sters' remote control helicopter shot down at Wing Pointe Gun Club pigeon shoot

WFMZ.com ^ | Nov 20. 2012 | Pam Cunningham

[KeyLargo]

sters' remote control helicopter shot down at Wing Pointe Gun Club pigeon shoot

Author: Pam Cunningham, Reporter, Pam.Cunningham@wfmz.com Published On:Nov 20 2012 02:18:01 PM EST

PERRY TWP., Pa. -

An animal rights group is crying foul after its video drone was apparently shot down during a pigeon shoot in Berks County on Sunday.

State police said they are trying to figure out who shot down the drone and whether the animal rights group had the right to fly it.

This is not the first time the animal rights group has had one of its cameras in the sky shot down, but state police said this is the first time they have been brought in to investigate it.

SHARK, or SHowing Animals Respect and Kindness, puts its video camera in the air using an octocopter, also known as a drone. The group was trying to record video of the Wing Pointe Gun Club's pigeon shoot.

[Carriage Hill]

I remember huge flocks of ‘em in NYC when I worked there, in the late-70s and thru the 80s. Pigeon crap was awful, especially in Midtown. People in Central Park either sat in it or got it dropped on them. Nothing like sitting on a park bench, surrounded by 1,500 aggressive pigeons, while eating lunch. I don’t know how they did it, but they were there, day after day.

[Charles Martel]

I bet somebody comes up with a new ‘drone load’ like Hornady came out with its Zombie loads.

And maybe an anti-aircraft reticle for the EOTech Holosight, along with an optics mount for the old goose gun.

[Seizethecarp]

Model RC and autonomous GPS guided drone/UAVs must obey FAA notices of restricted airspace around VIPs called NOTAMS.

Model RC flyers are always grousing about how their club model airfields are totally shut down within something like a 40 mile radius of Obama everytime he comes to their town.

This clampdown occurred in early 2009 just as Obama took office. It might have been triggered by concerns that model drones could be used to attack the POTUS (see my tag line)

See this link for NOTAM airspace restrictions (subscription available on Twitter!):

http://www.modelaircraft.org/membership/clubs/notams.aspx

[Eye of Unk]

As a reloader I would think a 10 ga with some weighted mini spools of Spectra fishing line could be used or a timed fuze to actually make a mini flak round.

[az_gila]

Thanks. I forgot about the all-emcompassing VIP NOTAMS...

[popdonnelly]

Seems to me that a drone flying over my property is a nuisance. You own the airspace over your property.

[Seizethecarp]

That appears to be much like the 6-rotor Arducopter only expanded to 8 rotors:

https://store.diydrones.com/3DR_ArduCopter_Hexa_B_Electronics_Kit_p/kt-ach3dr-03.htm

You can fly it by RC to the vantage point you want and then lock it in to hover at that spot using GPS control. You can also pre-program an itinerary for it to navigate to using “unlimited” waypoints (GPS determined specific three-dimensional locations) where wind will be automatically offset by the onboard computer to maintain a stable position for the HD streaming video or camera.

http://code.google.com/p/arducopter/wiki/ArduCopter

Features include:
•High quality autolevel and auto altitude control – fly level and straight. Or fly the awesome “simple flight” mode, which makes ArduCopter one of the easiest multicopter to fly. Don't worry about keeping an eye on your multicopter's orientation—let the computer figure it out! You just push the stick the way you want to go, and the autopilot figures out what that means for whatever orientation the copter is in, using its onboard magnetometer. “Front”, “back”...who cares? Just fly!
•No programming required. Just use an easy-to-use desktop utility to load the software with one click and set up ArduCopter with quick visual displays, a point-and-click mission planner and a full ground station option (see below).
•Unlimited GPS waypoints. Just point and click waypoints in the Mission Planner, and ArduCopter will fly itself to them. No distance limits! You can script entire missions, including camera control!
•”Loiter” anywhere. Just flip the toggle switch and your copter will hold its position using its GPS and altitude sensors.
•Return to launch. Set home to any location and flip a switch to have ArduCopter fly back automatically.
•Do all mission planning via a two-way wireless connection option. Waypoints, mode changing, even changing the gains of every control parameter can be done from your laptop, even while the copter is in the air!
•Automatic takeoff and landing. Just flick a switch and watch ArduCopter execute its mission completely autonomously, returning home to land by itself in front of you when it's done.

[coloradan]

It might be more illegal to transmit a jamming signal than it would be to shoot a gun where you are legally allowed to be, and to shoot from.

[RatSlayer]

One of the provisions of the Brady Bill to get back-stabbing RINOs to vote for it, is a provision that makes it illegal to interfere with a legal hunt.

So the animal rights activists could potentially be charged with a federal crime for interfering with a hunt by scaring off the game.

[martin_fierro]

[Future Snake Eater]

So the animal rights activists could potentially be charged with a federal crime for interfering with a hunt by scaring off the game.

That would require the DOJ to prosecute.

[Charles Martel]

There are “bolo” rounds available; just gotta figure out how to modify ‘em to lengthen the cable portion from 6” to around 3 feet.