JimNtexas
Pattern Altitude
- Joined
- Dec 21, 2006
- Messages
- 2,259
- Location
- Austin, Texas
- Display Name
Display name:
Jim - In Texas!
I'm always amazed that so many people think that taking the pilot out of airplane makes that airplane cheaper.
Any back of the envelope calculation will show that for civilian purposes a drone is far more expensive to operate than a manned airplane.
As Homeland Security has discovered.
I saw the Border Patrol's drone setup at Oshkosh a few years ago. The drone still needs a pilot and a sensor operator, but it it also needs a very expensive communications architecture, including communications technicians present whenever the drone is flying.
As opposed to the Narco Mark 12 that is all a manned airplane really needs.
And of course to land an unmanned airplane you need a ground crew standing by, whereas to land a piloted airplane you just need lines painted on asphalt.
The Border Patrol would have been a lot better off to buy Caravans to patrol the border. I bet you afford to fly 5 to 10 Caravans per year for the cost of flying one Predator.
Drones: Dangerous, Expensive, and Unnecessary unless someone is shooting at your airplane.
Any back of the envelope calculation will show that for civilian purposes a drone is far more expensive to operate than a manned airplane.
As Homeland Security has discovered.
I saw the Border Patrol's drone setup at Oshkosh a few years ago. The drone still needs a pilot and a sensor operator, but it it also needs a very expensive communications architecture, including communications technicians present whenever the drone is flying.
As opposed to the Narco Mark 12 that is all a manned airplane really needs.
And of course to land an unmanned airplane you need a ground crew standing by, whereas to land a piloted airplane you just need lines painted on asphalt.
The Border Patrol would have been a lot better off to buy Caravans to patrol the border. I bet you afford to fly 5 to 10 Caravans per year for the cost of flying one Predator.
Drones: Dangerous, Expensive, and Unnecessary unless someone is shooting at your airplane.