The last few days have witnessed an entire airport-and a significant portion of the UK's airspace-descending into utter chaos. The cause? A flying toy. We have seen drones menace our skies time and time again, but never on this scale. The perverts and reckless morons have had their fun, and a blanket ban is needed. Not convinced? Take a look at the facts.
1) Banning drones will prevent further dangerous incidents.
The sort of people who trade their grey matter for a flying robot are uniquely placed to do everything the law tells them. History has repeatedly shown that tightly regulating everything from drink driving to fly tipping is the key to eliminating it for good. There is zero record of big companies using clever hoop-jumping to avoid legal tax requirements. And no one in this country smokes weed, period. Scientifically, several studies have demonstrated a clear link between legal compliance and being an irresponsible prick. The same studies also show how regulation does not make life considerably harder for the rest of us.
2) All drones make great platforms for spying on your property-and children.
Before you palm off this article as just another scaremongering affair to get you worried about those you love most, gather the courage to approach a racing drone pilot. You know, the type who wear video goggles. Persuade these unfriendly, antisocial psychopaths to let you see the quality of the goggles' video, and you'll quickly understand that everything about the 'hobby' is designed as a cover for spying. Everything, from the static-ridden picture, to the 1970s-style pixel count and the world-distorting fisheye lenses. Even the fixed, non-adjustable, sixty degree camera angle, which is just perfect for staring at your nether regions, assuming you enjoy running butt naked in straight lines across the local park. At the speed where the camera's angle happens to be looking towards the ground. Which is usually about 80mph.
3) All drones are the same...
Although they may be flown by pratlords, the rest of us are surely intelligent enough to recognise a drone when we see one. It's basically a circle with four arms, with a propeller at the end of each arm. Anything else, whether capable of flight or not, is simply not a drone. There is no such thing as a fixed-wing drone, a racing drone, a helicopter drone, a blimp-style drone or, heaven forbid, any kind of underwater or sea-going robotic vessel. 'Drone' means '4 propellers' and certainly could not possibly apply to just any autonomous device, surely?
Good. If we can define drones so easily, surely getting rid of them should be no issue, m'kay?
4)...and the same goes for drone pilots.
We all know who flies drones. These are the chaps who kept Maplin Electronics alive during its twilight, and they're generally just tech freaks who know absolutely nothing about flight, aircraft or even DIY. And they're all using a vast plethora of GPS-related stabilisation aids to hide their poor abilities. Now, the internet has of course spawned rumours of vast sects of drone hobbyists relying purely on their own, well-practiced fine motor skills to weave through forests and spaghettified courses. Lies. LIES!
Oh, and as for their kit? Well, it's not like several of them have written their own source code, fine tuned feedback parameters, 3D-printed custom parts or even, heaven forbid, designed and tested their own avionics from scratch. And even if any of this was true, it would surely not imply that many drone pilots are vastly more aware of their equipment-and its safe use-than the media imply?
5) It's clearly a drone
Look at the latest story updates. Not only is the chaos totally not going to run on for several more days, but the police have clearly not got the wrong person. And the chief of the police region concerned has totally not just categorically stated that there may not have been a drone after all. The facts speak for themselves, guys. Now do what you do best. Get complaining until your local MP buckles under the weight of well-informed, critically thought out, non-ranty letters, and resolves to support new legislation that will prevent your 3 year old nephew from folding a paper plane without submitting a F-434 form twelve weeks in advance (plus £792 processing and flightpath consultation fee).
"Banning them isn't going to do any harm to the UK or the way people live their lives."
This is a small minded comment. Drone pilots operating drones as a hobby, or as a business absolutely will have their lives changed due to a ban or heavy legislation.
It's literally some people's livelihood. I know some people who have severe disability or depression etc, who feel the ability to be themselves because of the hobby. For some, drone racing is a legitimate sport, with sponsorship and prize money. And for others it's how they earn their wages. This is before you consider the predicted size of the economy for drones in the domestic and commercial spaces, or the future of…
Drones SHOULD be banned tho. Its the same with gun ownership in the UK, i might be a responsible person and completely sane but i can't own a gun, why? because you have idiots that will use them for naferious purposes. Therefore if drones can endanger the lives of innocent civilians then they should be banned or heavily restricted. Banning them isn't going to do any harm to the UK or the way people live their lives.