Drone Commander Thread for Droners

[SuperSix1]

This thread is for slappers interested in drones in a positive way. Here we will talk drones, where the industry is heading, gob off about our latest build and what it can do etc.

If you hate drones. Please go to the drone hater thread and fire away. We droners will look there every now and then and run away bravely..

[reeb]

Previously you have only been talking about the flying of drones, what about the maintenance and repairs of them? As they become more complex and widely used will this industry of distributor/repairers be 'cutting LAMEs lunch' so to speak?

[SuperSix1]

reeb,

Everything in the drone world is going to continue to progress toward what we know in manned aircraft world. This includes engineering. I think I'm pretty competent repairing them but would a judge agree if there was an issue?

My engineering system includes line engineering by a qualified radio technician and deep maintenance by Mongrel Gear, also staffed by qualified technicians.

Ps, sorry for tardy reply, just back from the sin bin

[SuperSix1]

HPilots, yep, can seem that way sometimes. But you, you need to spend less time on BS. Can I suggest a new hobby to take up some of your spare time... go buy a drone and fly it around your back yard!.. (Nb, only if your backyard is not a populous area, it is > 3Nm from any aerodrome or heliport, with flight by day VLOS < 400'AGL not closer than 30m of pers or prop, only for hobby or sport). See... easy!

[Zebt]

For those wishing to separate their pastimes ie. Real flying here (Bladeslapper) and model multirotor flying here http://www.rcgroups.com/multirotor-talk-659/ the RC Groups forum contains all the info you will need including extensive discussions regarding CASA legislation, professional use etc etc etc.

[mdav]

If it's a model your under a whole different set of rules right.

[Zebt]

By 'model' I mean all multirotors including out of the box stuff like the Phantoms. Same rule applies to all machines just divided up into weight categories.

[Juzz]

Pretty sure these guys are still divided into weight categories....

[SuperSix1]

zebt,

you are partially right, a Phantom can be used as a model and therefore not subject to CASR 101. It can also be used as a UAV, an action that then brings it in under that legislation.

To be used as a 'model aircraft', it must be being used for hobby or for sport (the acft is the sport - not the acft interacting with some other sport). If neither of these is true, even a 101gram multi-copter becomes a UAV and is subject to CASR 101.

[Zebt]

Supersix, you are partially right.
My comment was intended to emphasize that ALL these are 'models' in comparison to a Helicopter which is what this forum is focused on discussing. Discussions on Models, UAV's that the average person in the street fly's etc can be discussed at www.rcgroups.com which is what I do if I need any info on the hobby/profession. If I want to discuss or read about fixed wing I go to the Prune.

[SuperSix1]

Zebt I think you might be missing the point. This is about helo and drone operations being integrated. Most of the training I am doing on the Drone Commander Australia DomiNation Tour is actually to helo companies looking to add a UAV capability. You are seeing them as unrelated items. An Infantryman is not a tank. But infantry and tanks work together. To do this they train in eachothers roles and practice combined ops. The helo world and the drone world are merging similarly.

It is for this reason BS made the decision that drone ops do form part of the wider helo picture.

If drones being discussed on BS offends you, I am sorry, but the genie is well and truly out of the bottle. Maybe don't click the link?

[Ben Slocombe]

Pretty sure these guys are still divided into weight categories....

Out of curiosity how do people get into flying these in the military. Presuming they would be pilots first? Would they be controlled in the US while on overseas missions?

[SuperSix1]

Google 20 sta

[flyboy111111]

I'm with Zebt on this one.
Although drones are a huge part of the future and may well takeover a huge sector of the helicopter industry.... They arnt helicopters, helicopters require a pilot sitting in the craft. And I do believe Bladeslapper is a helicopter based forum. I'm also a tad over the commercial promotional nature of the drone threads on Bladeslapper.

[NSXME]

"Google 20 STA"....lol, definitely the world leaders in military UAVs. 20 STA use Artillery soldiers to operate their platforms whilst the RAAF use qualified pilots (fixed and rotary) to fly the Heron.

WRT to the operation of Predator/Reaper/Globalhawk etc, the following link explains some aspects of the control systems and associated issues.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/ger ... 29279.html

[SuperSix1]

That was exactly my point NSXME .. army aviation left it to the gunners to operate UAVs.. joke huh, surely pilots should operate these things.

Oh, hang on, that is actually my whole point...

Are we Slappers similarly going to leave UAV ops to non-helo drivers? Are we going to spruke genius level comments like above then whinge when a UAV takes our roles because it can do it faster / cheaper / safer / better?

Have a careful think, because a drone helicopter is still a helicopter regardless of whether flyboy111111 thinks his a*s needs to be in it to make it one...

[Zebt]

That was exactly my point NSXME .. army aviation left it to the gunners to operate UAVs.. joke huh, surely pilots should operate these things.

Oh, hang on, that is actually my whole point...

Are we Slappers similarly going to leave UAV ops to non-helo drivers? Are we going to spruke genius level comments like above then whinge when a UAV takes our roles because it can do it faster / cheaper / safer / better?

Have a careful think, because a drone helicopter is still a helicopter regardless of whether flyboy111111 thinks his a*s needs to be in it to make it one...

Supersix, it is a complex industry however there is a difference (with some crossover) between discussing issues related to manned heli ops and non manned. There have been numerous posts on here in regards to non manned, they have been mostly related to the actual flying threat of the growing non manned industry/hobby and how anyone can put up a machine, and these threads have progressed as per normal for BS, ie. a bit of bashing and feather fluffing etc. Your threads have been received somewhat differently by some, perhaps due to the suspected self interest cloaked in wanting to 'help' the community, note I am not inferring either way as we don't really know your angle and as you have pointed out a few times we can always just ignore a post if it's not to our taste. I suspect your posts would have been received much differently if you had just put up a one liner detailing your goal then asking for PM's so as not to clog up our threads?

On the subject of information for RPA any BS user would take about 2 seconds to discover numerous training organisations should they want to know more or get certified in non manned flying, so the info is all there without any further need to push it ie. www.rcgroups.com or Google which is where I recommend anyone goest to find out any and all info related to non manned flying.
Lastly it would take only a few months for the average person to go from knowing nothing about aviation to holding a PPL exam pass (which they have to do to if they want to fly larger machines or for monetary gain (please lets not get into all the variations of certification, I think we all know there are different levels)), so elevating the existing heli community to be superior in RPA operation is just not valid.

[Capt Hollywood]

helicopters require a pilot sitting in the craft.

You sure about that!

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[mdav]

If slappers don't want to read about UAV's on BS then don't click on the thread. There are plenty of us that are interested so just move on. Yes RC Groups is the place to go, but there nerds and nobody's so does not hurt for us to talk about it here.

[Hello Pilots]

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