Slashdot Mirror
Aerial Video Footage of New York Taken By RC Plane
kkleiner writes with this fun bit from Singularity Hub: "Expert remote control pilot Raphael 'Trappy' Pirker recently took his 54 inch Zephyr model plane on a harrowing tour of Manhattan and the surrounding area. The best part: his RC vehicle was fitted with a camera that wirelessly transmitted an amazing recording of everything it saw – Pirker was piloting his craft with this visual feed. As you can see in the video, the results were spectacular. The plane looks to be flying within a few feet of buildings and whizzing past bridges with ease. You have to check out around 2:01 when he starts to buzz right by the Statute of Liberty."
Quite honestly, I'm surprised this didn't cause some sort of panic...
It has been modified and tested at a range of 27 miles, with a supposed max operating range of 120. That's news for nerds.
This was on Ars Technica awhile back:
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2010/12/how-a-rc-airplane-buzzed-the-statue-of-liberty-with-no-arrests.ars
According to this earlier article, the police and TSA talked to him, but surprisingly didn't charge him with anything. He said they were "more curious than confrontational."
There is a danger to it, as this video illustrate but that's before I got my 2.4GHz Tx.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtN1AtShkk0
Here's one closer to buildings :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrWyOJmEvY4
I don't do FPV either, too scary not seeing the plane :) I fly it until it's a pixel in the sky, and before I do that I made sure I master orientation of a pixel object in the simulator first.
Way to many edits. Destroyed the flow
For justice, we must go to Don Corleone
Worse than that, I think this story might be a dupe.
Maximum tested range is 27 miles. Maximum estimated range by their calculations is 120 miles.
You know how every few months someone posts yet another video of guys taking video from high altitude balloons, and we all yawn because we've seen it a dozen times or more?
This is the exact opposite of that.
Endless arguments over trivial contradictions in books written by ignorant savages to explain thunder in the dark.
How about "engaging in activities which might someday possibly give someone an idea about engaging in an activity which could lead to someone imagining they could use the information to sort of create a rumor of potential terrorist activity". Let me translate, it means "we have to do something to show that the obscene budget of our department and the pork we shovel to the security companies we contract with is justified in the face of budget cuts." HTH HAND.
putting the 'B' in LGBTQ+
is it just me or has just about everyone glaized over the fact that for the time when these guys were doing this, they were probably having the time of their lives, fuck the authorities, do cool shit with your time.
That the authorities there did not immediately confiscate it is also news for nerds - very good news.
There will be another endless court fight coming, however - the right of private citizens to fly cameras over other people's backyards.
Sigh.
IMO if the government wants to spy on it's citizens, then it should also grant the right for citizens to spy on citizens, including citizens who are government employees. It's only fair, right?
Yeah, it's pretty fucked, either way. But I'd rather have the right for citizens to spy on citizens, than have corporations or government have that right exclusively. The tech is already there. The genie is out of the bottle. Short of complete suppression of garage/basement tech entrepreneurs there is no way to stop it from becoming ubiquitous.
Of course if I wanted my backyard to be really private, I could employ tech (such as lasers or other things not invented yet) to spoof or blind the surveillance - and such would be my right, yes?
Nod to William Gibson.
SB
It's old. The more humans I meet, the more I like my cats. At least they are honest.
If you've ever looked at, and held an RC airplane of that size (54 inch wingspan), in person, you would quickly come to realize that it's a toy and of no danger to society. As have apparently the DHS and NYPD guys.
They are made of balsa wood and foam. They are very light. They have a useful payload of about a pound. Yes a 1-pound bomb can cause damage, but really it would just be so much easier for a terrorist to throw a hand grenade or something, rather than go through all of this shenanigan.
What sheep Americans have become! A guy does a cool, harmless thing like fly a model airplane over the East River and suddenly everybody on this board is biting their fingernails about whether the government will *allow* us to do such a thing. The government does not *allow* us to do anything; in this country, it's what we, the People, allow the government to do that's important. We allow them do very specific, limited things at our sufferance. Everything else we do at our pleasure and the government can fuck off if it doesn't like it.
Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
FPV (First Person View) RC flying has been starting to become trendy in the past few years and this isn't very different from what has been done in the past. There have been flights that have extended at further ranges with more daring stunts in public areas. Though, what is special about this is particular video is it was shot in the US, which makes FPV practically illegal with the amount of restrictions they place on it. It's the equivalent of permitting one to carry a firearm as long as long as it's bright orange, muzzle-loaded. has "REAL GUN" printed on the sides, shoots blanks and can only be aimed at certified targets in licensed shooting ranges. Anyways, I'd highly recommend anyone to go and take a gander at certain videos on youtube with the name "FPV" and discover a lot on what this awesome hobby has to deliver.
Morons, sometimes we are saved because the idiot with an islamist terrorist idea is not that smart - like the timsquare bomber. This moron has made the perfect equipment for them and is now going to sell it as well. This is not so funny.
Absolutely. No-one should be allowed to sell anything that might be useful to a terrorist.
Like cars. Or gas canisters.
Or underwear.
You think that is bad? I heard the other day that many people don't grow their own food! OMG, they totes buy food prepared in huge factories operated by minimum-wage scum! It wouldn't take much effort to infiltrate the production line and put Allah knows what into the food. Will nobody think of the children???!!!!!
They whose government reduces their essential liberties for temporary security, receive neither liberty nor security.
Or box cutters. Or shoes.
What one fool can do, another can. (Ancient Simian Proverb)
Just off the top of my head, having built and flown a lot of RC craft in the past, a 54" plane could have a flight time of an hour at 80mph, so he could easily reach his 27 mile radio range and back, with time to maneuver in between.
Yet, bragging rights don't apply unless you prove it. Where's the link describing how? The radio range for something like that, never mind the range for video, is daunting. Granted, he's operating above the horizon, but still!
I, for one, want to know the specifics of that side of the setup. I could care less about the other components of the event (no interest in flight); the radio communications holding out over that distance, on minimal power, is notable, however.
~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
How was this incident "harrowing"? Was the land surface of Manhattan torn up to several inches deep? Were people's feelings deeply and permanently hurt by this flight? Or is this another journalist using a long word that he/she does not actually have any idea of the meaning of but thinks it makes them sound good?
See http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/harrow
The guy may understand flying, but he sure as hell doesn't understand cutting footage into a comprehensive, watchable piece of film
Religion is what happens when nature strikes and groupthink goes wrong.
Mr. O. B. Lada of Chicago
So wait, this changes everything: not only is Paul McCartney alive and the head of Al-Qaeda, but he's living in freakin' Chicago? Crazy world...
TSA outside hobby stores, one step at a time...
http://www.awfullybigmoustache.com
You seem to know what you're talking about. And yes, no danger to society, but it is a danger to people. Don't let people think they can just fly model planes in population dense areas. Without thinking about it.
I fly model glides myself, balsa wood is found in the cheaper range (that I fly). But in the 'sport' range you have carbon fiber planes, which can reach speeds well over 100km/h. And these are gliders we are talking about, you won't hear them till they hit you. With 2kg of carbon going at 100km you can hospitalize someone with ease.
Also, I envy you Americans at this point. They regulated the hell out of the model flying sport here, making photographing a city like that most likely illegal.