Another near miss at Heathrow
- Thread starter Neon Euc
- Start date
First of all, the elevation at London's Heathrow airport is less than 100 ft MSL
I had my P4P above 10,000 ft. once, while taking pictures along the Mt. Dana Trail atop California's Tioga Pass. I learned that if I launched my drone from 9,950 ft, it'll climb above 10,500 ft. without a problem. It may have gone even higher, but that wasn't the point of my experiment. Therefore, i learned that flight operations above 10,000 ft. are entirely possible for my drone.
if DJI programming and FAA regulations could be circumvented, 3,200 ft. would be achievable. Granted, doing so with a standard battery, charged to 100% at launch, would't allow for a great deal of loiter time.
Back in the mid 80s I was flying out of the now closed RAF Bentwaters, located about 123 kilometers Northeast of Heathrow. It would not be unheard of for a pilot on an extended final, landing at Heathrow's 27L, to pass just South of the old RAF Bentwaters / RAF Woodbridge airports.
I could literally feel the lights come on for several of you reading this post - a stir in the proverbial Force. That's right; Rendlesham Forest. It all makes perfect sense now. That was not a drone or a plastic bag. I'll not spoil this for those who have no idea what I'm talking about. Google the Rendlesham Forest incident.
Doesn't this make more sense than a drone operating at 3200 feet?
I had my P4P above 10,000 ft. once, while taking pictures along the Mt. Dana Trail atop California's Tioga Pass. I learned that if I launched my drone from 9,950 ft, it'll climb above 10,500 ft. without a problem. It may have gone even higher, but that wasn't the point of my experiment. Therefore, i learned that flight operations above 10,000 ft. are entirely possible for my drone.
if DJI programming and FAA regulations could be circumvented, 3,200 ft. would be achievable. Granted, doing so with a standard battery, charged to 100% at launch, would't allow for a great deal of loiter time.
Back in the mid 80s I was flying out of the now closed RAF Bentwaters, located about 123 kilometers Northeast of Heathrow. It would not be unheard of for a pilot on an extended final, landing at Heathrow's 27L, to pass just South of the old RAF Bentwaters / RAF Woodbridge airports.
I could literally feel the lights come on for several of you reading this post - a stir in the proverbial Force. That's right; Rendlesham Forest. It all makes perfect sense now. That was not a drone or a plastic bag. I'll not spoil this for those who have no idea what I'm talking about. Google the Rendlesham Forest incident.
Doesn't this make more sense than a drone operating at 3200 feet?
Apart from the obvious answer, which is no, anything approaching LHR from the east, while it could pass over that area (150 km ENE), would only be around 10 minutes into descent, and would be up around 20,000 ft. This incident happened over Clapham, just 20 km east of LHR.
