Idea of civilians using drone aircraft may soon fly with FAA

[xchrom]

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-drones-for-profit-20111127,0,6584711.story


The Qube fits in the trunk of a car and is controlled remotely by a tablet computer. (Gary Friedman, Los Angeles Times / October 20, 2011)

Drone aircraft, best known for their role in hunting and destroying terrorist hide-outs in Afghanistan, may soon be coming to the skies near you.

Police agencies want drones for air support to spot runaway criminals. Utility companies believe they can help monitor oil, gas and water pipelines. Farmers think drones could aid in spraying their crops with pesticides.

"It's going to happen," said Dan Elwell, vice president of civil aviation at the Aerospace Industries Assn. "Now it's about figuring out how to safely assimilate the technology into national airspace."

That's the job of the Federal Aviation Administration, which plans to propose new rules for the use of small drones in January, a first step toward integrating robotic aircraft into the nation's skyways.

[IDemo]

1. Luckily, they will be completely impervious to hacking and misuse

I'm sure one of these in the wrong hands would make an excellent delivery vehicle for anthrax.

[Cid_B]

2. Better to throw up one of those...

... than pay for a full helicopter and crew to chase down a crackhead.

I'll be interested to see if it gets to the point where each squad car gets its own.

[baldguy]

3. Makes it easier to dispense pepper spray over a wide area, too.

[Davis_X_Machina]

4. Small drones...

...are called large R/C model aircraft, and have been around for a while...

80" -- that's 6 1/2 feet -- wingspan.

$224.

[ThomThom]

5. don't forget monitoring the people

with camera the populace can be watched

[WillyT]

6. K & R !!!

:kick:

[Huey P. Long]

7. recommended

[ThomWV]

8. And in very short order the police will be given fully armed military units.

and training, always the training.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

9. Gosh. What could go wrong? We know our masters to be benevolent with our best interests at heart.

Don't we?

[MisterP]

10. better yet, they'll sell them as a way to "defend yourself" from the PTB

like how America's guns have undone the Patriot Act and citizen-assassination powers...

[The Straight Story]

11. I am ok with this. Fly them over OWS and monitor the police

:)