I believe I read in the News Feed here there is going to be a 32 mile radius 'no drone zone', and deadly force may be used. Is that the drone, or the pilot?! :/
.
Well, I guess this will probably ruin this super bowl thread, but it's not just "drones". It includes other things too, like model rockets. OK, are people running around with their hair on fire yet? But then also NOT allowed within 32 miles are activities such as flight training, aerobatic flight, glider opeations (meaning manned sailplanes), seaplanes, parachutists, Hang Gliders, Ultralights, Balloons, Crop Dusting, Banner Towing, and so forth.
During the hours of 2 PM to Midnight Sunday.
And actually, it sounds reasonable. What would have been nuts would have been to not allow drones or other models within 32 miles but then indeed allow full sized planes such as listed above doing non-essential flights within 32 miles (OK, 32 miles seems a bit big, but the basic premise is reasonable) . Now, they did not shut down all general aviation, there is a smaller 10 mile radius that does allow some limited forms of aviation, and then a very restricted limit of who/what can fly inside of 10 miles such as security aircraft and medical helicopters.
Two years ago when the Super Bowl was at the first outdoor stadium in many years, I was concerned that something might happen with a drone being flown inside the stadium. Not so much as an idiot doing so as a dumb stunt, but the possible terrorist potential. I figured Homeland Security had some sort of plans in place but it's the sort of thing that would tend to be classified. Various possible technologies to try to detect a drone flying towards the stadium, and various potential ways to disable them. So I was relieved that nothing happened. Now, there are many more people flying drones. And I am one of them, albeit without onboard FPV yet. But I have used a programmable flight controller with GPS in one of my multicopters which could make it fly to a specific GPS coordinate all by itself, get to a desired final altitude (or land) at the designated GPS endpoint, and then activate something, let's say signal a relay to turn on a light bulb. That programmable GPS flight plan technology has existed for a number of years, but only more recently has it become a non-expert easily-programmed feature in some of the higher-end mass market RTF drones.
Whatever methods there may be for detecting drones, and resources for neutralizing them, it would be so much harder if there were say a dozen "innocent" drones being flown a few miles from the stadium, and a terrorist's 13th drone also flying at the same time. Thirteen drones would be a lot to try to deal with, for detection and countering them. So, better for there not be any allowed for a few hours, so that the only ones in the airspace illegally will be dealt with as a threat.
Now I know of course that the no fly one would not cause a terrorist to not fly a drone because it's against the law for those hours. But their task would be harder because they know anything they fly will be assumed to be a threat and that whatever resources are available will be concentrated on trying to take it out, rather than being spread thin trying to also take out non-terrorist drones that ought not to be flying.
Here's an article that lists some of the ways that drones can be "shot down":
https://arstechnica.com/business/20...theres-a-lot-of-new-ways-to-take-down-drones/
Same should apply for someone flying in a Cessna, if they fly towards the stadium they are going to be assumed hostile and are supposed to get shot down before they can reach it.
As for the FAA No Fly Zone, more info at this link which defines what aircraft operations are allowed - within 10 miles, between 10 and 32 miles, and 32 miles:
https://tfr.faa.gov/save_pages/detail_6_6446.html
Below is an excerpt for the 32 mile radius limit
C. THE FOLLOWING OPERATIONS ARE NOT AUTHORIZED WITHIN THIS TFR: UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS (UAS), MODEL AIRCRAFT OPERATIONS, MODEL ROCKETRY, FLIGHT TRAINING, PRACTICE INSTRUMENT APPROACHES, AEROBATIC FLIGHT, GLIDER OPERATIONS, SEAPLANE OPERATIONS, PARACHUTE OPERATIONS, ULTRALIGHT, HANG GLIDING, BALLOON OPERATIONS, AGRICULTURE/CROP DUSTING, ANIMAL POPULATION CONTROL FLIGHT OPERATIONS, BANNER TOWING OPERATIONS, SIGHTSEEING OPERATIONS, MAINTENANCE TEST FLIGHTS, AND UTILITY AND PIPELINE SURVEY OPERATIONS.
Oh, and THIS, because this thread is SUPPOSED to be about the Super Bowl Football game:
Mods, if some use this thread for anti-gubmint or anti FAA rants, and you are not up to deleting the posts that break the TRF rules with such political posts, then please just delete the whole thread if people would rather do that than discuss the game.
BTW - I'm not referring to McKailas Dad, but some of the usual suspects.
