Nova: Rise of the Drones

Yeah, they'e going to start selling those things to every Tom, Dick and Harry law enforcement agency around. And that pilot sure didn't appear to be seeing and avoiding anything as he focused his itty-bitty camera at the ground.

Not to mention the ease with which we can insert ourselves to conflicts at will once we aren't worried about pilots getting hurt or boots on the ground. Like all the drone based assassination programs overseas, for which I suspect our heirs will be paying the price for many years to come.
 
steingar said:
Yeah, they'e going to start selling those things to every Tom, Dick and Harry law enforcement agency around. And that pilot sure didn't appear to be seeing and avoiding anything as he focused his itty-bitty camera at the ground.

Not to mention the ease with which we can insert ourselves to conflicts at will once we aren't worried about pilots getting hurt or boots on the ground. Like all the drone based assassination programs overseas, for which I suspect our heirs will be paying the price for many years to come.
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Not too many, only have about 20 to go.
 
steingar said:
Yeah, they'e going to start selling those things to every Tom, Dick and Harry law enforcement agency around. And that pilot sure didn't appear to be seeing and avoiding anything as he focused his itty-bitty camera at the ground.

Not to mention the ease with which we can insert ourselves to conflicts at will once we aren't worried about pilots getting hurt or boots on the ground. Like all the drone based assassination programs overseas, for which I suspect our heirs will be paying the price for many years to come.
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I agree about see and avoid. What a dangerous situation when they start flying more frequently in this country.

OK, I can't help it, just as an aside: It seems ridiculous to me that a UAV pilot gets flight pay. It is also equally disturbing that if the air conditioned trailer they're sitting in is at some in country base behind heavy fortifications, they also get combat pay, tax breaks, etc.
 
When one of these obama drones goes haywire and kills an innocent old woman, walking down the sidewalk on the way to Mass, you can bet the lefties will go ape**** and have them banned.
If one goes haywire and kills a lesbian, liberal, who had an abortion and never shops at Hobby lobby, you can bet the entire country will lose it's mind.
 
Florida Cracker said:
When one of these obama drones goes haywire and kills an innocent old woman, walking down the sidewalk on the way to Mass, you can bet the lefties will go ape**** and have them banned.
If one goes haywire and kills a lesbian, liberal, who had an abortion and never shops at Hobby lobby, you can bet the entire country will lose it's mind.
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Unfortunately, this is one of the few things the Right can very clearly pin on the Obaminator, and sadly so. Drone strikes have increased many fold during his administration. They've already assassinated an American citizen with no due process of any kind, so I think we've already crossed that bridge.
 
And yet another aviation thread heads straight to the spin zone. :nono:
 
steingar said:
They've already assassinated an American citizen with no due process of any kind, so I think we've already crossed that bridge.
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If we're talking about the same thing, Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, then there is probably one reason the American public didn't respond more aggressively. That is no one can pronounce his name, it sounds to them a lot like Ayman al-Zawahiri, so he gets lumped in with the terrorist. If the kid was named Robert Wayne Smith and he played football for the Pleasantville Mudhens then all Hell would have broken loose.
 
Alexb2000 said:
If we're talking about the same thing, Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, then there is probably one reason the American public didn't respond more aggressively. That is no one can pronounce his name, it sounds to them a lot like Ayman al-Zawahiri, so he gets lumped in with the terrorist. If the kid was named Robert Wayne Smith and he played football for the Pleasantville Mudhens then all Hell would have broken loose.
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I don't disagree at all, but legally killing American citizen Ayman al-Zawahiri is no different than killing Tom Smith. What the Obama administration did was nothing more than institutionalized murder, carried out because they had a tool that made killing people easier.
 
I don't mind the military having them and using them one bit. Insofar as ease of getting into conflicts they're really no different than sending Tomahawk Cruise missiles in just like generations before did. What solution do you argue would be better ?
 
Art VanDelay said:
I don't mind the military having them and using them one bit. Insofar as ease of getting into conflicts they're really no different than sending Tomahawk Cruise missiles in just like generations before did. What solution do you argue would be better ?
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Diplomacy.
 
Art VanDelay said:
I don't mind the military having them and using them one bit. Insofar as ease of getting into conflicts they're really no different than sending Tomahawk Cruise missiles in just like generations before did. What solution do you argue would be better ?
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The "problem" is who is in charge of the military...... :hairraise:

That was an eye-opening show on Nova.
 
And these droners call themselves PILOTS???
These aren't real pilots, these are pimple faced, basement dwelling gamers that would never have made it into the military in previous years.
The best title I can give them is Flight Simulator Specialist (enlisted rank of no higher than E3).
 
Just a thought on Drones changing the course of history, if Joe Kennedy Jr. hadn't died in operation Aphrodite then I expect he would have been the one to run for president.
 
KeithASanford said:
One of my program feeds at work today looked pretty interesting. It's premiering on January 23rd.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/military/rise-of-the-drones.html
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I saw part of this. Problem with technology is, there's always others who make everyone else look bad.

I also fly large RC Heli's in the summer, and I've seen some disturbing YouTube videos, of first person video (FPV) RC pilots, breaking every law out there. I won't hesitate to report these people.

They should be held accountable like any other pilot, and heavily fined. :nono:
 
This month's editorial in Aviation Safety and written by Jeb Burnside is titled "They're Heeeere..." It describes three events with UAV's from the last year in the NASA aviation safety reporting system(ASRS). On near miss, and two descents without clearance. The descents without clearance included one where the operator lost control of the UAV and it went on its Emergency Mission profile, and the other was implied to have occured because the operator could not keep the UAV at FL350 and so descended it to FL300 without clearance. There were 24 reports from the last 5 years evidently. His conclusion is "More UAVs in private and commercial hands, which cannot be expected to operate them under the same degree of control, means more events."
 
flav8r said:
And these droners call themselves PILOTS???
These aren't real pilots, these are pimple faced, basement dwelling gamers that would never have made it into the military in previous years.
The best title I can give them is Flight Simulator Specialist (enlisted rank of no higher than E3).
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What an ignorant thing to say from someone who clearly has little to no knowledge of the topic.
 
I think about a battle documented in the sandbox probably 5 years ago, our guys pinned down, a fighter jet making passes at 400 knots unable to hit the opposition (also apparently unwilling to slow down) targets.

The CIA is listening in and over an hour or two's time flys in the nearest UAV with a lowly and cost effective Rotax class engine in it and ONE missile, game over with one remotely controlled shot. Who cares what we call the "pilot", or pay scale?
 
flav8r said:
I'm going to let you have this one because I'm not in the habit of getting into arguments
on the internet with kids half my age that have no parental guidance. :no:
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You aren't going to get into it because he is right.
 
Alexb2000 said:
Just a thought on Drones changing the course of history, if Joe Kennedy Jr. hadn't died in operation Aphrodite then I expect he would have been the one to run for president.
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I recognized that the footage they showed of the WW II remote controlled plane showed it being packed with explosives as the operation that killed Joe Kennedy. I guess he really was supposed to bail out as they sent the plane to the target.

douglas393 said:
This month's editorial in Aviation Safety and written by Jeb Burnside is titled "They're Heeeere..." It describes three events with UAV's from the last year in the NASA aviation safety reporting system(ASRS). On near miss, and two descents without clearance. The descents without clearance included one where the operator lost control of the UAV and it went on its Emergency Mission profile, and the other was implied to have occured because the operator could not keep the UAV at FL350 and so descended it to FL300 without clearance. There were 24 reports from the last 5 years evidently. His conclusion is "More UAVs in private and commercial hands, which cannot be expected to operate them under the same degree of control, means more events."
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Again, my fear that the UAVs will get the right of way over "manuverable" aircraft, i.e. all others. You watch as the pilots always get blamed and surviving pilots get interrogated and sent bills...

At least if they fly at 25,000 feet they'll be out of our hair. The airliners will have to deal with them.
 
:stirpot::popcorn:

I just watched it this afternoon.

My takeaway is that drones are about where airplanes were about mid WWI. Ëś1912 if I remember the year anywhere close. They are just getting to the point of dropping bombs on targets.

The scary part is the next phase as history likely repeats itself, once someone else start using drones as a countermeasure and having drones shooting down drones.

IMO the biggest threat to GA in the US is not all the drones being deployed in the US but more likely preventing them from attacking under the control of an US enemy. Imagine what will happen to our flying privileges once a drone crosses US borders and launches a missile against a US target. Almost as bad is one being launched in the US and doing the same.

That should stir the pot significantly here :stirpot:

Brian
 
I thought that the UAV crew had a pilot and a weapons officer, where the pilot is the driver and can look for traffic. Instead teh pilot is staring at some guy or building while the plane is blundering around.

How much you wanna bet that in the top secret operations manuals, the words "Big Sky" are mentioned in the traffic section?

That blonde guy UAV nerd living with stuff everywhere, a messy bedroom, and two dogs....hit close to home.. He loses for saying the GPS sends to satellites. I'll bet he doesn't know how a lot of the stuff really works.
 
steingar said:
I don't disagree at all, but legally killing American citizen Ayman al-Zawahiri is no different than killing Tom Smith. What the Obama administration did was nothing more than institutionalized murder, carried out because they had a tool that made killing people easier.
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Not to pick nits, but the ONLY reason the obaminator got away with killing an America citizen without due porocess is because he is a democrat. It had nothing to do with the guy's last name.
 
Florida Cracker said:
Not to pick nits, but the ONLY reason the obaminator got away with killing an America citizen without due porocess is because he is a democrat. It had nothing to do with the guy's last name.
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I think the reason he got away with it is he co-opted the right's focus on national security at any cost. I think the American people as an aggregate are as dumb as a box of rocks, and didn't realize the ramifications of what had been done.

And if we're going to play the little right left game then one should mention that the drones got their start assassinating people under the watchful eyes of the conservative savior George W. Bush. I do admit that the Obaminator crossed the line of assassinating an American citizen with no due process. That's a big line, and it will come back to haunt us.
 
steingar said:
I think the reason he got away with it is he co-opted the right's focus on national security at any cost. I think the American people as an aggregate are as dumb as a box of rocks, and didn't realize the ramifications of what had been done.

And if we're going to play the little right left game then one should mention that the drones got their start assassinating people under the watchful eyes of the conservative savior George W. Bush. I do admit that the Obaminator crossed the line of assassinating an American citizen with no due process. That's a big line, and it will come back to haunt us.
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If you're gonna play that game, I would point out that actual conservatives, as opposed to politicians, HATE the patriot act and the drones and the oppressive, fascist direction that those thing shave taken America.
GWB went down that road and then obama sped things up dramatically.
 
Florida Cracker said:
If you're gonna play that game, I would point out that actual conservatives, as opposed to politicians, HATE the patriot act and the drones and the oppressive, fascist direction that those thing shave taken America.
GWB went down that road and then obama sped things up dramatically.
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It was a Republican-controlled Congress that wrote and passed the damn thing. If there are no conservatives in the GOP, I'd certainly like to know where they're all hiding.
 
steingar said:
...... I think the American people as an aggregate are as dumb as a box of rocks, and didn't realize the ramifications of what had been done....

.
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I should use that as my sig line... :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:.

Your honor... I would like to introduce into evidence the TSA as a perfect example of this statement...:yes::mad2:
 
steingar said:
It was a Republican-controlled Congress that wrote and passed the damn thing. If there are no conservatives in the GOP, I'd certainly like to know where they're all hiding.
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Fewer and fewer all the time.......:sad:
 
Powie_zpsb23fd619.jpg
 
steingar said:
I think the reason he got away with it is he co-opted the right's focus on national security at any cost. I think the American people as an aggregate are as dumb as a box of rocks, and didn't realize the ramifications of what had been done.

And if we're going to play the little right left game then one should mention that the drones got their start assassinating people under the watchful eyes of the conservative savior George W. Bush. I do admit that the Obaminator crossed the line of assassinating an American citizen with no due process. That's a big line, and it will come back to haunt us.
Click to expand...

I would have paid BIG money to have gotten the chance to press that missile launch button. That scum bag got exactly what he deserved. I have no problem with it at all.
 
Art VanDelay said:
I would have paid BIG money to have gotten the chance to press that missile launch button. That scum bag got exactly what he deserved. I have no problem with it at all.
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I do. The only reason we think he's a scumbag is because our government says so. That's right, the guys who assassinated him say he's a bad man. If you can't see where that might lead, you need new eyes.
 
steingar said:
I do. The only reason we think he's a scumbag is because our government says so. That's right, the guys who assassinated him say he's a bad man. If you can't see where that might lead, you need new eyes.
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Well, there are those videos where he urges his followers to join the jihad on America and there was that undie-bomber and those little bombs in laser printers they shipped to the US to blow up airliners and/or Synagogues.
 
flav8r said:
And these droners call themselves PILOTS???
These aren't real pilots, these are pimple faced, basement dwelling gamers that would never have made it into the military in previous years.
The best title I can give them is Flight Simulator Specialist (enlisted rank of no higher than E3).
Click to expand...

Funny since the Cav unit I was with had an entire troop devoted to UAV piloting.


Sent from my iPhone
using Tapatalk
 
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