Eagle-on-EGLE* violence: American icon sends govt-flown drone hurtling into the waters of Lake Michigan A government drone pilot watched $950 meet a watery end after a bald eagle took umbrage at a DJI Phantom 4 Pro being used to map the shoreline of Lake Michigan. Environmental quality analyst Hunter King was out monitoring erosion with the pricey UAV on 21 July for the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) " …
On the contrary - no shorelines to map will make the process quite unnecessary. A win all round and a vicious wild beast that caused hundreds of dollars of damage will have been dealt with.
That sounds like a government response: "We''ll paty XXX millions to save one thousand dollars and lay waste to the countryside as a side benefit."
Specifically, EGLE is a department of the State of Michigan gov't, not the US Feds. The feds don't care squat about the U.P. as long as Canada stays on it's side of Lake Superior.
Heck, if the price was right, I'm sure the US would sell Canada the entire U.P., much of northern Wisconsin, and the Minnesota Arrowhead (and maybe more). Call it the Province of Superior (after the lake). Make the Mackinac Bridge a border crossing since it's majestic enough to earn the role. Heck, make Mackinac Island a special dual-nation territory that enjoys free entry to passport holders of both countries (going back mainland is different) and still enjoys no ordinary motor vehicles.
n our daily course of supplying software for drone mapping, we test them regularly. We've only had one reported bird attack, but you'll notice in certain times of the year, nesting season I guess, in some areas birds will start to circle them, at which point we land.
More curious though was one very particular make of drone would attract bees, swarms of them, they don't stand a chance and the drones would land completely covered in bee guts, other bees still swarming around the thing. We stopped flying them on days when they seemed to be around.
You should apply for a grant from the EPA and determine whether its the frequency of props or some chemical used during manufacturing/shipping. If you can develop one that attracts murder hornets, you could make some money.
Also, what's the model number? Its coming up on christmas and that sounds like a perfect gift for an enemy.
Rumor has it that, during the war in Vietnam, a certain Teledyne-Ryan Recon UAV would regularly fly straight past its designated recovery point and land in the water, regardless of how many times they reprogrammed the right coordinates into the damn thing. It never had a problem hitting any other assigned waypoints and none of the other drones did the same, but somehow this one never got over its urge to go for a swim after every mission.
I fly R/C sailplanes. These aircraft are often flown with raptors because we're looking for the same resource -- rising air. We normally get along fine but occasionally the bird will take exception, maybe we get too close to a nest or maybe its just having a bad day, and it will charge us. These attacks don't normally cause damage because its more a "Go Away" message and, anyway, while a raptor can leave some ugly gashes in a wing it really can't do much against something that's 3 meters or more in wingspan. Mostly we get along fine -- mostly the birds show us where the lift is but occasionally we find it for them and we get joined in a thermal, lazily circling with two or three of them.
Some types of sailplane can be quite expensive. If you want a top of the line competition ship then you're looking at an outlay of $2-3K. That $950 quadcopter's a bit of a bargain.
Same thing pretty much for the full size version. They can get a bit terrritorial at low altitudes but usually they put in a few mock attacks, then go off to sulk. Definitely a full size plane isn't going to take much damage from a hawk or falcon.
I've encountered peregrine falcons at 2500 meters AGL.
Also fun are storks. They pretty much behave like living miniature sailplanes. Prefer to fly "opposite" or equally divided in a thermal, and seem to get annoyed if you don't join a thermal properly like you would any other sailplane. Since the glide speed of a sailplane is usually much better and thus we cover more ground oftentimes it seems like we become the thermal indicator for storks.
1: With a name like Hunter King one is almost begging to get ones feathers ruffled by one who is patently so;
2: The King Hunter just did it for ships & giggles is another explanation - since honestly, we can't know what its motivation was, but it could be. Especially when the pilot is called Hunter King;
3: It felt like this failed buzzard needed to be taught a lesson. (Succesfully, as is the evidence.)
4. It is just some stupid stone-age anti-tech with a bad-hair day - and that is why we can't have nice things. (Shoot the lot...)
Interesting article, what is striking is how the term "drone" has changed.
To most it implies a contraption with multiple propellers that has all the flying characteristics of a brick. To the military it usually looks like a small aircraft, the pilots just sit at a desk in the dark. To these guys the drone looks to more like an expense radio controlled model aircraft.
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