Posted on 09/01/2016 9:57:26 AM PDT by Impala64ssa
"It came over my airspace, 25 or 30 feet above my trees, and hovered for a second. I blasted it to smithereens."
A woman in Virginia shot down a drone flying near her property in June of this year. It's at least the third time this has happened in the U.S., with previous incidents in Kentucky and Tennessee.
Originally reported in the local Fauquier Times and subsequently covered by Ars Technica, the shooter was Jennifer Youngman, a neighbor to actor and director Robert Duvall. She had been cleaning her shotguns on the porch when two men stopped on a nearby road and started flying a drone around the general vicinity. Youngman left the drone alone while it flew around nearby fields, but prepared to take it down and ultimately did when it flew over her land.
As she told Ars Technica:
I loaded my shotgun and took the safety off, and this thing came flying over my trees. I don't know if they lost command or if they didn't have good command, but the wind had picked up. It came over my airspace, 25 or 30 feet above my trees, and hovered for a second. I blasted it to smithereens.
Shooting down drones is a bit of a legal gray area in the United States at the moment. Opponents point out that, according to FAA classifications, drones are technical aircraft and interfering with the flight of one is a federal crime. So far no shooters have been prosecuted on the federal level. In fact other drone shooters, like William Merideth, have ultimately been cleared of all charges, though the owner of that drone is still pursuing a civil suit for $1,500 in damages.
To her credit, Youngman told Ars Technica that she went about shooting down the drone with 7.5 birdshot, which is both the most effective way to take a drone out of the sky, but also ensures that the projectiles won't do any harm on the way down. The drone, however, still can. Youngman said the crash left "two punctures in [her] lawn tractor."
The best way to avoid that might be to not shoot down the thing down in the first place.
Look up the word “pedantic”
that's a Glock on the business end of the drone
There is a difference between flying overhead (like a plane) and hovering near your house with a camera
Like the old definition of smut- UI may not be ale to define it but I know it when I see it.
Spying is spying- do it near my house, and risk your expensive toy. Simple as that.
slingshot. Or air rifle.
In addition, it also is invasion of privacy.
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I don't understand it at all. I live where I do so that I can have privacy and space.
You have no clue.
If your neighbor looks at your place with a telescope are you going to shoot him, too?
Maybe the guys at crazyquail.com can build in a drone option in the next version of the iPhone/iPad control software.
“Poor analogy. One is purposely under control, and the other is not.”
We dont know that for certain. She even said herself she didn’t know if it was a gust of wind, or if they lost control of it.
She just didn’t care to get an answer.
I do potentially see a federal standard that is built into future drones where anyone can put a “beacon” device on their property that sends out a low-powered signal (similar to what kids Walkie-Talkies put out) that will signal to the drone’s on-board controls to override any human instructions and cause it to fly back in the opposite direction safely or that will instruct the camera to go into B/W ultra low-res mode, making any images useless.
Sounds like 20 ga birdshot doesn’t break it down into small enough pieces. More punch is needed. 12 ga slug?
Why should aircraft get a pass? Truckers have to deal with each and every state they drive in, even if they're just passing through... There's a whole lot more of them, than there are aircraft.
I’m moving in that direction myself.
I want my own five to ten acres with my home right in the middle.
Leave me alone! LOL
When I want human contact, I’ll seek it out.
Absolutely! We have almost five acres. I love it! :)
Good for you. I’m glad to hear that.
I like when others are happy.
This was a drone.
:)
Hose.
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