modeltronics

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http://www.cnet.com/news/man-shoots-...ng-over-house/

Here is a guy that took one down with a 12 gage. Watch the video in the link.

catboater

My Feedback: (51)

Will be very interested to see how this plays out.

DocYates

My Feedback: (102)

There is now a bounty on the heads of the outlaw fliers in California. Wish I knew them, would rat them out in a heartbeat....


http://insider.foxnews.com/2015/07/3...-officials-say

Gizmo-RCU

My Feedback: (27)

The AMA district VP should have stood next the DA and supported him with AMA matching the bounty...............That's how you stop this crap! I have yet to see the PR firms release, maybe next Jan. after Christmas so as not to upset gift shopping???

porcia83

My Feedback: (8)

Again...think about the prospect of the AMA issuing a press release after all of the incidents...think about it. If the publc doesn't put us in the same basket as the lawbreakers now...they will after that. The average member of the public doesn't lump us in with them, we're (the members) are the ones hypersensitive to that.

And can you imagine the outrage of people seeing $25,000 of AMA money spent on a bounty!

Gizmo-RCU

My Feedback: (27)

porcia.....

You sound very PC in your statement. The average public doesn't know the diffrence between a quad copter and a 55 cc gas powered scale mustang, we all are the same to them! Bet everyone on RCU has been lumped into that basket at one time or another and we need to put distance between the two. Right now we are in the same "Basket" to use your phrase.
Remember WWII? They used essentially RC directed, gas powered model aircraft and called them Drones. They were directed flying targets............

An no I didn't say spend $25,000.00 on the reward. I said match the county who put up $75,000.00. Better than what we age gitting now. My best guess is that the offenders are not even members????

The AMA non-approch is "maybe it will go away" Been there and done that. Their approch to another problem years ago was the same, ignore it and let the club handle a problem that was theirs. (they did vote in another layer of insurance to cover themselves if they got sued) The result of that was the club let their Leader Club Status drop and essentially ignored the district VP at the time, a sad state of affairs.

CRX Turbines

This person who shot the drone down will likely have nothing come out of this.. slap on the wrist if you will. It will be interesting to see if he is ordered to pay for the tattered copter. Hats off to the gentlemen for taking a stand.

topspin

I agree with you, the public doesn't make those distinctions they see us as all the same. That is why I was so much against the AMA bringing the quads and drone mentality into the association. There are simply too many people who are not even AMA members that buy these things and then use them in a stupid and irresponsible manner that jeopardizes my hobby. At some point if someone downs an aircraft then the FAA is likely to call a halt to model aviation. The Government has a very knee jerk reaction to such things and they will not make any distinction between fixed wing or other types of model aircraft. they will simply ban everything.

Duncman

$75K, and yes, I too would rat them out for a hell of a lot less.

Kelly Rohrbach

My Feedback: (1)

bingo

catboater

My Feedback: (51)

I'd rat them out for nothing. It's the right thing to do.

porcia83

My Feedback: (8)

I'm not sure what PC means to you, or which of my statements you're referring to. I would say however that you appear to be shortchanging the publics ability to distinguish between a 55 pound Mustang and a DJI Phantom. I give the average person a little more credit than that, but that might just be me. In all of these stories, and the links I've seen on other sites, I've never once seen a comment from someone saying, oh those AMA modelers are at it again when I quad pilot does something stupid. It's my opinion we are the only group of people who do that, and it's natural for us to look at it that way because we know the risks involved, and how most of us follow the rules, and apply common sense.

And I guess I stand corrected, you didn't say spend 25k, you said spend 75k (although the state has put up a total of 75k, 3x25k).. So again I'll repeat, can you imagine the outrage of some folks if the AMA spent that amount of money on a bounty. I'm not sure what that would git us, so far it has produced zilch for the state of CA. But it's good press!

It's interesting to note that you think the AMA's approach is a "non-approach", the crux of which appears to be "that maybe it will go away". That seems to be completely opposite of what others are saying about the AMA's approach to this, even the guy who was quick to agree with you. He says the AMA has brought the "quads and the drone mentality to the AMA". Other complain bitterly about the money they have spent, and the know before you fly campaign, and editorials in the USA today, etc etc. Sure seems like no matter what they do, they will be second guessed and pilloried. I guess the simplistic and naive approach would have been for the AMA to shun the quads right...keep them away, ban them from the hobby, refuse them entry! Away with them all by god. That would have solved every problem out there, for sure!

I say thank god they didn't do that every time a new addition to the hobby came along other than free flight. Guess it's o/k for all the other stuff (heli's included but they are o/k because they have one rotor blade not more). I've said it before, I don't really care for them nor fly them, but I absolutely believe they have a place in the hobby, and will continue to. It would have been foolish for the AMA to have done anything to ban or exclude them from inclusion. There are a great many people who go out and buy RC airplanes who aren't part of the AMA, not sure how what they do will eventually affect the hobby. I keep seeing the doom and gloom "wait til a plane is brought down" comments and how it's going to end the hobby. A FPV equipped foamy is just as capable of doing that as a quad is, but it's funny how that's never mentioned.

The hobby is going to continue forward, and just as it is now, there won't be any drastic overwhelmingly burdensome restrictive rules that will end the hobby as we know it. So keep flying!

Not sure what the issue was with the club you are talking about, not enough details, so can't comment on how it was the AMA's fault for that matter.

Gizmo-RCU

My Feedback: (27)

PC=Politically Correct (Let's ignore the obvious so as not to upset someone) Another correction: I did not say a 55 pound Mustang, I said a 55cc Mustang, big difference, pay a little more attention.
No one said "shun" the quads, but come down on the individuals using them in an illegal manner. I am not against Quads but after seeing a Quad firing a handgun remotely, (recent Fox news) and numerous recent problems....close call at an east coast airport on todays Fox News, subject shooting down a quad snooping in the guys backyard, to ignore that is PC!
I guess it's necessary to point out that conventional model aircraft planes and Helis are fiown visually, not FPV. That's the rub. There is a lot of room for misuse.
With my Law Enforcement and Militarry background I can see great potential for mayhem, at the expense of all of us in the hobby.
By the way, do you have a Quad, sure sounds like it? As a point all the serious RC'ers I know are AMA members and essentially very responsible folks.

AMA NEEDS TO TAKE A POSITION NOW...............Very soon it may be to late. (This is not going away)

FYI the club had a problem with a legally blind person (AMA member) flying wrecklessly at a State Park field. The Dist. VP and AMA took the stance that it was the clubs problem.

cloudancer03

My Feedback: (22)

Sitting here watching CNN and they reported 2 close misses with drones and further said it's likely there are others unreported.at this rate it's just a matter of time until a drone collides with a commercial plane killing passengers and then the Congress will do a knee-jerk reaction and really tighten the screws on on all of us.we need to foward responsible solutions voluntarily and limit the coming on a great hobby.rc modelers have always been responsible and worked with organizations raising money for worth causes building a positive image for our rc sport.now a hand full of rogue drone operators are going to our hobby back.disgusting!

CRX Turbines

Based on the video of the guy with the shotgun and the news cast that followed, it appears based on the newscast that the guy with the copter was well within his "AMA" rights to be flying the copter but it appears questionable as to whether he was within FAA guidelines. Right or wrong, perception is 90% of the battle with this and the AMA to me is looking very irresponsible and unresponsive. The pic of a drone on the front of their magazine recently just ices the cake.

HoundDog

My Feedback: (49)

I've seen it estimated that there are 500,000 (Half Million) People flying some sort R/C in the USA. Probably many more know that it is so easy to fly a Quad (Drone). Only 175K or so are AMA members. The rest want nothing to do with organized flying sites or paying AMA or Club dues. We had a funfly A week ago Saturday 25 July. Point is had 4 gentleman in the mid to late twenties from a town 12 miles west. Asked if they Flew Oh ya, We have our own field . Asked if they were AMA members Answer Nope Don't need it. Having fun flying by our selves. Don't need to be told what we can and Can't do. Besides it's cheaper this way.
Can't really blame them especially if they ever read any of these Forums and all the BS written here. Ov course they didn't fly Quads either.

049flyer

My Feedback: (18)

I have seen videos of idiots mounting rifles and pistols on quads and shooting them while in flight. How do we know that the quad flying overhead is not armed? Troubling indeed.

bensid54

Interesting. What about the twits that own guns without a clue on how to secure or use them? It's all relative there is always a part of society that can barely dress themselves never mind give them something they can do damage or cause death with, likely severe guidelines need to be put in place for both drones and guns.

F-16 viperman

Just My 2 CTS. I fly everything from quad nano, to a titan powered skymaster f-18. Those of us who have been doing this for any length of time would never do anything this stupid. You can make all the laws, fines, rewards, regulations, rules, interperetations, and lasers, and anything else you can think of to mitigate the potential dangers of doing anything in life, and guess what? Somthing somewhere bad can and will happen! Are We all gonna quit living life because we are too scared of what might happen? If We are all on the couch too scared to move , Where are all the lawyers gonna get the lawsuits from. They'll never be able to survive in a world working a real job! The politicians won't be required to keep us safe, and they too will be out of a job and forced to find honest work! NOW THAT'S SARCASIM!

F-16 viperman

Just My 2 CTS. I fly everything from quad nano, to a titan powered skymaster f-18. Those of us who have been doing this for any length of time would never do anything this stupid. You can make all the laws, fines, rewards, regulations, rules, interperetations, and lasers, and anything else you can think of to mitigate the potential dangers of doing anything in life, and guess what? Somthing somewhere bad can and will happen! Are We all gonna quit living life because we are too scared of what might happen? If We are all on the couch too scared to move , Where are all the lawyers gonna get the lawsuits from. They'll never be able to survive in a world working a real job! The politicians won't be required to keep us safe, and they too will be out of a job and forced to find honest work! NOW THAT'S SARCASIM! One Final thought: To mitigate the damage, Educate as many willing people, ignorant of safety protocol as You can. and hope that the stupid will convert to ignorant and start asking questions on what can be done to improve things. You can educate the ignorant, But You can't fix stupid! I'M DONE!

franklin_m

I second Gizmo and others that the AMA approach has been tepid, too slow, and overall ineffective. AMA nearly broke its own arm patting itself on the back for getting section 336, then quickly realized they forgot to consider how FAA might interpret that language. Now they're suing FAA over it. As if that's going to make friends. Secondly, what's the value to FAA of having AMA as a CBO? Certainly hasn't been a reduction in drone incidents. Heck, as well stated by an earlier poster, the drone pilots themselves don't see value in AMA membership.

FLAPHappy

My Feedback: (209)

Yep, its going to get a lot worse. Take a look at the AMA forum on RCU, we are still arguing about the same thing. Nobody in the AMA has done anything??? Why not?

FLAPHappy

My Feedback: (209)

Porcia: where did you see the AMA put the bounty on the Idiots that flew quads in this fire , in California? Last I saw , the State put up the Bounty. Correct me if I am wrong, but don't think so.

FLAPHappy

My Feedback: (209)

Yep: the reason they don't except the AMA is because of the Safety Rules they Suggest. The AMA only makes Suggestions for Safety. That's the problem right there.
So these clowns fly where ever they want, regardless of any rules, they don't belong to any AMA Club, They don't Belong anywhere..Until the day it happens, lives are lost. Then we might see something. Then, at that point, it's too late...........

Super_Chief

Mandate 72mhz radios on these and lets see some target practice of our own but now do it with radio trans instead of bullets.