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Tornado hits Arkansas, amazing drone footage

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by JayFarrar, Apr 27, 2014.

  1. Batman

    Batman Well-Known Member

    No, closer to Jackson. Storms here weren't nearly as bad as what hit Tupelo and Lousiville, but if a tornado is on top of you there's not much difference between them.
     
  2. Football_Bat

    Football_Bat Well-Known Member

    The Vilonia tornado is going to be a borderline EF5.

    [​IMG]

    Look at the houses on the left. Nothing but slabs. (And look on the right at the houses that were completely untouched. Tornadoes are bastards.)

    This is what the same neighborhood looked like before:

    https://maps.google.com/?ll=35.092726,-92.196472&spn=0.002414,0.004871&t=h&z=18
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 15, 2014
  3. Steak Snabler

    Steak Snabler Well-Known Member

    University of Alabama swimmer John Servati was killed in the storm last night:

    https://twitter.com/CecilHurt/status/461118539764486144
     
  4. Batman

    Batman Well-Known Member

  5. Inky_Wretch

    Inky_Wretch Well-Known Member

    Seems the FAA isn't happy with the cameraman's use of a drone.

    http://www.forbes.com/sites/gregorymcneal/2014/04/29/faa-looking-into-arkansas-tornado-drone-journalism-raising-first-amendment-questions/
     
  6. three_bags_full

    three_bags_full Well-Known Member

    Here's the FAA's point, although it's not articulated at all in the story:

    Think of all the high-speed chases in LA, and think of the number of news and police helicopters that are involved in those and other events, like the marathon bomber hunt. It is absolutely not safe for unmanned aircraft that are not communicating with a.) air traffic controllers in Class B airspace (huge deal), or b.) other helicopters in the area.
     
  7. Bob Cook

    Bob Cook Active Member

    The University of Nebraska has a Drone Journalism lab? I did not know that.

    So how fast will/can the FAA come up with regulations to cover drones in U.S. airspace? Can it, or does Congress have to act first?
     
  8. three_bags_full

    three_bags_full Well-Known Member

    Until they can communicate with controllers and other aircraft and "see and avoid" other traffic, I don't think the FAA can cover it. That's the difference between this footage and our unmanned aerial systems: our systems are under ATC control and have several cameras, specifically used for scanning for other aircraft, targets, etc.

    I mean, when I'm buzzing along at 500 feet (completely legal) -- seeing and avoiding other traffic -- the last thing I need is Amazon's beer drone trying to get to Little Johnny's house and dropping a 12-pack through my rotor system because they can't see me. These things are so small, there'd be no way to see them. FAA also has lighting requirements, which I can imagine would be a terribly limiting factor.
     
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