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Drone ceiling?

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There was a report recently of another drone near miss, this time at Heathrow airport London, pilots reported seeing a white square shaped drone (DJI?) pass under left wing approximately 20 feet below. The aircraft itself was at 6,000 feet! Can our drones reach these sort of heights?

 
So much negative news, it's hard to tell truth from the lies. Certainly took long enough to be reported, suggesting slight suspicion about it being a fact, but some drones could fly higher than the legal ceiling. Perhaps another set of regulations the government want to push through, drum up some anti drone feeling, since it's died down a bit.
 
There was a report recently of another drone near miss, this time at Heathrow airport London, pilots reported seeing a white square shaped drone (DJI?) pass under left wing approximately 20 feet below. The aircraft itself was at 6,000 feet! Can our drones reach these sort of heights?

Theoretically yes but it would unlikely land in one piece. Drones take far longer to descend under power than they take to reach a certain altitude. Once a drone like a phantom, say, reaches 6000' AGL it will already be deep into it's power reserves and will be unlikely to have enough juice left to land without crashing.

Such reports similar to what you mention above have, in the past, proven to be dubious for reasons that I can't be bothered to explain. Imagine being able to see a white drone the size of a Phantom when traveling at speeds that an aircraft will be traveling at 6000'. One such report of a drone hitting an airliner a couple of years ago turned out, after investigation, to be a plastic bag. Think about it: a white plastic bag. Say no more.
 
At 5MS ascent rate or 16 feet per second, it would take a full power climb of around six and a half minutes to get to that altitude, and at full power your flight time would be cut drastically so; it is doubtful you could then make the return trip to earth without a free fall of some distance.

Sounds like those pilots were using the standard airline industry 'Drone ID Chart'


drone-id-chart.jpg
 
At 5MS ascent rate or 16 feet per second, it would take a full power climb of around six and a half minutes to get to that altitude, and at full power your flight time would be cut drastically so; it is doubtful you could then make the return trip to earth without a free fall of some distance.

Sounds like those pilots were using the standard airline industry 'Drone ID Chart'


View attachment 16695
I'm thinkin' it's the one on the bottom.
 
..... Imagine being able to see a white drone the size of a Phantom when traveling at speeds that an aircraft will be traveling at 6000'......

Literally the first thought that came to mind when first reading this......
 
I have seen clips of private pilots making a video where they are flying to a given location and upon seeing something flash past them, the first thing out of their mouth is; 'was that a drone'? In one, you could actually stop the video and see it was an Eagle. He too was around several thousand feet.
 
There have been so many erroneous reports of 'drones' from pilots where what they saw has later been proved to be something else entirely that I now treat any report by these people as being suspect out of the gate. I am consistently appalled by the level of credence given to such unconfirmed sightings by both the authorities involved, who seem to to just accept a pilot's word as fact, and the media who often report it as such with zero evidence.
 
I think the FAA or NTSB should do some controlled testing. Maybe take a few popular drones out to Area 51, and give them full left stick until it dies and crashes to the ground. Maybe that would debunk these claims right away.
 
I would think if someone is flying a drone that close to the airport and at that altitude that battery life and landing it is not a consurn.
 
Just as TurboDad81 mentioned in around about way.
It can be calculated.
All you have to do is fly up 400', how many minutes does it take?
lets say 2 minutes to achieve 400'
10 minutes just to go 2,200'
40 minutes to 8,800'
Not including colder temperature, wind and then thinner air.
Yep I think someone has a vendetta for drones?
 
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Just as TurboDad81 mentioned in around about way.
It can be calculated.
All you have to do is fly up 400', how many minutes does it take?
lets say 2 minutes to achieve 400'
10 minutes just to go 2,200'
40 minutes to 8,800'
Not including colder temperature, wind and then thinner air.
Yep I think someone has a vendetta for drones?
What's the next headline. Drone near miss with a Satellite!
I think anyone with a little knowledge could work that out. Problem is the Authorities are brain dead. Regulate it out of existence and into the hands of the so called professional, the end of the hobbyist? What it needs is someone to tell the establishment, it's all BS!
 
I
What's the next headline. Drone near miss with a Satellite!
I think anyone with a little knowledge could work that out. Problem is the Authorities are brain dead. Regulate it out of existence and into the hands of the so called professional, the end of the hobbyist? What it needs is someone to tell the establishment, it's all BS!
Establishment won't listen, they like fake news, or should I say they believe fake news. Brainless society.
 
So what would be operating here?
Would this be unmanned, since the circle is the same color as all unmanned aircrafts?
29,000 feet.

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