250g Limit... where is the science?

[dryhiker]

Oh, one other thing. I was complaining to my daughter about the FAA rules.

She is a private pilot and works for the Cirrus aircraft co. She listened to my complaints and said that she has been flying at altitude (I don't remember what altitude), and has flown by a drone at her altitude. Clearly there is a problem to be solved. I can only hope for some relief for LOS pilots.

Andy.

 

[bisco]

there's nothing happening here yet. transponders kick in somewhere down the road.

look at the linear actuators horizon uses on line in their umx planes. something like the cub s2 or turbo timber. the board includes rx/esc/servos, very light and efficient.

the biggest prolem is, the lighter you go, the less wind you can fly in. maybe a nice jet or fighter that you can fly really fast would help, and sunrise is usually good.

 

[SSgt Duramax]

Oh, one other thing. I was complaining to my daughter about the FAA rules.

She is a private pilot and works for the Cirrus aircraft co. She listened to my complaints and said that she has been flying at altitude (I don't remember what altitude), and has flown by a drone at her altitude. Clearly there is a problem to be solved. I can only hope for some relief for LOS pilots.

Andy.

How would a transponder fix that? I have a buddy that is a C-130 instructor pilot and he has tales of drone strikes and laser strikes.

Both are probably punk kids who dont realize the lives and high value equipmemt at risk or people with nefarious intentions that dont care.

Thing is, there are already rules against that, and I would bet that 99.9% of near miss incidents are currently a result of illegal drone operation.

Don't get me wrong, it would be a blast in my night fury to climb up and "intercept" a helicopter or a cessna and follow it a couple of miles before returning home. I just cant and know the potential danger, so I wont.

So I guess my point is, the people who already knowingly break 400 feet and go play in "real" air traffic probably wont install said transponder or will disable or alter it to feign compliance.

Now if they were to say for instance "if you want to operate your craft over 400 feet or beyond LOS you need a transponder" that would be different. But that isnt what they are saying. Actually, a transponder seems like a great way to get in trouble for accidentally breaking 400 feet.


Now if there were some type of self enforcement like HAMs do, that would be different, but I dont see how that is applicable, and I dont see my self karening out other enthisiasts unless they are just being obnoxious idiots.

 

[Mr NCT]

Don't get me wrong, it would be a blast in my night fury to climb up and "intercept" a helicopter or a cessna and follow it a couple of miles before returning home. I just cant and know the potential danger, so I wont.

As much as your night fury looks like an armed drone you could get a very interesting response.

 

[SSgt Duramax]

As much as your night fury looks like an armed drone you could get a very interesting response.

I need to print some hellfires for it still.

You know, if they added adsb tracking to the b4ufly app (i downloaded it with good intentions but used it once after my flying place was declared ok) it would alert you if there was a craft at an altitude potentially less than 400 feet heading your direction and you could act accordingly.

 

[Monte.C]

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[quorneng]

I look at it as the 250 g limit exists so rather than question why the challenge is what find out what can be done within it.
Not long back the thought of a commercially produced sub 250g FPV quad would have been considered impossible.
Obviously a very light plane has limited wind handling capabilities but it is possible to make quite sophisticated ones, including scale, that work well in the appropriate conditions.
Having "appropriate conditions" applies to all aircraft its just they are more restrictive the lighter the plane is.

 

[dryhiker]

I am used to "appropriate conditions" in Japan for sure! That has meant sunrise for me since I started to fly in 2016. There was a field near me which had a hill covered with trees on one side. Any wind from that direction would tumble over the trees and cause spontaneous aerobatics. In addition, the field was swarmed with kids anytime later than about 6 am. I can find wind-free times to fly and am used to the early mornings. I am working on a plan for sub 100 gram flight. My first try will be to make a 60% Alpha. I did see that there is a 65g UMX plane available, but I want to stay DIY for now. If I succeed at this 100g quest, then sub 250 should be ok when I return to the US!