It looks to me that the sad day we all knew would eventually come has arrived. The first person that I have heard of plotting to use R/C planes to bomb the Pentagon and the Capital building. It appears he was planning to use some kind of autopilot given that they stated the plane was to be "GPS guided". Below is a link to the CNN page that has the details. I only hope this doesn't lead to a complete lock down of the R/C and sUAS industry. It is so young and ripe for growth and innovation.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/28/us/massachusetts-pentagon-plot-arrest/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
Comments
They supplied him weapons, maybe even advised to use stupid plane...
If you are really motivated to demonstrate security issue, it can be done.
This reminds me:
Please note THIS GUY GOT MORE EQUIPMENT FROM GOVERNMENT TO TRY OUT THAN EVEN VERY GOOD STUDENT IN THE SUBJECT.
This opens a completely new book full of opportunities for ambitious yet somehow less fortunate or isolated researchers without a chance for major financial success anyway, if they align a little with Islamic Way of Living. Some people do things that are challenging just because they are challenging.
I just received this from the AMA:
http://view.exacttarget.com/?j=fe55167874670d7f7d1d&m=fec815777...
Amen.
The FBI has profiles for these folks, it may identify a waco or two, but the important thing today is that the "noob" needed real support, I thank God he found it with the undercover al Qeda agents, Kudos FBI !!. When a well financed proficient "noob" starts down this path without outside support how will he be detected and stopped? We as a community need to keep our eyes and ears open and read between the lines. When you do suspect something is not right make the call !!
UAS are here to stay, people have been horrid to each other since forever.
If you are flying a UAS try your best to adhere to the best safety standards and pass that knowledge on.
The atrocity in my mind is that there seems to be a lack of imagination and wonder in the modern world.
@Paul having the communicator pen would have been cooler, and how easy would that be these days!
If we did live in a world where terrorists were as poor at math as to consider a small UAV a viable platform for either explosives or a gun, then perhaps it would be a better place. I shoot regularly. I understand firearms. I would quite happily square off against a gun-equipped quadcopter, or take my chances with the idiot who tries to pack a couple of pounds of anything into an RC plane and considers himself any kind of threat to the Pentagon.
Maybe in a decade these will be "legitimate fears and concerns", but right now they are only the overactive imaginations of people who have too limited experience with the physics of small aircraft, the defensive capabilities of the Pentagon against modest sized aircraft (in a post 2001 world) or too little understanding of the threat posed by an unstable, vibrating small arms platform or a two pound payload (outside of "dirty bomb" or fissionable material, neither of which is substantially benefited with a UAV delivery system to begin with, and would only make it a less reliable weapon.)
As for the RC community, it is already difficult for new hobbyists to get involved, especially in urban areas. Local AMA clubs require as much as $200/yr in AMA and local club dues, place annual caps on membership, and require extensive "student training" before a member can fly without an instructor pilot. In my area, available fields are either too close to one or more of the local airports, have rules against the use of RC aircraft, have local ordinances or home owners rules banning RC aircraft, previously kicked the AMA club out of their field due to noise complaints, are the aforementioned selective and closely AMA clubs, who also require new member commitments to perform road and field maintenance, or are simply too far away (over one hour) to attract new casual hobbyists.
Be careful what you ask for in any form of regulation, self-imposed or otherwise.
If there is a serious threat here, I suspect it is the risk of a small UAV being used, accidentally or intentionally, colliding with a larger, manned aircraft. We have rules in place to address this risk, and more rules coming. No rules we put into place will ever be followed by terrorists or criminals, so it is accidents that these will hope to address. And I suspect this risk is no greater than the risk of any large bird, most of which are about the same or larger mass range and movement speed of the class of UAVs which 99.9% of us operate.
Let's not fool ourselves. SUAS are not a legitimate threat to the general public. There is a very remote possibility of an individual injury, and that is far more likely to happen to the operator than anyone else. The intentional use of hobby-built SUASs as destructive devices is misguided, inefficient, expensive, requires extensive and time consuming testing, and I have yet to find any scenario that is even remotely "destructive."
The technologies which terrorists are likely to find attractive are the GPS chips, the accelerometers, the gyros, these things which are ubiquitous in our toys, cell phones, cars, navigation systems, and are by no means exclusive to UAVs, and also all the traditional weapons and delivery systems, from pedestrians to automobiles to missiles, and everything in between.
I don't buy it. Not this decade. And it would be a very sorry thing to see the benefits which can come from UAVs, in agro support, in emergency rescue, police work, aerial photography, videography, building inspections, and so many other areas never get realized because of irrational, unfounded, impractical fears.
I think most of us know that a day will come when owning an RC vehicle that flys will not be as simple as we are used to. I can see it being much like owning a car or truck, licenses, vehicle reigistrations yadda yadda and not only that but laws, fines, and government infastructure to enforce all of this. But I think that will be the extent of it. The great part is government is slow, and not likely to spend money until people get hurt, so we do have some time before that day comes. I also think the more we embed ourselves in society the harder it will be to uproot us entirely. IE commercial applications like crop dusters, surveilance, photography etc.
Seriously, you better have knife and fork control, I'm sure someone's be stabbed to death with steak knife or fork. Could build a catapult and launch IEDs at the pentagon. How about load a Cessna with C4 and fly it into the pentagon. Easier than using a model aircraft.
Nice clip, Gary! Thanks. I didn't know you could get badges! :-(
At the time this show aired I was flying U-control. I thought a radio controlled plane was just the coolest thing (still do). I remember I couldn't wait for the rerun, but doubt I ever saw it.
The Man from UNCLE I had a badge and everything!
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