And I thought the FAA had put a moratorium on this stuff until the new sUAV regulations are in place?

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/11/16...view-on-crime/

Brad
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Law enforcement don't count.

Beg to differ, LE absolutely falls under the FAA rules. In fact ONLY law enforcement can get a the required approval to operate a UAV from the FAA. Right now any public agency that wants to operate a UAS has to obtain a Certificate of Authorization (COA) from the FAA on a case by case basis. They are difficult and costly to obtain so most agencies and other users are waiting on the FAA to issue the SFAR Part 107 sUAS Rule. That will become their operating authority and remove the need for the case by case COA process.

http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/...tions/uas/coa/

Just my rant, I clicked the link and got a commercial so I imeadeatly closed the window.
I see enough commercials on TV.

Just how does one determine if the Montgomery County Sheriffs Office (Texas) has gotten a COA?<div>
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Call 'em and ask 'em! They will either tell you or possibly inform you that it ain't any of your business, which IMO it ain't.

I saw the article on Fox also and was just trying to be a smart a.., if anyone could figure out how to get around the FAA it would be an other government agency which LF is . Getting around the FAA is probably not the correct wording. What I would really like to know is how big of an engine and what brand, as they said it carried enough fuel to fly for 2 hours. There machine looks about 90 sized and to fly for 2 hours is alot of fuel.

We have a local UAV company here who is making UAVs for commercial and military application. They currently have a helicopter that is autonomous and can stay in the air for two hours on gas, and an electric heli which is fully autonomous that can fly almost 30 minutes on a 4 cell lipo pack. Pretty impressive stuff these guys are coming up with.....

Yeah I guess that the government flying video survelence helicopters over buildings and populated areas without a COA is just not the concern of freedom loving citizens.

Brad
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Took about 20 seconds on Google (I type slowly) to find this:

http://vanguarddefense.com/faa-approves-coa/


I have not heard of a single law enforcement agency using UAVs without a COA.

after that fnc write up, if they didna have a COA, the proper folks(FAA) would have a hard time explaining why they(FAA) did not move in and shut the op down.

Another thing to keep in mind is the fact that one of the main reasons the FAA is writing new rules was that many police agencies were running around ramping up UAV programs under AC 91-57.

Mst be that $3 exhaust extension from Tower.

Military drones have been flown out of Ft. Hood TX. The pilots had cell phones they used to keep various airpot towers aprised of their activity. So I have heard, anyway.

The Montgomery County Sherrifs drone has crashed.

Here's a couple more. Does it seem ironic to you that FAA is granting COAs only to cops for UA ops? To me, they're second only to terrorists amongst those I have misgivings about operating UAVs

http://www.policeone.com/border-patr...thern-Arizona/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england...yside-15520279

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/18/us/18drone.html

From the third item I was LOL over the quote of military official herein:
"On 16th August, an RQ-7 Shadow drone, which is about 12 feet long and 20 feet across, crashed into a US military cargo plane in East Afghanistan. There were no reports of injuries and the cargo plane made an emergency landing. According to a report in the Washington Post, a US military official commentating on the drone said (with no apparent trace of irony) "We were in complete control up until the collision." (!!! f.)"

The irony for me is that it's Montgomery County SD to begin with. Talk about a bunch of yahoos...

(Sorry, spent plenty of time in that part of Texas and I know those folks all too well.)

Hum, I think this is great. I know your concenrs but ........ we all can go buy a FPV for our systems as long as we fly under 400 feet. I would love to have the funds to afford such a project. I think this would be great.

Now they would not had to spent so much money if they hired a good R/C pilot or 2. It isn't like there is a all in one system the has GPS, ultra HD video to include the camera that will see through walls and so on. Yes it would fit on a large trainer. It would take a good R/C pilot to fly it due to most R/C flyers will not fly in winds over 15MPH. Look for a 3Der flyer to take it up. You need a person with fast reaction time.

If this system will save 1 Montgomery County officer or the one they they are to protect, The high price tag is worh it.

Crash99