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Here it is. The infamous video that media were showing as an example of dangerous behavior. It seems that extra attention is being placed on RPV’s (remote piloted vehicles) and this example is one that has been exaggerated on both television, and print.
Now I have looked at this a few times, and in RCGroups, we had a good discussion about it. What people don’t seem to understand is that the drone is actually kilometers away in a park, and that even though the pilot turned and filmed the plane landing, he was nowhere close to it. What you see in the above video is a digital zoom that was done in video editing software to make the plane look closer than it actually was.
I was saying to some other hobbyists that we are closer to airplanes landing at some coffee houses that are on the landing path, than this drone was to the passenger jet above. I could have gotten better video of the plane by climbing a tree with a good camera. I wonder if I showed the same type of video, if it would have gotten the same attention.
When people post video like this, they are only looking to get attention for themselves by making our hobby seem unsafe. In fact, most of the smaller drones that we fly are less weight, and size, than a goose. In fact, an average sized chicken is bigger than most of the drones we fly.
People also need to remember that in order to try get in the way of a passenger jet that is flying hundreds of kilometers per hour, with a drone that is flying tens of kilometers an hour, would take some serious skill and math. Considering that most airports have a protected area that is larger than the range of the hobby grade transmitters and receivers, only adds to how difficult this would be.
The media needs to take a realistic look at what they are reporting and not go for the hyped up news that this type of video presents.
Whenever someone brings it up, I laugh and point out the facts, and then leave it alone as it is insignificant as news.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that we should fly even close to passenger planes, or any planes for that matter. There is so much open space to fly in that there is no excuse to be even remotely close to an airport.
Be safe so that our hobby can grow without government opposition.
