NO MORE FREE RIDES,

RECREATIONAL FLYERS.

Image Courtesy: The Northern Light

That’s it ya bunch of freeloaders. No longer can you get away with just saying, “i’M a hObbYiST” and that be the end of the conversation when you’re flying erratically or somewhere you shouldn’t. You have to take a test and prove you’re not a dummy now! The test is designed so that all those who are flying in the National Air Space have an understanding of how it works and no longer have an excuse when they wreak havoc on some poor private pilot. (Shoutout to Matt Sloane for getting his license recently!)

The only bad news we can foresee is the lack of PropellerHeads content. When every Joe-Schmoe knows what they can and can’t do, things like flying into stadiums and crashing into buildings will slowly start to be a thing of the past. 

Of course, flights by untrained pilots will still occur. People acting stupidly is one of the few things you can rely on in this world. But now that it’s a requirement and you have to present your certificate to an FAA representative or member of Law Enforcement, we think it will greatly cut down on the number of illegal incidents involving a drone. At least, we’re hopeful it will.

SWATTING AT THESE MOSQUITOS,

MAY SHOCK YOU

Image Courtesy: Kaspersky


We’ve seen drones based off of a bird’s wings and drones that had actual pieces of moth on them, but we are going EVEN SMALLER. Introducing Mosquito Drone! A drone so small that it literally fits on the tip of your finger.

This seems like the kind of thing that you would only read about in a Robert Heinlein book, but it’s fact. The whole point of these drones is to go completely undetected. You don’t think twice about a bug flying by, but you might now. These tiny drones are called micro air vehicles, or MAVs. And what’s that old saying? “They wouldn’t give them their own acronym if it wasn’t something they’re serious about.” 

Near the end of the article there are some renderings of “Bird” drones that are a little too on the nose for us. It kind of seems like the military is just messing with those of us who think/know that the CIA killed all the birds and replaced them with drones. But, we suppose that’s a story for another day. #Birdsarentreal

ANOTHER MODIFIED DRONE

NO HUMAN SHAPE PARTS, THOUGH.

Image Courtesy: Urban Air Mobility News

 
This has kind of been an edition of PropellerHeads for throwbacks. This throwback is to just two weeks ago’s drone with a dong. Still the peak. When reality was stranger than fiction in the funniest way possible. Good times. 

Anyway, this week’s drone in focus is also highly modified, but not like that. This one seems to be extremely advanced and capable of “erratic maneuvers”. So much so that a helicopter pilot chasing it said it was “able to perform like no other (unmanned aircraft system).” 

The drone brought itself to attention when it entered Tuscon airspace and flew too close for comfort to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection helicopter. This got local authorities involved, but this drone was truly in a class of its own. At one point, the drone entered military airspace at roughly 14,000 feet and hit speeds of 100mph. They chased this drone for an hour hoping to run its battery down, but it eventually slipped away. 

This drone sounds more like a UFO to us, and with all the recent hoopla around UFOs we choose to believe it was and they’re just making a boogeyman out of drones!

A FEW MORE FOR YOUR BRAIN

UPCOMING EVENTS

Aug 16th – Online Part 107 | One-Day Class
Aug 16th – Two-Day Basic Training
Aug 16th – Integration of UAS into Law Enforcement Field Operations
Aug 18th – Three-Day Tactical Training

 

Alright, folks — that’s it! Hope you have a great week!

P.S. You digging Propeller Heads? Yeah? Us, too! Why don’t you forward it over to a buddy or encourage them to sign up here. We have a blast putting it together each time and the more the merrier!