all people in the air ?, sorry but to me in this situation its more likely to happen. And yes i know SW flies a drone among fellow fliers but he's a lot more savy and keeps aware more from the vid's iv'e watched of his Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptwizz Posted October 11, 2016 Share Posted October 11, 2016 Steve, you're absolutely right about the relative risks. The pilot of a light aircraft with 3 passengers on board would take a similar view of a rogue paramotorist. I am working on the basis that one who goes flying without training has very little appreciation of the risk to themselves, just like the guy on the ground with the control box. While the errant paramotorist may experience a sudden increase in that appreciation when they cross the path of the light aircraft, it's too late. My point is that we, as unregulated users of airspace, should be careful when throwing stones in our glass house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted October 11, 2016 Share Posted October 11, 2016 31 minutes ago, ptwizz said: My point is that we, as unregulated users of airspace, should be careful when throwing stones in our glass house. I agree and that's why I didn't report the incident when it happened to me. This is a very tough one - on one hand I want to bang whoever was flying the drone which chased me's head into a wall to administer some sense, but at the same time I don't want anyone looking too closely with thoughts of regulating everyone at the front of their mind. However, from my point of view, flying whilst looking over my shoulder in fear of what will happen if that little bastard catches up with me can't be ignored - and there are more and more of them out there by the day. It is a very tricky one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted October 11, 2016 Share Posted October 11, 2016 58 minutes ago, kiwi k said: ... why was he not more observant about all people in the air ?, sorry but to me in this situation its more likely to happen. You don't see the thing until it's really close. At least I didn't and I'm on high alert because my air is often shared with the RAF. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwi k Posted October 11, 2016 Share Posted October 11, 2016 RAF versus drone let me think who'd win 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
admin (Simon W) Posted October 12, 2016 Author Share Posted October 12, 2016 I think you may be overestimating the RAF a little SW 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dariuszk24 Posted October 12, 2016 Share Posted October 12, 2016 especially if any type of drone will be suck in RAF engine for example? jet engine compressor revs up to 20000 rpm or above and any solid matter like drone,braking tiny aluminium turbine blades with easy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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