DJI Phantom 4 Pro & 2 huge military planes close fly by
- Thread starter KingDad1985
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ianwood
Taco Wrangler
Funnily enough, I am very close to this area right now. I'm on-set flying drones for a new drama series. We're inside the R-2515 restricted airspace north of the 15. We had to get special clearance to fly drones in this area. This is a busy military area. Keep it low and listen for air traffic.
I thought that looked like the Barstow area. You were near the Vulcan Gravel mine company right there. That company goes way back to WWII, mining high sulfur iron ore from the Vulcan mine pit about 85mi due east of there, near Mitchell Caverns. That Vulcan mine pit would be totally awesome to fly someday, it's absolutely on my bucket list. It's very deep, maybe about a 400' deep hole in the ground, 600' long, 200' wide, it's huge! They hauled the iron ore to the Kelso train station (population 2000 during WWII) and it was transported to Fontana where Kaiser Steel processed it to make Sherman tanks.
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Happens all the time in Ca military flying outside of their airspace or too low
This thread was very educational to me as I downloaded both those apps and I'm studying them now
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The USAF 934th Airlift Wing and MNG 133rd Airlift Wing are both based about 2 hours south of here. Four or five times a year they fly low-level routes across this part of Minnesota. We'll see anywhere from two to eight C-130's flying in trail formation at about the same altitude seen in the OP's video. I know there are NOTAMs published when these take place, but I confess I only check NOTAMs when flying full-scale.
****! That was cool! I'm sure those C 130's were still up at 6-800 ft if not higher wouldn't you say? You were never even close to these guys! But def need to find out if you are in a military area for sure! How do you like your new P4Pro?
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Naaa. They could have legally been at 1 ft AGL out there. Their airspeed would be limited to 250KN (Indicated) as it's not a MTR.
Here's the 14 CFR rule:
91.119 Minimum safe altitudes
"(c) Over other than congested areas. An altitude of 500 feet above the surface, except over open water or sparsely populated areas. In those cases, the aircraft may not be operated closer than 500 feet to any person, vessel, vehicle, or structure."
I've flown a plane at 50 ft AGL down the center line of one of the New York Finger Lakes. 500' lateral is not that far.
With the co-ordinates given, looks to be on the V12 airway but I don't know the direction of flight. That location is nowhere near any restricted (R-####) area or MOA (Military Operations Area - yes you CAN fly there) or MTR (Military Training Route).
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The Mojave desert airspace has lots of low altitude MTRs (military training routes) and many varied restricted areas,,,. I have had navy fighters blast overhead at very high speed on these routes, and low enough to make the car nearly hop off the road. You can download FAA VFR Sectional Charts from this site VFR Raster Charts, and all the symbol keys are in the margins and you can get additional guidance for reading the charts online by Googling. I believe as a UAV pilot, you should go to the trouble of learing about the US airspace system. If you are a hobbiest, please fly only in airspace you have checked for restrictions and know to be safe. If you want to be a pilot, please take advantage of the FAA's various training and tutorials and get yourself certified under Part 107.
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I live in an area where there is a large military presence both helicopters and fixed wing aircraft.
Although the area that I fly in is a designated "safe area" well away from any zone, I am always very situationally aware of random military aircraft.
My main concern is paired C150's who play follow the leader at random heights and speeds, as well as helicopters of various types who like to fly low and slow over the local rivers. I do exactly what you did, no matter what height l am at, I will drop down as low as I can get. Having first hand experience with the military I know exactly who would be found at fault!!
I don't think for a second that my P3 would bring down either a Cobra or a C150 ........ But!!
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Although the area that I fly in is a designated "safe area" well away from any zone, I am always very situationally aware of random military aircraft.
My main concern is paired C150's who play follow the leader at random heights and speeds, as well as helicopters of various types who like to fly low and slow over the local rivers. I do exactly what you did, no matter what height l am at, I will drop down as low as I can get. Having first hand experience with the military I know exactly who would be found at fault!!
I don't think for a second that my P3 would bring down either a Cobra or a C150 ........ But!!
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The big threat is the drone hitting the rotors as that could very well take the helicopter down killing all on board. Also, copters like to fly low and when they do that while flying fast they could come around a hillside and you wouldn't know it until it was too late. Until drones copter pilots could pretty much do as they wished and they don't like sharing the lower airspace with unwashed drone pilots.
Brian
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It would of been like a fly on a windshield.... If a phantom could effect a c130 in any way, our military would have a much bigger problem. ive jumped out of c130s while in the 82nd and they are flying rocks..
Are you serious man? A phantom drone hitting a heli's rotor's could take it down? I am seriously doubting that! Please tell me im wrong! And I'm also thinking that the only damage a phantom drone could do to an aircraft is if it flew directly or was sucked directly into it's jet engine's! I would love to hear from some experienced aircraft pilots out there on this. This should never ever happen btw. But I'm just trying to point out that some folk's are so paranoid about taking down an aircraft with our 2pd drones. Let me hear some chatter on this. I'm curious!
I think most fixed wing AC are pretty capable of handling a hit from a Phantom sized drone. A larger commercial jet flying faster would also have more durable windscreens etc whereas a smaller civil aviation AC like a Cessna 172 would have less protection but would also be flying slower so once again, unlikely to take the plan down though it could easily crack the windscreen and if the pilot was unlucky perhaps penetrate and injure the pilot.
No, the biggest threat is to copters and there crew as they are much more likely to fly low and in the same airspace as drones. A copter doing something over 100mph would very likely see the windscreen heavily damaged and possibly penetrated. Military copters are probably less likely to have that happen but commercial copters are not going to be as robust in that area. But, for me the big threat as I mentioned before is the drone hitting the CF rotor blades and causing one to shatter. Remember, the copter might be doing 100mph and the drone 40mph and the mid part of the rotor blade perhaps 300mph so the total impact velocity could be upwards of 440mph or even more. A rotor blade might handle a gunshot but a 3 pound drone with a 440mph impact speed could be catistrophic.
Sadly, I think its just a matter of time before this happens and then what?
Brian
No, the biggest threat is to copters and there crew as they are much more likely to fly low and in the same airspace as drones. A copter doing something over 100mph would very likely see the windscreen heavily damaged and possibly penetrated. Military copters are probably less likely to have that happen but commercial copters are not going to be as robust in that area. But, for me the big threat as I mentioned before is the drone hitting the CF rotor blades and causing one to shatter. Remember, the copter might be doing 100mph and the drone 40mph and the mid part of the rotor blade perhaps 300mph so the total impact velocity could be upwards of 440mph or even more. A rotor blade might handle a gunshot but a 3 pound drone with a 440mph impact speed could be catistrophic.
Sadly, I think its just a matter of time before this happens and then what?
Brian
WOW! That is really surprising to me! But you know more than me on that I'm sure! And that is why we stay 400ft and under then. But really need to know where we are flying for sure.
Reading this thread....what most concerns me (and maybe it's just me)...but before I fly my drone ANYWHERE, I check for airspace restrictions and plan the flight. I wouldn't ever consider just turning up at some location and start flying. Did you not check before you started flying? That sort of behavior is what will cause issues for everyone in the drone industry in the future.
In New Zealand we have an online portal (run by our Aviation Authority) where we can log intended flights and see what type of airspace you are intending on flying in before you go. If it is restricted airspace, it tells you what you need to do to apply for clearance. I have had heaps of success getting official clearance to fly in restricted airspace and it also builds a history of your flights so when the regulations get tighter (and they will if drone users don't start thinking before they launch their drone) I can prove a history of compliance.
You should NEVER fly anywhere without knowing what airspace type is.
Just my ten cents.
In New Zealand we have an online portal (run by our Aviation Authority) where we can log intended flights and see what type of airspace you are intending on flying in before you go. If it is restricted airspace, it tells you what you need to do to apply for clearance. I have had heaps of success getting official clearance to fly in restricted airspace and it also builds a history of your flights so when the regulations get tighter (and they will if drone users don't start thinking before they launch their drone) I can prove a history of compliance.
You should NEVER fly anywhere without knowing what airspace type is.
Just my ten cents.
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Yes I ALWAYS check. It has already been confirmed by a airforce officer that the pilots in the 130s were goofing off most likely.Reading this thread....what most concerns me (and maybe it's just me)...but before I fly my drone ANYWHERE, I check for airspace restrictions and plan the flight. I wouldn't ever consider just turning up at some location and start flying. Did you not check before you started flying? That sort of behavior is what will cause issues for everyone in the drone industry in the future.
In New Zealand we have an online portal (run by our Aviation Authority) where we can log intended flights and see what type of airspace you are intending on flying in before you go. If it is restricted airspace, it tells you what you need to do to apply for clearance. I have had heaps of success getting official clearance to fly in restricted airspace and it also builds a history of your flights so when the regulations get tighter (and they will if drone users don't start thinking before they launch their drone) I can prove a history of compliance.
You should NEVER fly anywhere without knowing what airspace type is.
Just my ten cents.
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