A theory on the Gatwick Drone

[Slider2732]

Didn't see this posted anywhere, probably because it's not FE related.
But, if these drones were in the air for 14 hours, then there's some super whizz bang battery technology going on!


As many will be aware, some rather strange events have happened over in the UK at Gatwick Airport.
The whole airport was shut down yesterday and at least part of today, because drones have been zooming all over the airport runways.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-sussex-46623754

"Drone sightings kept London Gatwick Airport closed for a second day, derailing trips of tens of thousands of travelers ahead of Christmas, while the military was called up to assist with what local law enforcement called a "deliberate act." Flights were suspended as law enforcement searched for the operator of what it called an "industrial drone." The drones appeared to be "a deliberate attempt to disrupt flights," said a statement from the airport, the second-busiest in the U.K. after London Heathrow. Hundreds of flights were grounded, while scores of others were diverted to other airports. London Gatwick, which serves more than 100,000 passengers a day, said disruptions would continue on Friday."


Military 

How difficult would it be, to notice which direction the things are flying in from and, which direction they head back out in when their batteries run low?

Toygrade quads don't have more than a few hundred feet of range and can remain airborne only 5-6 minutes at best.
Posh stuff may have the battery power to stay up for 25 minutes, but they are geofenced...unable to fly at airports anyway. The things will not even take off if near to an airport.
Pics of DJI products are shown in various reports, but those require the owner to register with DJI before flying anywhere. DJI's products being part of why the FAA imposed a multitude of rulings against a formerly wonderfully safe hobby in the past couple of years.
In short, these were not a couple of Walmart bought early Christmas presents being flown around by kids.

Another source: https://metro.co.uk/2018/12/20/first-footage-drone-evading-police-helicopters-gatwick-airport-8271026/

Reports of drones being in the air for 14 hours, either means the drones could have been followed multiple times and the pilot caught on any occasion, or something hinky is going on. The military couldn't spot them, helicopters didn't follow them to the source, 20 police units couldn't spot where the drones took off or landed from? I mean, really?
All of them run on 2.4GHz, simply blast a 500W dirty broadband 'sonic cannon' in the general direction.  A man in a shed could have built that yesterday afternoon.

Or, this was why they couldn't find the pilot on the ground!
 

[PhysicsProf]

  I agree; the "cover story" of drones flying for hours - that could not be tracked when they left-  sounds fishy.  Like a guv-mint cover narrative.

  " The military couldn't spot them, helicopters didn't follow them to the source, 20 police units couldn't spot where the drones took off or landed from? I mean, really?
All of them run on 2.4GHz, simply blast a 500W dirty broadband 'sonic cannon' in the general direction.  A man in a shed could have built that yesterday afternoon."

Yes, I believe YOU could do this, Mark!!

   I mean, shutting down the entire Gatwick airport for hours, cancelling hundreds of flights?

   Personally, I lean towards UFO's

[TinMan]

Didn't see this posted anywhere, probably because it's not FE related.
But, if these drones were in the air for 14 hours, then there's some super whizz bang battery technology going on!


As many will be aware, some rather strange events have happened over in the UK at Gatwick Airport.
The whole airport was shut down yesterday and at least part of today, because drones have been zooming all over the airport runways.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-sussex-46623754

"Drone sightings kept London Gatwick Airport closed for a second day, derailing trips of tens of thousands of travelers ahead of Christmas, while the military was called up to assist with what local law enforcement called a "deliberate act." Flights were suspended as law enforcement searched for the operator of what it called an "industrial drone." The drones appeared to be "a deliberate attempt to disrupt flights," said a statement from the airport, the second-busiest in the U.K. after London Heathrow. Hundreds of flights were grounded, while scores of others were diverted to other airports. London Gatwick, which serves more than 100,000 passengers a day, said disruptions would continue on Friday."


Military 

How difficult would it be, to notice which direction the things are flying in from and, which direction they head back out in when their batteries run low?

Toygrade quads don't have more than a few hundred feet of range and can remain airborne only 5-6 minutes at best.
Posh stuff may have the battery power to stay up for 25 minutes, but they are geofenced...unable to fly at airports anyway. The things will not even take off if near to an airport.
Pics of DJI products are shown in various reports, but those require the owner to register with DJI before flying anywhere. DJI's products being part of why the FAA imposed a multitude of rulings against a formerly wonderfully safe hobby in the past couple of years.
In short, these were not a couple of Walmart bought early Christmas presents being flown around by kids.

Another source: https://metro.co.uk/2018/12/20/first-footage-drone-evading-police-helicopters-gatwick-airport-8271026/

Reports of drones being in the air for 14 hours, either means the drones could have been followed multiple times and the pilot caught on any occasion, or something hinky is going on. The military couldn't spot them, helicopters didn't follow them to the source, 20 police units couldn't spot where the drones took off or landed from? I mean, really?
All of them run on 2.4GHz, simply blast a 500W dirty broadband 'sonic cannon' in the general direction.  A man in a shed could have built that yesterday afternoon.

Or, this was why they couldn't find the pilot on the ground!
 

I say the drone belongs to the government,and the government(for some reason)wanted the airport closed for that period.

The funny thing is,people will believe what there told,even though it makes no sense at all.

1-A drone that can remain air born for hours on end  --we need some of them batteries 
2- If it was a drone,it could only remain air born for some 20-25 minutes at best--unless it used these magic batteries 
3-the government can watch you take a leak behind a tree from space--but cant see where the drone lands when it returns for a battery swap. !!then again!!,they also lost a boeing 777-200 (mh370)  ,and we had terrorist (who couldnt fly a single engine plane),take out 3 buildings in the most heavily guarded air space in the world,in Boeing 767,which they hijacked with box cutters.

Man our governments really pump out some garbage--but people keep on believing them 

[Slider2732]

Good points gents...there's a lot of it doesn't make sense to anyone who's been around the tech at all.
All those people, all those grounded flights and what, 2 or 3 bits of film that could have been taken anywhere. Surely hundreds of folks cranked their cellphones skywards. It's not like they were going to be doing anything else at the airport.

A younger brother of mine, in the UK is having a blast flying quads around with his young son. Things aren't quite as mad for regulations over there as here in the USA yet, but I have to wonder if they'll roll something out after this.

Oh and, good luck regulating birds for runway take-offs.


There is, perhaps, a way of building a drone to fly for 14hrs....use a Tesla motors rolling chassis for a Model S, massive battery being in the middle. Remove the wheels and put propellers on instead 

[muDped]

There is, perhaps, a way of building a drone to fly for 14hrs....
use a Tesla motors rolling chassis for a Model S, massive battery
being in the middle.

Very tiny two-stroke motor generators have already been developed
to power long range quads for prolonged flights.  Much cheaper and
more energy efficient than large batteries.  The marvels of modern
integrated circuit innovations continues to astound.

[Smudge]

I don't think the drone(s) was (were) in the air continuously for 14 hours.  Just one sighting is enough for the runway to be closed for safety reasons.  So the mischievous pranksters only had to repeatably fly the drone to keep it closed.  And yes there is technology available that can make the drones inoperable but our inept power masters hadn't seen fit to recognize the potential threat and have it available, took them over 24 hours to really get things in place.    Didn't take long after the next sighting (which closed the runway again) and the police have made an arrest.  I can see all airports now urgently trying to acquire these assets.
Smudge

[ion]

 

I can see all airports now urgently trying to acquire these assets.
Smudge

And the same group that supplied all the body xray scanners and ancilliary equipment for airports after 9/11 will make another fortune selling this technology.

If you make it uncomfortable for people e.g. long waits at airports, they will happily give up their money (tax) for a solution to speed things up or make them feel safer.

problem>reaction>solution

[Slider2732]

And it seems the reports of catching the 47 year old man and 54 year old woman have taken a turn.
They've been released!

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-46665615


Det Ch Supt Jason Tingley -
He said there was no available footage of the drones and police were relying on witness accounts.

He added there was "always a possibility that there may not have been any genuine drone activity in the first place"

[PhysicsProf]

  News report says Gatwick airport was closed for 36 hours! 
And then this:
"Authorities finally regained control over the airfield early on Friday after the Army deployed unidentified military technology.
It is believed that the Israeli-developed Drone Dome system, which can jam communications between the drone and its operator, was used.
However, experts have said it does not enable the person responsible to be tracked down and captured.
John Murray, professor of robotics and autonomous systems at the University of Hull, said it could only "take the drone out of the sky"."