ATF scraps drone program
Because they suck at flying them. Well, they can’t interpret gun laws very well either and they’re still doing that.
I recently got me err the kids a quadcopter and they are hard to fly.
8 Responses to “ATF scraps drone program”
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March 26th, 2015 at 8:46 pm
The ever-indulgent wife bought me a Dromida Ominus last weekend. Fun little drone. When you power it up you have it sitting somewhere level. Then it does its best to keep itself level. Slightly tricky in our small back yard, darn fun at the park. Key tip the guy at the store gave us: when in doubt, cut the throttle. About to hit something? Cut the throttle. Headed for a tree? Getting too high, or too far away? Lose track of it? Cut the throttle and it will drop to the ground with minimal damage.
There’s also the slightly more expensive FPV version that comes with a camera. When we can fly this one, we’ll get one of those so we each have a drone to fly.
The Dromida website has videos you can watch.
March 27th, 2015 at 12:24 am
Last weekend, my buddy got out his new drone to show it off to me and lost it within two minutes. Took it up too high and the wind took it.
March 27th, 2015 at 2:38 am
Having recently written a Master’s thesis about UAV/UAS operation by civilian agencies, I pose a question:
What is the difference between a Radio Controlled aircraft, and a drone? Discuss.
Hint: The previous two posts contain anecdotes about RC aircraft, not drones.
March 27th, 2015 at 1:31 pm
Drone implies autonomous operation post launch; a proper drone flies itself.
March 27th, 2015 at 7:46 pm
Cutting the throttle does indeed work great… as long as you didn’t lose track of it over your neighbor’s roof.
March 27th, 2015 at 10:40 pm
Quad copters are hard to fly. Drones take instructions for an autopilot.
They are a bit more expensive. But they don’t crash nearly as often. If you are careful with those instructions.
March 27th, 2015 at 10:46 pm
Also, drones don’t have to be copters – of any kind. (You can build regular model helicopters and turn them into drones as well – they are more expensive.)
But you can also add an Arduino and SW to a fixed wing craft. The current edition of MAKE magazine has plans for an inexpensive RC-controlled plane. Plenty large enough to hold the Arduino circuits.
March 28th, 2015 at 3:08 am
Drone: Can take pictures or video from a distance.
RC Plane/Helicopter: Can’t.
That’s basically the only difference. With a drone you can fly it out of line of sight, with an RC plane/helicopter taking it out of line of sight can end with an expensive mistake. Truthfully, I’d rather have an RC plane/helicopter. Some of the really cool ones that I’d love to fly cost more than my car though.