Post by GJUK on Mar 26, 2017 2:28:26 GMT -8
I may be biased, but once again I find it hard to swallow a sensational headline describing a half-second near-miss at 1900 ft by an 8 inch drone and a member of the Royal Family.
Prince William's Air ambulance was allegedly in a near-miss with a drone.
On the whole, the media continues to paint drones in a bad light, which is precisely why I often insist on referring to them as quadcopters, to make a clear distinction between our recreational craft and military remotely controlled weapons like the General Atomics MQ-1 Predator.
A day after this alleged near-miss, the following incident was portrayed on BBC's medical drama 'Casualty':
This is fictional of course, but it's incredibly easy for that fact to get lost in the wider debate. Bearing in mind that no incidents of impact with aircraft have ever been verified, these types of headlines or scenarios are partly responsible for a stigma that drone operators carry.
For this reason, it seems like we will all need to do our part to help educate members of the public on the many benefits of UAVs, why we have them, and how they are nothing to be feared.
I'm very sure there are a few idiots misusing quadcopters, but the same can be said for firearms in far larger numbers. In that instance, rather than trying to ban them, the recommendation seems to be that we should have more of them.
Prince William's Air ambulance was allegedly in a near-miss with a drone.
On the whole, the media continues to paint drones in a bad light, which is precisely why I often insist on referring to them as quadcopters, to make a clear distinction between our recreational craft and military remotely controlled weapons like the General Atomics MQ-1 Predator.
A day after this alleged near-miss, the following incident was portrayed on BBC's medical drama 'Casualty':
This is fictional of course, but it's incredibly easy for that fact to get lost in the wider debate. Bearing in mind that no incidents of impact with aircraft have ever been verified, these types of headlines or scenarios are partly responsible for a stigma that drone operators carry.
For this reason, it seems like we will all need to do our part to help educate members of the public on the many benefits of UAVs, why we have them, and how they are nothing to be feared.
I'm very sure there are a few idiots misusing quadcopters, but the same can be said for firearms in far larger numbers. In that instance, rather than trying to ban them, the recommendation seems to be that we should have more of them.