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Originally Posted by C130driver
(Post 2384959)
They (RPAs) are a huge pain in the a$$ to other traffic in Afghanistan and other AORs. Too many near misses to count. Before pilot training all the propaganda Nazis were saying how every pilot will fly RPAs in their Air Force careers and how it is the "wave of the future," several years later most pilots I know in the AF will retire without ever having flown one. (FWIW they do an amazing job at specific mission sets and killing bad guys.)
Anyone who thinks autonomous airliners are on the horizon for anyone actually flying today is smoking some special type of dope. I Hated hearing they were in a stack. |
Originally Posted by UAL T38 Phlyer
(Post 2384956)
I believe in the first four years, they lost 12 out of 30.
Yes, the RQ-4 at 40-something-thousand feet received the terminate command, and dutifully stopped flying and spun into the Earth... just like it was supposed to. Well done!! And, yes, it had some expensive sensors on board (EO and ASARS). Brilliant. |
:eek::eek:
No, did not know about that! The numbers are from an Aviation Week article I read early in the program, ie long ago, and ie, I may be off. At the time, the Navy was debating getting into the program. The lasting impressions on me from the article: 1. I was astounded at the loss rate percentage (I could see that happening with a Pred, flying a piston in lower-altitude weather), and 2. I think they were about $30 million each. |
Originally Posted by Grumble
(Post 2384933)
The bigger question is how many of these things crash that we don't hear about because it's not so public?
The model airplane club is alive and well. 2-3 of the smaller ones (if not more) seem to crash every quarter overseas... |
Originally Posted by Hobbit64
(Post 2384960)
Yep!!!
I Hated hearing they were in a stack. |
This was written back in 2014. Lots have happened since.
When drones fall from the sky | The Washington Post |
Originally Posted by PurpleToolBox
(Post 2386465)
This was written back in 2014. Lots have happened since.
When drones fall from the sky | The Washington Post Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk |
Originally Posted by PurpleToolBox
(Post 2386465)
This was written back in 2014. Lots have happened since.
When drones fall from the sky | The Washington Post https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XCJMjLRe15k |
A buddy crashed one back in the day. I asked him "what did you do after the crash". His reply "I went to lunch".
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