they want to die for there cause and cause more damage than a model plane can do so i think myself we have not to be too worried about that kind of terrorist plot that isnt enough bang for the buck so to say

Well, you may not be worried, but some folks wake up screaming because the paranoids are out to get them. Imagine that some raghead wannabe martyrbot could be programmed to fly a model airplane (it's a stretch, but consider the probability of a random billion monkeys writing Shakespeare), sans the unnecessary landing procedure, could do with a payload of 2 Kg of M-80's. Strategically targeted, there could be a fallout of hundreds of kilos of pigeon crap.

Abel

Up until now I wasn't worried but now I don't think I'll be able to sleep again. Thanks Abel, thanks.

Quite the contrary, really. Domestic terrorism is far more an issue in this country than middle eastern fascisim. It is what, in particular, the scale of any possible distruction could come from an (the) organized attack that rasies more concern than anything. I disagree with religous ideologies that indict other religons, and within these indictments call for the killing of the opposed. But, to truly be polictically correct here, shouldn't we allow them to do so? That is a practice of their religon (serious pun intented).

[Side bar] If you guys are really interested in RC terror (the possibilities thereof)... Check out the "DIY cruise missle" web site. The curator of the site/project(s) is, well, has built a cruise missle using an RC flight pack (Futaba) and a flight stabalizer wired into a hand held GPS unit. Yes, it is an actual missle (uses a pulse-jet engine) Total cost is around 4,000 bucks only and has a remarkable range.

SAVE THE PIGEONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Maybe we could take care of both the Pigeon problem and the RC Terrorist problem with one soultion:
Enlist & Arm pigeons to locate & engage RC Terrorists

We could all sleep a little sounder at night knowing our SkyRat Corps is keeping the badguys out of the RC Aviation world.

It's the man that pushes the button, not the weapon, that envokes the terror. He's no less dangerous then a guy driving his Hummer through Times Square on a Friday nite.

Perhaps that "guy" is Ted Kennedy... What Then?

If he's driving, bring a Mae West.

I think the only main concern with RC planes is with bio-weapons. Then again it would be cheaper to rent a car for the day and drive around any major city with an aerosol bottle that has a bio-agent in it, spraying it out the window. Cheaper, less conspicuous, and effective.

Saw it on the Discovery Channel.

He hasn't even flown it yet. It's just sitting in his garage I'm sure. He's a hobbyist with pulse jets, I don't know much about his flight experience. He hasn't updated the website, and it has taken him years to develop ...even when one takes into account the simplicity. Fact is, it takes too long to make, they don't have the capacity to do the damage, and they cannot test or develop the weapon effectively without being caught. There is no factory making these things, but there is one making Katusha missiles and RPG's, which are unguided and ready to go; possibly more clear on how to replicate. One reason our missiles are so effective is we have hundreds of engineers working tens of thousands of hours with numerous tests that will produce a devastating weapon. Otherwise, it's just easier to make a lot of explosives and eventually hit your target. I haven't seen this topic continue to be an issue on the news, nor did it become a popular topic. I'm not terrible concerned, just aware. If the terrorists want a guidance system, they already have one which comes cheap... their people, and they seem quite willing to use them in more conventional weaponry.

Good points there, e-s.

My latest toy is a bone fide working product available as an RTF, and as you can see in the clip of a factory test flight [link=http://www.neural-robotics.com/Video/Gunship.html]HERE[/link], it has a good measure the desired capability. Kind of a modern uptake on the concept of using a longer gun to get closer to the ducks. Also, to answer those that say hunting isn't a sport unless the game can shoot back, I plan to bring it out as the 'turkey' for the annual club paint ball AA shoot.

DB, add this one to your night sweats!

Abel

Thank god the media didnt have that video when they ran the story... lol

Wow, that is just wrong.
There is no sporting reason to have that shotgun be full auto,
that crosses the line between a family fun semiauto gunship toy, and a dangerous weapon.

... of course, the few americans with ClassIII stamps kinda limits who gets these full auto toys, making it illegal for non stamp holders.... and that is what the safety freaks want, right? To ban something that is already illegal?

Man, I knew it was only a matter of time before this came about! I'm in the military right now and have been building/flying/teaching for nearly 10 years. You can say what you want about me, but being in combat first hand, you will NEVER see me teach ANY MIDDLE EASTERN male or female how to operate or fly one of these radio controlled models. Gosh dang, the kids already throw rocks and crap at us off the bypasses as we pass below. That's all we need is a frickin plane flying at us loaded up with explosives.
Clinton

And the bad part is we are telling and showing how to do IT

No, the bad part is that folks consider their own 10 year old kids as a cheaper & more accurate explosives delivery vehicle.

What a load of CRAP!
Why would anyone use an unreliable delivery system like rc models? Most terrorist have access to car, truck and road side bombs using cell phone activated detonators.
Not to mention that old leftist stand-by the RPG. There's a whole lot options out there for your garden variety Slag that use the KISS principle and are far more effective than RC anything.

Hey, Everybody. I'm an 11B in the Army and got moved to the S2 shop which is intelligence. I'm am an E-4, Specialist. I'm currently deployed to Iraq again, my second combat tour, and I was gathering information from the news and stuff and I found this website. This is why I am PROUD to serve. And I'll be totally honest, being deployed does SUCK, but it is necessary for us to be over there. Do not bring us back until our job is finished. Don't let our brothers and sisters give all they could for nothing. I know it's been a long war, but unless you've been over here, you know it's not an easy job to find these insurgents and capture them. The website is www.humanevents.com and the author is Jeff Emanuel.

Iraqi National Police Break Up al-Qaeda Rape, Terror Cell in Samarra
by Jeff Emanuel
Posted: 09/20/2007

Samarra, Iraq -- Like their hardline Islamist brethren in other nations -- such as the Taliban in Afghanistan, and the Islamic Courts Union in Somalia, among others -- the Islamic State of Iraq (or “ISI,� the name under which al Qaeda in Iraq has organized in Iraq) has built a brutal reputation not only for terrorism against its members’ own countrymen and against the coalition, but also for being a proponent of the most medieval, fundamentalist interpretation -- and enforcement – of what its leaders claim to be the laws of the Koran.

Enforcement of these laws -- which can perhaps be described as Shari’a taken to the greatest extreme -- has included taking measures to brutally punish people who commit the slightest offense, from smoking, to a woman failing to cover her head in public, to a man not growing a long enough beard. The strictest social mores are to be observed and any deviation from the standard can result in a punishment consisting of torture, mutilation, or death -- including, as the western world has seen on a few occasions (though not enough to grasp the extent of its use), beheading

Unfortunately for those who might have chosen to join this hardline Islamist faction in hopes of keeping more virtuous company, the recent apprehension of a key ISI figure showed just how hypocritical – and, as if more evidence was necessary, unspeakably inhuman -- the leadership of that movement is capable of being.

Earlier this week in Samarra, the Iraqi National Police apprehended a man named Ahmed Mohammed Sabar Hamud al-Medhi al-Bazi, a key figure in a five-man ISI cell which was responsible for an attack on the National Police using an Improvised Explosive Device (IED), as well as for IED, rocket-propelled grenade (RPG), and small arms attacks on coalition forces.

Upon being taken into custody, Medhi openly declared himself to be a member of al Qaeda, and freely admitted (and signed a written confession stating) that he had helped orchestrate and execute these attacks on Iraqi Security and Coalition Forces. Perhaps wishing to escape the punishing clutches of the NPs, and knowing full well -- as do all fighters in Iraq and elsewhere – how strict the rules are that Americans must abide by with regard to the humane treatment of prisoners and detainees, Medhi asked to be handed over to the coalition forces from Charlie Company 2-505 PIR (82nd Airborne) at Patrol Base Olson, in northwestern Samarra. In exchange for the transfer of custody, he had more information (and more confessions) that he was willing to provide.

What it was that he confessed to once in American custody shocked and outraged even his seasoned coalition captors, who had been facing ISI in this city for over a year.

Without a bit of pressure -- indeed, without the appearance of a care in the world -- Medhi, described in graphic detail the other half of his ISI cell’s operations: running an organized al Qaeda Rape ring in Samarra. With a modus operandi of breaking into various houses and either raping women on the spot or threatening the family with death while taking their daughter away to become a hostage and a sex slave, Medhi, a self-described homosexual who engaged in intercourse (via rape) with women “because other members of this group� did, confessed to his cell’s penchant for abducing girls and “holding them [hostage] just for their pleasure.� Most recently, he said, he had taken part in the rape, kidnapping, and/or killing of five women, three of whom were supposedly still alive.

Among these most recent victims was “a twenty-five year old virgin,� who was “alone in her house� when the al Qaeda leaders “raided� it. Breaking into the house, all five members of the cell held her captive in her own home and raped her repeatedly. Finally, when all five had quenched their base desire for that action which they so brutally prohibited others from humanely engaging in, under the guise of enforcing “true Islamic law,� the terrorists departed, leaving the woman alone in her pain and misery.

If there is such a thing as “getting off easy� for a girl who is gang-raped, this first woman did just that. Two others, both age 23, met a much more gruesome fate shortly after the first, as they were taken from their houses (in front of their families), raped repeatedly by the entire al Qaeda cell, and then slaughtered. According to Medhi, their bodies were buried in a cemetery somewhere in the city.

The two most recent victims -- girls aged 23 and 20 -- were also taken from their family and gang-raped by these supposed enforcers of Islamic virtue. Both, claimed Medhi, were still being held hostage somewhere in Samarra. Unfortunately, the al Qaeda captive’s keenness to confess to such atrocities as though they were simply ordinary daily activities did not translate into a willingness to provide coalition forces with an accurate location of his cell’s current hostages. Twice Charlie Company platoons were dispatched to raid houses fingered by al-Medhi as being the site of his group’s activities; both times, the information turned out to be inaccurate. However, on the last raid -- early on the morning of September 18th -- Charlie Co.’s White (2nd) Platoon was able to gather enough information to confirm that the other members of the cell, upon Medhi’s capture, had fled Samarra, with the leader having gone all the way to Syria.

The dungeon was never found, nor were the two supposedly living captives, though the best guess by coalition forces is that they were either freed or -- much more likely -- killed when the remaining members of Medhi’s al Qaeda cell decided to depart the region.

The mindset of such a person as Ahmed al-Medhi is impossible for a civilized person to comprehend; however, this is the face -- and the mind -- of the radical Islamist movement. This faction, which so brutally enforces “Islamic virtue� in others, is capable of turning right around and walking into families’ houses, taking their daughters (about whom, Medhi said, there was “nothing special� – they just happened to be randomly chosen); and, after gang-raping them, either holding them hostage or slaughtering them.

Though few now seem to remember (only 4½ years from the end of his reign), this is the type of treatment that women in Iraq were subject to under the bloody rule of Saddam Hussein and his two sons, Uday and Qusay. Rape rooms were common throughout the country, and any woman in the vicinity of the Hussein family or their trusted high-ranking Ba’athists had to fear being randomly selected for such brutal treatment.

Now, though such horrifying acts can be (and, unfortunately, are) perpetrated, there is a chance that those who commit such atrocities will be captured, killed, or -- at the very least -- driven out of the region (and hopefully out of Iraq). Ahmed al-Medhi is an example of this new situation; while he was able to abduct, rape, and murder women for a time, he has been apprehended -- by none other than the new Iraqi authorities -- and is now in custody and awaiting trial. In another departure from the way that things were done in Iraq under Saddam Hussein, Medhi will have his day in court, with his own defense counsel and with the ability to call witnesses on his own behalf.

Based on his own confession, this should not prohibit him from receiving the stiffest penalty that the magistrate court he will be facing can hand down to him. However, the trial will be both fair and open, and as a result, this terrorist -- who is now off the streets, and will likely never be able to harm another person again -- will have a far greater opportunity to influence his own fate than he ever gave to the countless young girls whose dignity, and whose lives, he so wantonly stole.

Extra 230 RCU,

Thanks for what you've done, for what you do, and for what you willingly give up for those that don't, can't, or won't. Me and mine are truly grateful.

As a civilian that's done four tours where you're at now, and one in the higher country to the east, I can honestly state that the general public has almost no idea of what's been done or why, or how close the game is in coming to an end. Favorably for us I might add. I've met with and befriended the people of both countries and know that they want what we are trying so hard to provide them. In many ways the desires of our two cultures are the same. Their religeous principles are much different than ours, but that is their right, and their beliefs. The public seems to be under the impression that the new governments are to be set up like ours. That's not possible, but versions of democratic freedom are still freedom that the effected populations have never had before. It takes more time than most are willing to give it. I'm afraid that memories are much too short for them to recall how long it has taken before.

Back to terror and models. It can happen all too easily. There are many that participate in R/C modeling that also are employed in unmanned activities that already know that the ability to convert a model to something much more sinister is much, much too easy. The location of use can provide the smallest detonation with maximum visibility, effecting our hobby for generations to come. Kill or injure just one person at a nationally publicized activity or location and the job is done. As much of a joke as so many have tried to make of it, this ability is of such a serious concern with many in government that our activities are looked upon quite frequently, with working groups already in place discussing new rules, regulations, and licensing requirements for the fun loving participants. It's up to us as modelers to determine how we want to be treated and viewed. It's up to us as modelers to use good sense and judgement in what we do with our models and the manner in which we operate them. The wrong move at the wrong time and place will have extremely serious repurcussions for many years to come. Unfortunately many that post in these forums about the desire to use projectiles, working guns of any type, or detonate aerial explosives are also those that will end this hobby for all of us by being self centered and stupid, without intending an act of terror. We can be our own worst enemies at times.

Hi, Pat Roy. I couldn't have said it any better. This second tour is more than enough. Everyday at work, they announce how many days are left in the deployment. I can't wait to get outa here, get outa the Army, then go back to flight school at K-State in Salina, KS to complete my dream of being a corporate pilot. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm proud of the person that the Army has made me. I've turned my life completly around and am a better person for it and I'm proud of the things that I've done for these people over here. It does stink for the soldiers to be over here, but it's necessary. I just wish more people would enlist in whatever military organization and help serve instead of expecting others to go out and fix things themselves while those people stay back and watch on the news and complain about all the bad things going on. I wish the danged US Media would convey more of the good things. I found SEVERAL Iraqi news websites that tell some of the good things going on, which is a heck of a lot more than what the US media conveys. It ticks me off that those people show the good things on the internet, but you'd never find that on any US media website or news show. I'll never understand it. How quickly we forget things.

Yeah, more folks should enlist.
Why pay a cable or sat TV company to see a war when you can get paid to go ever there & see it free.... with better than HiDef resolution too.

Folks need to stop worrying about what if terrorists come here,
what if they see us flying RC planes...
get off your duffs & go there before they come here.

Sorry, but "seeing" it on cable is not "seeing" anything at all other than what someone else wants to show you. Those at home "see" an extremely skewed version of events and progress in the field. Truthfully, those at home are actually told that there is no progress because a distorted picture is what's intended to be conveyed. Those that have been there know, those that have not only think they do. They absolutely do not know anything at all. Fed enough lies long enough by the media and you believe the lies as being the truth. All the "newsies" sit in Bagdad or a couple of other "Green" zones where they have a constant supply of illegal alcohol and quality hotels with great food. They don't go out into the streets themselves, but copy and modify stories written by others to suit there needs. They can't be found in other areas of the country where life if getting better every day. The doctored stories get to the major wire services and are re-written again to suit the leanings of whatever publication decides to run the story. What they fail to tell is that the worst violence generally takes place where newsies are close by so the bad guys can get maximum exposure for minimum effort. The real bad stuff is extremely scarce elsewhere.

Again, so true. It sure does help talking to a veteran about this stuff! Really can't talk about stuff with your buddies because they're going through the same crap you are and they probably have the same feelings you do. Happy Landings!
Clinton

It is a breath of fresh air to hear this first hand from you guys. God bless you.