I did read your reply and I do understand, the way you put it this time is far better, and yes I can see why they may have been resistant to asking the very community that initially suspected could have been behind the incident to help, but at some point even just asking someone outside the core group what they would do could have helped, the BMFA and FPVUK are well established clubs, one has been around for 60 years, it's not like asking Joe at the Pub for help.
I do have to disagree on two points though, they didn't ask for expert help, they asked the army/raf, that's like asking a vet to consult on a tooth extraction, they know the basics, but if you want the job doing properly, ask a dentist. Banks don't ask G4S for help in plugging holes in security, they offer hackers a reward for plugging it, the very hackers who would otherwise exploit the security hole for their gain, the army has frequency scanners on the roof of the terminal building, judging by the antenna in the photos they're scanning the 1.2 to 5.8ghz frequency range, do they even realise a drone can be controlled at 35mhz? I doubt it, otherwise their equipment would have rubber ducks on and not stubby antennas - this is the kind of technical info that only someone seriously into the hobby would know about (and please don't try and tell me I don't know what frequencies they're monitoring by the antenna length, it's not rocket science, they are using half wavelength dipol antennas tuned for the lower ghz range, anything lower would require an antenna quadruple the length).
Some tactics to disrupt, intercept and identify suspects will have happened.
Again I hate to break it to you but none were, if they identified the suspect they would be lauding it on tv and to anybody who would listen how they had done so and how they had quickly saved everybody by arresting them, my friend owns a business located about half way down the runway, they spent most of the day watching the goings on, your colleagues spent most of it running around on foot chasing it around the airfield, and when not doing that driving up and down in land rovers. They frankly hadn't got a clue and I'll bet you £10 now
@pluk , if nobody owns up to this (i.e an eco terrorist group or Varney lol or a family member doesn't turn someone in) they'll never trace down the pilot now the event is over. Their best opportunity was to do what Cambridge Police did or try and down the drone there and then and attempt to trace it through serial numbers.
There's also serious questions about how much damage a drone would actually do to an airliner, the Dayton University test has already been dismissed as inaccurate as they tested a Moony M10 wing at a simulated speed four times faster than what a plane can legally do at the height that a collision would occur and the Uni is being sued by DJI over it, but that's not really relevant I just wanted to get that out there that no drone has killed anybody yet, ever, and a few have hit aircrafts already.
BTW sounds like your flying colleagues are back out again at Gatwick, hope the moron isn't back again.
