Look...Up in the sky...
 

I was reading an employee profile, in the current Boeing magazine, on Dina Hyde. They referred to a St Louis Business Journal article on Ms Hyde's work for Boeing.
(Quote)
"Most recently, she's led Boeing's effort with six other leading aerospace companies and the U.S. Department of Defense, FAA and NASA, on a goal of opening up national air space to unmanned air vehicles, or UAVs, to help with everything from homeland security to spotting tuna for fishermen. The initiative is called UNITE, or the UAV National Industry Team."

Images of Bladerunner or The Fifth Element come to my mind and I'm really not comfortable with it.
Beyond them seeing my pot field or my gamboling with the sheep, I'm concerned with safety.
Unmanned vehicles that will continue to be made lighter and cheaper to handle more instruments and more fuel. Since there's no people on board, we don't need double and triple redundancy on the systems that keep it flying.
If you think bird crap is bad, wait till these things fill the air.
:(

Re: Look...Up in the sky...
 

Especially after the people with the pot fields and recreational sheep start shooting them down.

Well, I am concerned about the privacy issue, but we're already being spyed upon by our government. UAVs aren't the trickle that precedes the flood, they are part of the current flood.

How do you feel about general aviation aircraft flying near your house? They are probably less reliable than UAVs are.

They also make a much larger hole in the roof if they fall out of the sky.

:D :D :D :D

Think of the mooning opportunites:cool:

Does this mean I have to keep my grass cut? I'll bet their working with the local garden club. It's a conspiracy. Time to break out the aluminum foil.

I'm less concerned with general aviation. Because they carry people, they are held to a much higher safety standard in the construction and maintainance.

being a commercial pilot, instrument airplane, single engine land, i can say that, yes i've lost an engine and no didn't crash. the propeller is nothing but a fan to keep the pilot cool. want proof? stop it and watch him sweat!:D seriously though we have a pretty good glide ratio per 1000/ft. it all depends on the pilot behind the yoke at keeping up in practice of "L/D max" or best glide ratio. 9 out of 10 pilots that loose engine power make a safe landing either at an airport, in a field, or on a road. (there's your PSA for the day:D )

Re: Re: Look...Up in the sky...
 

Man made flying targets are so very hard to find. I vote yes.

The AlCan highway to Alaska is very sparsely populated, therefore you can just pull over and camp anywhere along the road except on the rare straight sections. These sections were prominantly posted as emergency airstrips. Sometimes the small planes would land and refill their tanks from jerry cans carried inside the plane.
I remember pulling into a gas station that was a log cabin with a gas pump. Six or seven kids burst out the door and swarmed all over my van like a hoard of munchkins. The oldest (about 12 yo) pumped the gas and the youngest (about 5 or 6 yo) cleaned the headlights and taillights because that was all she could reach.
They told me Dad was moose hunting and they hoped he'd get another one because there was only two in the freezer and they wouldn't make it through the winter with that. I never saw mom but she was probably watching from somewhere.;)

      Hey you forgot the most obvious one. The Terminator series. Probably start in California... Arnie always has been one of them.
      Jokes aside, I miss the dangerous bad old days when the Gov didn't 'protect' me by watching every step or, for that matter, giving me a ticket if I don't feel like wearing my seat belt.
      By the by, we have an example of how a UAV could help commercialy over water, what about land? Other than watching for pot fields and fun with sheep, I mean.

Bruce, did you take a lot of pics when you were in Alaska?

Yeah Syc, three trips and hundreds of slides.

Whit, cross country pipelines and powerlines are being overflown continously looking for leaks and other problems like construction on the right of ways. They also check for brush and tree growth as well as erosion from water course changes.
They could also be used to keep track of herds of cattle, sheep or horses and the condition of grain crops.
The best would be televised real time observation of nudist colonys.

Dude! You have got to post some of those! I imagine you got some great shots up there...c'mon you dirty ol' man! Share 'em!

Yeah Syc, it's on my list of shit to do.

What a silly, ignorant statement.

General Aviation aircraft are maintaned to very high satefty standards, and furthermore are piloted by people with a strong personal vested interest in *not* crashing into things.

Many non-airline pilots, both GA and military, have died while making sure their aircraft did not hurt people on the ground.

Show me a UAV that can do that.

-Maggie (private pilot, 300 hrs pilot time)