why i dont like drone Operators!!

[Daveroo]

drones themselves are fine..i just wish people would use their heads,its not about who got the coolest shot sometimes but rather why endanger others...read the very last line and think about it...maybe some of those 22 cars and the 5 homes may not have been lost if these idiots hadnt done what they did.yeah we all like to see those awesome photos..but dont endanger other peoples "things" and lives...i know if i lost my home,and heard the reason the tankers were delayed or had to leave the fire.....well if i found him or her..they would have some injuries to their knee caps.

<header class="entry-header" style="margin: 0px auto; width: 584.265625px; color: rgb(55, 55, 55); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.375px;">5 drones seen at wildfire in California, 2 reportedly chased firefighting aircraft

Posted on July 18, 2015 by Bill Gabbert
</header>Drones are increasingly becoming a very serious problem at fires in California. On Friday, July 17, five were reported near the North Fire — the “carmegeddon” fire that burned 22 vehicles trapped on Interstate 15 in southern California. Two drones, according to an agency spokesperson, actually gave chase to firefighting aircraft.
Below are excerpts from an article at NBC Los Angeles:

…All air units not only pulled back from the fire because of the drones, but all five were forced to touch back down at the airport in San Bernardino after jettisoning their loads, John Miller of the U.S. Forest Service said.
Five drones were initially spotted over the fire, which consumed five homes and more than a dozen cars as motorists frantically fled on foot through the Cajon Pass.
Two drones actually gave chase to air units, and the incident delayed response by about 15 to 20 minutes, according to Battalion Chief Marc Peebles of San Bernardino County Fire Department.
When asked if the delay contributed to the fire jumping the 15 Freeway, Peebles said “It definitely contributed to it.”

[Naismith]

Reckon they will have to licence them eventually. But probably it will take a real tragedy to gee up the legislators.

[modelr]

Reckon they will have to licence them eventually. But probably it will take a real tragedy to gee up the legislators.

It is already illegal to do what all of these "drones" did. Or rather what their pilots did. We in the legal R/C hobby are being caught up by these law breakers and are having to spend big money through our nationwide organization, the Academy of Model Aeronautics, (AMA) which sets the rules under which we fly. This year we have had to get congress to put some brakes on the FAA because they tried to include the lawful hobby in their latest rulemaking, against congress' specific instructions not to. These lawbreakers just give the FAA more impetus to include every thing that leaves terra firma in their rules. Not that it makes any difference, as these "drones" (multi-rotor helicopters used as photo platforms) flown by these people were flown totally illegally, are so widely available, and from places that do not educate the pilots on the rules, and law breakers don't care anyway. And for them to receive video signals from the cameras, and to use FPV equipment (First person video)(Virtual pilot's seat) at the distances these had to be flown, require an FCC license to operate anyway. Our AMA equipment for the general hobby will only work about 3/4 of a mile, (1/4 watt) and the pilot will lose sight of the aircraft long before then, thus losing control.

[stansdds]

Ultimately, I expect R/C drones to be banned from private use. They will be licensed for commercial use and the government will be able to use them, but I do expect a ban in the future. All because of a few who misuse them. Peeping on their neighbors and flying them in restricted or prohibited airspace, and flying them in a manner which endangers others. It takes only a few bad apples to spoil the entire barrel of apples.

[n4gix]

Perhaps "we" need to develop mini-SAMs to destroy drones that are being flown in such restricted airspace. Loosing their expensive toys would likely put a damper on such activity.