Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Melvin Franklin controls the gyroscopic camera
on the Vanguard Defense Industries Shadowhawk UAV purchased by the Montgomery County
Sheriff’s Office following a press conference in March.
That picture shows an actual helicopter, not the kind with the four or six propellers which will deliver UPS or pizza.
As a former helicopter pilot, I’m going to guess that a successful operator of a helicopter drone has to be highly, highly trained. The multipropeller drones are much easier to fly & lack the potential to instantly go out of control & crash. FWIW, I don’t think my pilot skills give me any advantage controlling something I wasn’t actually seated in.
A helicopter with a variable thrust tail rotor and a swashplate pitch & lift main rotor (your typical chopper) can be safely flown only within very narrow control parameters. If you overcontrol & go outside those parameters, and your instructor pilot isn’t right there to take the controls & stabilize the aircraft very quickly, it’s going to crash, often described as “dynamic rollover”, or, “helicopter rolls over and beats itself to death”.
I’ll bet having seen the photo that the helicopter drone (both of them, now) wasn’t hacked, it had an inexperienced idiot at the controls.
And I don’t wish the po-po success either with their drones or their MRAPs. Police need to be reminded that they’re civilians, too.
Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Melvin Franklin controls the gyroscopic camera
on the Vanguard Defense Industries Shadowhawk UAV purchased by the Montgomery County
Sheriff’s Office following a press conference in March.
“Police need to be reminded that they’re civilians, too.”
Indentify their home and drop by to compliment them on their beautiful family.