Flying over a city near you soon

[gmantx]

http://www.wimp.com/spydrones" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thought that this was an interesting video from Houston.

[The Annoyed Man]

I think it would be interesting to see if a man in a ghillie suit with a .308 rifle could bring one down or not.

[glbedd53]

We are definately gonna lose some rights in the name of homeland security.

[A-R]

I think it would be interesting to see if a man in a ghillie suit with a .308 rifle could bring one down or not.

Better yet, send up a radio controlled civilian model airplane to follow it and then ...ooops sorry 'bout that, ran into your "invisible" spy plane.

[suthdj]

I think it would be interesting to see if a man in a ghillie suit with a .308 rifle could bring one down or not.

My first thought also.

[Beiruty]

how about this one:

http://www.draganfly.com/our-customers/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[suthdj]

Here are some counter measures.

http://www.amazing1.com/emp.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[boomerang]

http://www.click2houston.com/investigat ... etail.html from 2007

[Purplehood]

Nice. Now HPD is creating their own "no-fly" zones and advising that the FAA authorized it, while the FAA admits they know nothing about it.

[Pete92FS]

Don't we already have or soon to have Predators stationed at Ellington that took the place of the F-16's?

[dcphoto]

It's not unusual for police helicopter's to claim that airspace over a crime scene or other police operation is restricted. There was even a story a while back (don't remember where) where a police department tried to charge a news helicopter pilot with obstruction of justice for not leaving a scene when ordered. I don't know if they actually filed charges, or if the charges stuck, but it's nothing new.

The FAA office (FSDO) that I worked with in Montana said that as long as the ENG helicopter isn't violating any FAA regulations (CFR 14) then there is nothing they can do about it. I requested an interpretation after the Billings police harassed me about flying a cameraman near a large meth-lab that was raided.

Edit: You'd have one heck of a time shooting a drone with a .308 while it cruises at 120 knots at 10,000+ feet. That would be almost as difficult as shooting a moving sparrow at 200 yards with a .22.

[LarryH]

Don't we already have or soon to have Predators stationed at Ellington that took the place of the F-16's?

While the unit will be operating Predators, the birds themselves will not necessarily be at Ellington. I believe the unit, like the others, will be remotely operating Predators in the combat areas, or perhaps the ones that are slated to be deployed along the Mexican border.

Edit: You'd have one heck of a time shooting a drone with a .308 while it cruises at 120 knots at 10,000+ feet. That would be almost as difficult as shooting a moving sparrow at 200 yards with a .22.

The proposed police drones won't likely be anywhere close to 10K ft, especially as congested as the airspace is around Bush and Hobby. The difficulty in applying "see and avoid" to remotely piloted vehicles is one of the major factors in how slowly they've been approved for use in US airspace.

[dcphoto]

The difficulty of see and avoid is exactly why they would be up at 10k. At 10,000 (or just slightly below) the drone is in controlled airspace, would have to be equipped with a transponder, and the operator would be in contact with Houston approach (or departure). Class B services include separation of VFR and IFR traffic, so controllers would relieve a great deal of the burden (not saying they don't have to look for traffic) of maintaining separation from other traffic. There is less traffic at 10,000 feet than is found down below Class B, and (again, slightly below 10k) the airspeed of faster traffic is limited. There are more options for the operator in the event the engine fails, and if communications are lost the aircraft can travel much further away from populated areas before it eventually crashes. Or it might be programmed to fly to an airport in range (squawking 7600) and landing. Regardless, this type of operation would be exceedingly difficult and dangerous at lower altitudes. I wouldn't be surprised if it was flying at an even higher altitude.