Drone sightings reported over Newark, NJ Airport this evening.........

All the written online reports I have read say the Pilot quoted 3500ft ... and also it wasn't Newark Airport ... but Teterboro field close to Newark Airport. They shut Newark for a short spell as a precaution.

Yeh well ... another black bin bag probably ...
 
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solentlife said:
All the written online reports I have read say the Pilot quoted 3500ft ... and also it wasn't Newark Airport ... but Teterboro field close to Newark Airport. They shut Newark for a short spell as a precaution.

Yeh well ... another black bin bag probably ...
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Totally contrary to the NBC news report. Thank you for the update.
 
I couldn't agree more with those making the point about pilots blaming drones for everything they see but cannot identify.
Unfortunately, if an incident turns out not to be a drone, the news media never issue a corrective story........it just gets left there for the public to go on believing that these drones are causing chaos everywhere and the people associated with drones are, by nature, troublemakers.

These pilots swearing they saw a drone operating at 8,000 feet and above pretty much eliminates Phantoms from the conversation.

While I have seen guys who have flown P4s to high altitudes, by the time they get up that high, it's pretty much time to start the descent , if you want any battery life left when you land.

So, it's not like Phantoms can climb to 5,500 feet and spend 15 minutes flying around causing trouble around airports, and then have lots of battery life left to make an easy landing.
 
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Hendricks said:
I couldn't agree more with those making the point about pilots blaming drones for everything they see but cannot identify.
Unfortunately, if an incident turns out not to be a drone, the news media never issue a corrective story........it just gets left there for the public to go on believing that these drones are causing chaos everywhere and the people associated with drones are, by nature, troublemakers.

These pilots swearing they saw a drone operating at 8,000 feet and above pretty much eliminates Phantoms from the conversation.

While I have seen guys who have flown P4s to high altitudes, by the time they get up that high, it's pretty much time to start the descent , if you want any battery life left when you land.

So, it's not like Phantoms can climb to 5,500 feet and spend 15 minutes flying around causing trouble around airports, and then have lots of battery life left to make an easy landing.
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Amen...I'm an engineer. I just want the facts. No BS, just the pertinent information to make a good educated decision on the information provided.
 
I am always the last one to hear anything. My friend told me about the incident at the Newark airport. I sincerely hope they catch whoever was flying. I can't believe people do this. The pilot said he missed the 30 feet or so off his right wing. Apparently the drone was at 3500 feet and right on the approach line. These people are going to ruin it for everybody which everyone knows. I don't know what the answer is but I like flying and I would hate to be told I can't fly.
 
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Yah they are just testing the systems but you can bet new regulations will be soon to follow. I am getting less excited about the hobby and really considering grounding my Phantoms these jerks are taking the fun out of it.
 
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NBC News last night basically ran the same story again.......only this time they had a quote from the pilot of the aircraft who says he saw a drone about 30 feet off his right wing.

I don't know the altitude he was flying at the time of the sighting;however, I would say that if he was 3,500 feet or higher, I'm thinking Phantoms would be eliminated.
While there have been cases of Phantoms going that high(and higher), anyone doing so leaves little battery life left if they were to climb to, say, 4,000 feet and hang around at that height attempting to make trouble close to an airport.
It is hard to say what this pilot saw........but I'm getting the feeling that if these guys see something and they cannot immediately identify what it is(was), then the word 'drone' becomes pretty convenient.

This comment in no way is meant to suggest that there are not cases of irresponsible people who fly their drones around airports.

I just cannot believe that every single thing pilots see is a drone.
 
NBC News had a follow up story last night about the drone supposedly flying around Newark,NJ airport, causing landing and departure delays.
NBC News managed to get the ATC tape of the pilot telling the controllers he had seen the drone about 30 feet off his right wing.

It sounded as if this pilot was in the approach pattern at Newark when this incident occurred.

If we assume this happened at roughly 3,500 feet, I would suggest a Phantom was unlikely involved because, while Phantoms can get to that height, doing so would not leave the person operating it much time to hang around at that altitude and cause trouble.
Your battery life would be pretty much exhausted just getting up to that height and then having to advance plan for your descent.

On top of all this is my concern that when pilots see something they cannot immediately identify, using the word ' drone' becomes very convenient.

There is no question that people operating their drones irresponsibly cause problems at airports.........but are drones the reason for everything a pilot sees but cannot immediately identify?
 
Hendricks said:
NBC News had a follow up story last night about the drone supposedly flying around Newark,NJ airport, causing landing and departure delays.
NBC News managed to get the ATC tape of the pilot telling the controllers he had seen the drone about 30 feet off his right wing.

It sounded as if this pilot was in the approach pattern at Newark when this incident occurred.

If we assume this happened at roughly 3,500 feet, I would suggest a Phantom was unlikely involved because, while Phantoms can get to that height, doing so would not leave the person operating it much time to hang around at that altitude and cause trouble.
Your battery life would be pretty much exhausted just getting up to that height and then having to advance plan for your descent.

On top of all this is my concern that when pilots see something they cannot immediately identify, using the word ' drone' becomes very convenient.

There is no question that people operating their drones irresponsibly cause problems at airports.........but are drones the reason for everything a pilot sees but cannot immediately identify?
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According to the Phantom 4 Specs the Phantom’s max ascent speed in sport mode is 6 meters a second taking it about 3 minutes to get to 3500 feet. The max descent speed is 4 meters a second taking it about 4.5 minutes to get back down. At a total of 7.5 minutes this would leave it about 20 minutes of flying time. I’m sure there are pilots that will say any unidentified flying object is a drone, as there are idiots flying recklessly and putting peoples lives at risk, which should be the main concern here.
 
Truth is, most Phantom owners are not going to risk their $1,500 investment by using Sport Mode to get up to 3,500 feet and then hang around there causing trouble at the nearest airport.

Sure, Phantoms do have to capability to get to that height and beyond, but I feel most of these 'drone sightings' are things pilots see but cannot identify.

The word 'drone' has become a very convenient term to use and the public just gobble it up whenever they hear the word.

On top of this, the news media never issue a correction or retraction when it turns out that it wasn't a drone over some airport.....the culprit was something else like a weather balloon.

It's always about 'bad drones' and irresponsible people.
 
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Hendricks said:
NBC News lead story tonight...... It is reported that drones have been sighted over Newark, NJ tonight, temporarily suspending airport operations there.
Back up of departures and landings.
Police are investigating and NBC News had no video or photographs confirming that drones were, in fact, flying over Newark.
It was stated by a pilot that a drone was seen.

More idiots doing stupid(and dangerous) stuff.

Certainly hope those responsible are caught.
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I have been Flying Models for 60+ years started with wireline, then when radio models came out we used Rubber Bands on the Servo's but What was really nice was We had a Flight Field Right at the Air Port! at 10 years old, I would take a short cut from my house to the flying field by walking across the Runways With my Air Plane at the Air Port!! at the Second Largest City in Arkansas!! And is the Longest Runway in Arkansas. Everyone played by the rules PERIOD!!...This new news is Bad for all of us!! I will call the Police myself if I see anyone flying near the Airport! or Flight Path!! Oh I have 4 DJI Drones and weather permitting I fly them all, everyday. I have well over 1,000 + Hrs. with all of my DJI DRONES!!
 
BigAl07 said:
The OP that I answered didn't say anything about Phantom or Phantom-like but merely hobby grade drones.

There are several "non-Phantom" hobby sUAS that can (and have) reached some insanely high altitudes AGL.
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I know for a Fact that most Commercial Airline Pilots are reluctant to Report a (UFO) it makes the Company look like they only Hire UFO NUT'S!!! so for the most part now they are using the word (DRONE) instead of a (UFO)
 
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P4PCommander said:
I know for a Fact that most Commercial Airline Pilots are reluctant to Report a (UFO) it makes the Company look like they only Hire UFO NUT'S!!! so for the most part now they are using the word (DRONE) instead of a (UFO)
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Well there in lies the problem.. only UFO nuts think that UFO means alien space craft. Until an object is correctly identified (plastic bag, sUAS, Bird of Prey etc) it's a UFO... Unidentified Flying Object.

I've been in the air, flying as PIC when a Commercial Pilot (landing at KAVL) reported a UFO in our area. His exact phrase was "UFO" and it didn't mean space craft it just meant he saw an object in close proximity to his flying area and he couldn't see what it was.

Now you get a LOT more attention (fame comes in many flavors) by seeing a DRONE than you do being honest and saying you saw something but couldn't make it out . . .
 
FYI: Teterboro airport is in Teterboro and is a charter airport.Newark airport is an international airport. They are 13 miles apart.
 
lmmavrick said:
That means it's supposed to be able to handle the air density at that alt not that it can fly that high from take off point . max alt. is 500 meters 1640' restricted through the software
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Correct, since this is an aircraft that flies in the NAS I would assume these calculations are based on the standard atmosphere at MSL.
 
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