More Than 50 Institutions Nationwide Given Permission To Operate Drones

[astr0144]

I am sure we all await in anticipation and severe curiosity Matrix ! 

I was thinking that the Dynamic Converters would be used more in Saucers or Disc type craft for space travel rather than Drone type craft  that I thought may tend to be more within the Earths atmosphere.

Or maybe you can include them in both !

Hopefully soon in a few months time, I am going to build a second Miniature "Dynamic Converter",
to be used in "Drones" which can be used to explore our solar system.

I kid you not.   

[The Matrix Traveller]

The type of Drone I'm referring to is Disc shaped.... 

[Fruitbat]

Just use ebay to search for "quadcopter".There is already a MASSIVE choice.

Astro, that RS kit is expensive and primitive in it's capabiilty.
Also they seemingly went to hobbyking (google it) for many of the components...

FB

[sky otter]

matrix.. i wasn't referenceing you or your work..just those buzzing my house






and then there is this..and soon air triffic signals




http://money.msn.com/business-news/article.aspx?feed=AP&date=20140427&id=17560100


Santa Fe real estate agent takes to using drone
April 27, 2014 8:58 PM ET.

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) - A Santa Fe real estate agent is taking marketing homes to new heights, along with new complications in federal aviation laws.

Agent Brian Tercero has been using a drone to help advertise homes on the market, according to the Santa Fe New Mexican (http://bit.ly/1fiIj9U). Video footage from a drone can better convey the appeal of a property than standard marketing photos of trees, he said.

"Flying over (the property) adds a whole other dimension," Tercero said. "It's powerful. And it was instrumental in getting the buyer to bite."

The Federal Aviation Administration has banned the use of drones for commercial purposes except in the cases of those with special permission from the agency. But a federal judge recently ruled that drones for commercial use don't fall under FAA regulations.

In March, a judge with the National Transportation Safety Board dismissed a $10,000 fine for a businessman who used a glider to take aerial photos for a University of Virginia Medical Center ad. The judge said the drone was not an aircraft as defined by the FAA's own regulations.

The FAA is appealing the decision as it works on new regulations to cover drones.

Congress recently requested that the FAA devise a plan to safely integrate unmanned aircraft by September 2015.

Tercero said he should be able to use the drone as a real estate agent if the homeowner gives consent. So far, he said, the DJI Phantom, which is 18 inches in diameter, has been used to show undeveloped land in northern New Mexico and for more high-end listings.

"This just makes so much sense for out-of-state and out-of-country clients," Tercero said.

But what has become the latest trend in the real estate industry has privacy advocates concerned. Peter Simonson, director of the American Civil Liberties Union in New Mexico, said the public doesn't get the same protections against invasions of privacy when private entities use drones.

"A drone that hovers over a municipal area with an extremely high-resolution camera captures video of everything that transpires over a long period of time," Simonson said. "That kind of data can discern people's movements, what meetings they're attending, who is important in their life and why."

Hal Wingo, a client of Tercero's who has been trying to sell his home for the past six months, said they are being respectful of neighbors' privacy.

"We're not going to home in on any other property. If someone felt you were looking down on their house, they might not like that," Wingo said.

___

Information from: The Santa Fe New Mexican, http://www.sfnewmexican.com

[astr0144]

Hi Fruitbat,

I don't know much about the Kits.. to be able to say how drones or quadcopters compare in their variations & quality or what is an acceptable price without spending some time researching them in some detail.

I just looked on ebay and I can see what you mean...quite unbelievable !  ...you can also type in Drone and get similar results...but I think we can only see the small type ones on offer....

The more expensive ones range between £2000 to £4000 (Est upto about $6750) 

but these are NOT the Airplane type ones the Military used to use...more the Helicopter types !


Not sure how many years these things have been available...but I get the impression only in recent last two to five years ...

I think I only started noting about Drones since I came a member on PRC since 2011/12...and initially after Alex Jones informed me about them..

It seems Now there are Numerous companies making them...and so many variations of them..

Back around 2011, I recall searching to see if I could buy a drone..and I found a website selling the large military type ones that the Military were using in Afghanistan..and If I recall they were about $16,000. or may have been £16,000s  not sure which....

I got the impression back then anyone could buy them if they had the money !

Unfortunately I cannot find that website.... it came up easily on google back then...now all I see is a list of companies that make them on pages 1 and 2 in google...but no direct websites like back then listed that immediately took me to the info that I was looking for . They may have now made this info less easily available  .if I find the website, I will post the link.

Now there are some sites that list numerous manufacturers..but I could not find a site similar to the one I found back then at least so far..

Some of the more modern high tech drones today I think cost in the millions...

I wanted to know HOW far they would fly ?. what height etc...and had been thinking if they had been available to the public that if you had a group of people club together you may be able to send one into certain places that you may want to take a look at ! that otherwise would be very difficult or impossible to do so...

If I recall they could fly for about 15 to 20 miles based upon what ever fuel or capacity of the fuel tank & other aspects were back then..

They probably now have drones that will fly a lot further than they did back then....and like other technologies, they should now be considerably cheaper..I would hope !

Although I am not sure for certain if they will sell them to the public !

for shorter distances...we will have to use the quadcopter type ones !

Just added this .............
Here is one website of various Drone type aircraft manufactures...
Ive selected some from the USA.. but they list worldwide...408 entries.
you may have to put USA in the search to find American manufacturers.

http://www.uavglobal.com/

Upon clicking on a few sites, many seem more helicoptor type drones.
and they do not seem to show the costs on the websites .. at least the ones I looked at so far...

One I found so far  flies for upto 5 hrs....

http://www.uavglobal.com/


http://www.americanunmannedsystems.com/product.html

Just use ebay to search for "quadcopter".There is already a MASSIVE choice.

Astro, that RS kit is expensive and primitive in it's capabiilty.
Also they seemingly went to hobbyking (google it) for many of the components...

FB

[zorgon]

Is Seattle Being Buzzed By Drone-Equipped Peeping Toms?

From the Yes-We-Live-In-The-Future file we have the story of an unnamed Seattle woman who looked out her upper-floor window a couple of weeks ago to allegedly find an aerial drone hovering outside. On the sidewalk next to her house, on public property, she also found the man operating the drone, which we must assume is similar to the one in the image below, complete with video camera. This man — who is also nameless at this point — claimed that he was doing research and that what he was doing was "perfectly legal". And while the whole situation does sound creepy, it turns out that he may be well within his rights.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/matthickey/2013/05/28/is-seattle-being-buzzed-by-drone-equipped-peeping-toms/


http://www.theblaze.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/drone_3.jpg
This image of the sunbather has been blurred. (Image: WKMG-TV video screenshot)

Drone Falls Dangerously Out of Sky; Local News Station Reveals What It Had Been Filming

A small drone obtained by a local Florida news station is revealing just why some have privacy — and safety — concerns regarding the ever expanding use of such surveillance technology by both the government and hobbyists.

WKMG-TV, covering the Orlando area, reported one if its reporter finding a RC aerial vehicle that fell out of the sky after losing control and crashing into a tree. The news station was able to obtain more than two hours of footage that was taken by the attached GoPro camera, revealing what the drone had been observing before its fall.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/06/26/drone-falls-dangerously-out-of-sky-local-news-station-reveals-what-it-had-been-filming/

[The Seeker]

Hopefully soon in a few months time, I am going to build a second Miniature "Dynamic Converter",
to be used in "Drones" which can be used to explore our solar system.

I kid you not.   

At present, I am Planning to build a demonstration model, and show it here in Peggy by Videos,
both the manufacture and demonstration of a "Dynamic Converter".

Matrix, my friend, I am patiently waiting... perhaps I have enough spark in the ol meatsuit to attempt a build from your plans...

Me and Z need a way to travel...

[sky otter]

planes are less and less  safe ..





U.S. passenger jet nearly collided with drone in March: FAA


NEW YORK (Reuters) - An American Airlines Group Inc aircraft almost collided with a drone above Florida earlier this year, a near-accident that highlights the growing risk from rising use of unmanned aircraft, the U.S. air safety regulator said.

The pilot reported seeing a small, remote-control aircraft very close to his plane while preparing to land at Tallahassee Regional Airport, said Jim Williams, manager of the Federal Aviation Administration's Unmanned Aircraft System Integration Office.

"The airplane pilot said that the UAS was so close to his jet that he was sure he had collided with it," Williams said at an industry conference on Thursday, referring to an unmanned aircraft system.

The aircraft, operated by an American subsidiary, did not appear to be damaged when it was inspected after the March 22 incident, Williams said.

But the incident served to highlight the risk of remote-control aircraft, he said.

"The risk for a small UAS to be ingested into a passenger airline engine is very real," Williams said. "The results could be catastrophic."

The FAA currently bans the commercial use of drones in the United States and is under growing pressure to set rules that would permit their broader use. Hobby and many law-enforcement uses are permitted.

Last year, the agency began establishing test sites where businesses can try out commercial uses. [ID:nL2N0K90QW] Two of the centers have started working ahead of schedule.

"The FAA is working aggressively to ensure the safe integration of unmanned aircraft systems into the national airspace," the agency said in a statement.

The March incident was reported to the Tallahassee control tower by the pilot for Bluestreak Airlines, a US Airways commuter carrier. US Airways is part of American Airlines.

The plane, a Bombardier CRJ-200, was a traveling from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Tallahassee.

It was at 2,300 feet and about five miles from the airport when it encountered the remote controlled jet. The FAA investigated but could not identify the pilot of the drone.

American said it is "aware of the published report alleging an incident with one of our express flights and we are investigating."

The airline said it would share any information with the FAA and would not comment further.

The incident was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

In his address to the Small Unmanned Systems Business Expo in San Francisco, Williams also showed videos of several drone accidents, including one in which a drone crashed into a crowd during the running of the bulls in Richmond, Virginia, last fall.

The crash was caused by a battery failure and resulted in minor injuries, he said.

Williams also noted the "Miracle on the Hudson," in which birds hit the engine of a flight leaving New York, prompting an emergency landing on the river.

"Imagine a metal-and-plastic object, especially that big lithium battery, going into a high-speed turbine engine," he said.

(Reporting by Alwyn Scott; Editing by Diane Craft)

http://news.msn.com/us/us-passenger-jet-nearly-collided-with-drone-in-march-faa