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Bold Eagles: Angry Birds Are Ripping $80,000 Drones Out of the Sky
Wall Street Journal ^ | September 29, 2017 | Mike Cherney

Posted on 09/29/2017 9:47:51 AM PDT by C19fan

Daniel Parfitt thought he’d found the perfect drone for a two-day mapping job in a remote patch of the Australian outback. The roughly $80,000 machine had a wingspan of 7 feet and resembled a stealth bomber.

There was just one problem. His machine raised the hackles of one prominent local resident: a wedge-tailed eagle.

(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...


TOPICS: Computers/Internet; Pets/Animals
KEYWORDS: drones; eagles
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To: C19fan

Eighty THOUSAND Dollars??? As in $80,000?

Either that number is off by an order of magnitude, or I’m clearly in the wrong business.


21 posted on 09/29/2017 10:56:14 AM PDT by Ragnar Danneskjöld
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To: wrench

22 posted on 09/29/2017 10:59:39 AM PDT by deoetdoctrinae (Donate monthly and end FReepathons.)
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To: nickedknack

Because most drones fly at something like 40k feet.

Thats a tad bit high for a bird.


23 posted on 09/29/2017 11:03:34 AM PDT by Vermont Lt (Burn. It. Down.)
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To: C19fan

Go eagles!


24 posted on 09/29/2017 11:14:41 AM PDT by I want the USA back (*slam is a political movement that hides behind the illusion of religion.)
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To: C19fan

Eagles are tough birds. The Mongolians use Golden Eagles to hunt wolves.


25 posted on 09/29/2017 11:16:24 AM PDT by Georgia Girl 2 (The only purpose of a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped)
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To: Vermont Lt

The long range UAVs such as Global Hawk fly high. I’m thinking about the tactical battlefield drones that operate under 2,000 feet or so.


26 posted on 09/29/2017 11:35:59 AM PDT by nickedknack ("Your time is up!")
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To: Mr. K

Or a giant pair of eyes on the wings.


27 posted on 09/29/2017 11:39:44 AM PDT by Axenolith (Government blows, and that which governs least, blows least...)
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To: puppypusher

I watched a flock of crows harassing a red tail hawk one day. The crows were darting in and pulling away and one made the mistake of going under the hawk. It was like a Dauntless dive bomber in a near vertical dive when that hawk hammered the crow. Nature in action.


28 posted on 09/29/2017 11:45:43 AM PDT by sarge83
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To: SES1066

The idiot paid $80,000 for that toy? A fool and his money...


29 posted on 09/29/2017 12:14:08 PM PDT by Windflier (Pitchforks and torches ripen on the vine. Left too long, they become black rifles.)
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To: Windflier
The idiot paid $80,000 for that toy? A fool and his money...

I am inclined to think so 'foolish'. It is a business operation and probably has (had) a miniaturized steady-cam and precise GPS for mapping. This is Australia and the setup is probably, even with the drone, cheaper than a surveyor crew if the purpose was mapping. Other uses probably also cheaper than human crew. Looks like, unlike the rotor-types, it could get quite high and thus needs expensive electronics for piloting and auto-return?

30 posted on 09/29/2017 12:22:18 PM PDT by SES1066 (Happiness is a depressed Washington, DC housing market!)
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To: SES1066
...probably has (had) a miniaturized steady-cam and precise GPS for mapping. Looks like, unlike the rotor-types, it could get quite high and thus needs expensive electronics for piloting and auto-return?

Still...$80,000?

Maybe that's in Australian dollars. In this country you can buy a real airplane for $80k.

31 posted on 09/29/2017 1:52:44 PM PDT by Windflier (Pitchforks and torches ripen on the vine. Left too long, they become black rifles.)
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To: Windflier

But then you’d have to pay a man to fly the plane. After about 100 hours, or so, an unmanned drone gets paid for if you’re not paying for the pilot.


32 posted on 09/29/2017 1:56:33 PM PDT by Jonty30 (What Islam and secularism have in common is that they are both death cults)
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To: Jonty30
But then you’d have to pay a man to fly the plane. After about 100 hours, or so, an unmanned drone gets paid for if you’re not paying for the pilot.

Maybe, but at the end of the day, I'd still have my pilot, my $80k plane, and the survey job would be done.

This guy has a broken toy that was taken out by a bird!

33 posted on 09/29/2017 2:06:58 PM PDT by Windflier (Pitchforks and torches ripen on the vine. Left too long, they become black rifles.)
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To: lee martell

Flock Leader has some interesting command and control.

Amazing starlings murmuration.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOGCSBh3kmM


34 posted on 09/29/2017 4:24:57 PM PDT by DUMBGRUNT (This Space for Rent)
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To: Windflier
Eagle attacks drone
35 posted on 09/29/2017 4:29:46 PM PDT by COBOL2Java (John McCain treats GOP voters like he treated his first wife)
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To: C19fan

Eagles v drones: Dutch police to take on rogue aircraft with flying squad
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/12/eagles-v-drones-dutch-police-take-on-rogue-aircraft-flying-squad


36 posted on 09/29/2017 5:49:42 PM PDT by tbw2
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To: Mr. K

They need to arm those drones with a little bitty tail gunner.


37 posted on 10/01/2017 3:50:08 PM PDT by Defiant (It's not antifa, it's actually antifafa. Antifa Fascists.)
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