Posted on 12/03/2005 2:01:57 PM PST by gaijin
The FAA is just WRONG!!!
If the FAA stops drones from going near airports that is totally understandable. But if they stop government drones from going far away from airports, over desolated areas on the border, that is bad. Congressional action might be needed.
What manner of insanity is this? The areas with little to no air traffic and minimal ground activity are precisely where we need these drones! They won't be in the way of anything!
unnngh!
Yep, that will do it, for less money as well -- build the fence.
It is both breathtaking and disheartening to see a government at war with itself.
We can't have those drones interfering with drug smuggling planes coming up from Mexico.
Why is the White House playing mother-may-I with the FAA? This is an easy problem to solve. Just mandate that the FAA doesn't get their 2006 operating budget until they stop slow-rolling the authorization certificates. With the prospect of no money for 2006, they'll get their slow bureaucratic asses in gear right quick.
I can't begin to tell you how hard it is to deal with the FAA on UAV waiver issues.
These people are "working" on a geologic time clock. Bureaucracy doesn't begin to cover it.
Do the UAVs get Hellfire missiles, too? That's a great way to deter illegal immigration.
My brother has been building commercial heliports forabout 30 years. He deals with the FAA all of the time. He cannot stand the FAA. If he were on this thread, he could rant for hours.
I agree. We could use the cement from Mexico to build the wall. (Mexico produces a tremendous amount of cement). And NAFTA would be happy too!
Any statements or excuses about..... oh we can't do that because the FAA says so.... is diversional BS from the top down....
Lock the borders down NOW and "control" entry to and from this nation......no need to stop it, just control it.
Put a transponder on it and control it like any other aircraft.
Fine. Then make all the airspace along a 12 mile wide strip from 14,000ft to FL 190 (14,000-19,000ft) restricted military airspace. That should give plenty of space above and below that belt for commercial and civilian flight unrestricted or under FAA control and plenty of space to fly the drones. In addition, if the drone isn't flying in a portion of the restricted area strip at a certain time the FAA can make the restricted airspace "inactive" allowing regular flight. But even if the airspace is "active", they can still see the drones and vector aircraft around them in the airspace if necessary.
Somebody in the FAA is doing a "slow roll" here. They are likely either protecting their turf or trying to avoid the horrendous Environmental Impact Study which is involved and will no doubt take years and years to complete before the first flight.
This is only a show-stopper because somebody in auithority in the FAA is making it one (probably a Clinton holdover).
UAV drones are just little more than a plecebo to make it appear that the Government is doing something useful. They will be marginally useful (at best) in helping to deploy scarce border patrol personnel. Even so, a UAV flying over a wide area will generate hundreds of hits, some real, some false. You still need boots on the ground to check it out. You also need to ammend catch-and-release laws. You also have to have real penalties for people caught crossing multiple ties.
As cruel as this may sound, if you had a shoot to kill policy at the border, that would slow the illegal flood to a trickle very quickly. In contrast, a wall and other high tech measures will cost billions without any real guarantee of success. I am not suggesting we target "innocents", but I'm sure the patrol knows the M/O of some of the more flagrent, criminal violators. I would not hesitate to give these guys their reward. Even a few fatalies (or even injuries) would send a message that we mean business.
I might be wrong here.
But I suspect once again that the President threw us a bone again by saying he would tighten up the border using UAV's. But knew all along that the FAA would stop the use of them on the border. So now he can say look I tried but the FAA won't allow them.
The predator is in use in Tuscon and will seen be in use in other areas of the border.
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