---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Gregory Foster <gfoster@entersection.org> To: drone-list@lists.stanford.edu Cc: gia-unmanned_systems@grassintel.com Date: Fri, 17 Feb 2012 13:42:51 -0600 Subject: When swimming with SHARKs... This is the first domestic incident I've seen of a privately launched surveillance UAV being shot down by disgruntled folks under observation. It won't be the last! The Times and Democrat (Feb 14) - "Animal rights group says drone shot down" http://thetandd.com/animal-rights-group-says-drone-shot-down/article_017a720... The comments over on Gizmodo's coverage are revealing of public sentiment, as a majority say they would have shot the drone down too, if it was hovering over their home ("then I'd run my mower over it"). http://gizmodo.com/5886013/hunters-shoot-animal-rights-drone-out-of-the-sky However, it sounds like the drone was actually not over private property at the time of the incident. A little digging starting (but not ending) at the "Air rights" article on Wikipedia <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_rights>indicates that National Airspace (NAS) starts at about 500 feet above the land or structures, and is effectively the property of the US Government. The FAA's Advisory Circular 91-57<http://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/advisory_circulars/index.cfm/go/document.information/documentID/22425>governs non-commercial hobbyist usage of UAVs, roughly interpreted as restricting flight below 400 feet while maintaining line-of-sight. So it seems that landowners have property rights to the airspace directly above their property and below the NAS. Hobbyist UAVs should watch those property lines! Reminds me a little of the Cold War "ravens" and "ferrets"<http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1360/1>tasked with probing Russian airspace to gather signals intelligence: *The aircraft themselves were called ferrets, a name that stemmed from their mission of burrowing for prey, like their furry namesake. Rarely did the aircraft actually penetrate Soviet airspace, and those that did occasionally got shot down. But their reason for being in the air was to record signals and they could not do this if the Soviets never turned their radars on, so it was common for them to fly provocatively. Sometimes they headed directly toward the Soviet border and turned away at the last minute; sometimes they operated with other aircraft, to scare their prey by implying that they were about to do something warlike. Nobody said that being a raven was a safe job. * The Straight Dope has a pretty funny article surveying the history of relevant case law<http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1117/can-i-declare-a-no-flight-zone-over-my-house> . gf -- Gregory Foster || gfoster@entersection.org @gregoryfoster <> http://entersection.com/ _______________________________________________ drone-list mailing list drone-list@lists.stanford.edu Should you need to change your subscription options, please go to: https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/drone-list If you would like to receive a daily digest, click "yes" (once you click above) next to "would you like to receive list mail batched in a daily digest?" You will need the user name and password you receive from the list moderator in monthly reminders. Should you need immediate assistance, please contact the list moderator. ----- End forwarded message ----- -- Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://leitl.org">leitl</a> http://leitl.org ______________________________________________________________ ICBM: 48.07100, 11.36820 http://www.ativel.com http://postbiota.org 8B29F6BE: 099D 78BA 2FD3 B014 B08A 7779 75B0 2443 8B29 F6BE