Drones ground flights at Gatwick - Page 4

**Mick** · 21-12-2018, 01:19

These industrial Drones will have dual battery packs, which will basically allow the drone to fly for the best part of an hour or more before being required to land, they will also return to home whenever the drone detects the batteries are becoming depleted and they’re smart enough to know how much battery juice they need to get home with.

TheDaddy · 21-12-2018, 01:24

Other half is going to Lapland in 2 hours, has to drive to Gatwick, check in and then get a coach to Stansted, I hope comeuppance is winging its way towards the perpetrators and that it's bitter medicine

denphone · 21-12-2018, 05:53

Hopefully things will start to improve throughout today after the chaos of yesterday.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/...d-flights-live

Quote:

It appears we have our first flight on track to land at Gatwick in more than 24 hours.
It is China Eastern Airlines flight MU201 from Shanghai to Gatwick. It is an Airbus A330-243 and its estimated time of arrivals is 5:59am.

Quote:

More promising news from British Airways, who say “the airport is back open and the majority of flights operating as scheduled”.

JPAC · 21-12-2018, 08:23

So, with no crims or drones found, someone is taking a risk re-opening Gatwick. Some are blaming tree huggers as a protest, they could easily move on to Heathrow or elsewhere.

denphone · 21-12-2018, 08:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by JPAC

So, with no crims or drones found, someone is taking a risk re-opening Gatwick. Some are blaming tree huggers as a protest, they could easily move on to Heathrow or elsewhere.

Yep now that they know that they have brought Gatwick airport to a total standstill for over a day there are over 40 other airports one could conceivable target as well of which there are 5 in London alone.

jfman · 21-12-2018, 08:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by JPAC

So, with no crims or drones found, someone is taking a risk re-opening Gatwick. Some are blaming tree huggers as a protest, they could easily move on to Heathrow or elsewhere.

It’s almost certainly not playing out as portrayed in the media.

heero_yuy · 21-12-2018, 09:29

Whoever is using the drone must have the technical knowledge to disable the GPS geofencing. Speculation is that the control is being done over the 4G/5G phone network so unless the authorities can actually capture the drone to discover the mobile identity the culprit(s) will get away with it.

Even then the SIM could be untracable back to a purchaser.

**Damien** · 21-12-2018, 09:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mick

The ones with huge ranges cost a lot of money over £1,000 and for professional and commercial use, generally the professionally ones are aimed at Licensed operators who can, as long as they have permission to do so from the Civil Aviation Authority, fly above the legal distances for standard recreational users.

The thing to be aware of, recreational drone flying, you're not suppose to fly them over large crowds of people or be in close proximity to buildings. I fly mine in areas that are allowed, like large parks and playing fields.

So I can't get one to scout out the traffic on my route to the station in the morning then

**Mick** · 21-12-2018, 15:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by Damien

So I can't get one to scout out the traffic on my route to the station in the morning then

Not if you wish to have an on the spot fine handed down to you, your equipment confiscated from the police

, they are getting more powers to tackle irresponsible drone pilots.

But some people calling for extra laws, the idiots flying the ones at Gatwick, won't care for them and are just spoiling the hobby for those who do respect the rules and laws attached to drone flying.

papa smurf · 21-12-2018, 15:12

How high are these drones flying over the airport.

**Mick** · 21-12-2018, 15:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by heero_yuy

Whoever is using the drone must have the technical knowledge to disable the GPS geofencing. Speculation is that the control is being done over the 4G/5G phone network so unless the authorities can actually capture the drone to discover the mobile identity the culprit(s) will get away with it.

Even then the SIM could be untracable back to a purchaser.

If it's a sophisticated drone then it will contain components which may hold account information. DJI drones require account registration to fly them through an APP.

It could also be a custom built drone that will hold no information.

---------- Post added at 15:28 ---------- Previous post was at 15:24 ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by papa smurf

How high are these drones flying over the airport.

How long is a piece of string?

It's not unheard but they can fly 1000's of Metres in the air, at these heights, they will not even appear to be a dot in the sky. Even at 100 M it will just barely be visible, it will be like trying to shoot at a Blue bottle 10 M away.

papa smurf · 21-12-2018, 15:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mick

If it's a sophisticated drone then it will contain components which may hold account information. DJI drones require account registration to fly them through an APP.

It could also be a custom built drone that will hold no information.

---------- Post added at 15:28 ---------- Previous post was at 15:24 ----------

How long is a piece of string?

It's not unheard but they can fly 1000's of Metres in the air, at these heights, they will not even appear to be a dot in the sky. Even at 100 M it will just barely be visible, it will be like trying to shoot at a Blue bottle 10 M away.

My thinking was if they are flying up to 300 mtrs they can be taken down with a shot gun with out the fear of harming anyone on the ground.

**Hugh** · 21-12-2018, 15:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by papa smurf

My thinking was if they are flying up to 300 mtrs they can be taken down with a shot gun with out the fear of harming anyone on the ground.

But that would create the likelyhood of FOD (Foreign Object Damage) to aircraft using the runway - a jet engine with some fragments getting sucked in a high speed is sub-optimal.

(it can take hours to do a FOD walk on a runway - I've taken part in some before, and it's basically a long line of people very close together walking up and down the runway for a couple of hours to clear any fragments off).

Uncle Peter · 21-12-2018, 17:02

You'd be lucky if there was enough kinetic energy in a spread of pellets to take down a drone in the 50-100 yard range

A slug at 300 yards maybe but good luck hitting a fast moving drone at that range.

heero_yuy · 21-12-2018, 17:28

Breaking: Gatwick on hold due to suspected drone sighting.

https://twitter.com/ReutersUK?ref_sr...Ctwgr%5Eauthor