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Gatwick Airport Closed After Drone Sightings

I think we're drifting away from the real issue here, that these are clearly not "drones".

Emergency cobra meetings? The army called in? The whole airport in lockdown?
... It seems obvious to me that what we are dealing with here is some kind of advanced extraterrestrial craft. The cover up attempt is pathetic.
 
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).


pluk said:
Some tactics to disrupt, intercept and identify suspects will have happened.
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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.
 
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Hashtagfacepalmemojiwhatever

They. Will. Have. Had. Expert. Input. From. Outside. The. Organisation.
You know about the army, because they made no secret, because obviously...
You don't know about the others, beacuse it is secret, because obviously...

If they have a suspect there would be various tactics which you don't know about, they wouldn't be shouting about it unless it was tactically valuable to do so, because obviously...

I'll let you fill in the obvious gaps. You are not breaking anything to me, you are not in a position to because you don't know. Having your massively strong opinion about what has happened is stupid because you don't know what has happened.

One moronic thing I can tell you is happening as they've made no secret of it. They've put officers around the perimeter to keep an eye on the sky for any further incoming drones. These officers are wearing their peaked cap which massively obstructs your view of... the sky. Got to look good, even if it is to the direct detriment of being able to do your job!
 
Rofl, if they had bought in experts, they'd have caught the pilot by now, but your a copper, so I wouldn't expect anything different but the company line from you, they've got you well trained haven't they?

I know about the guys standing in fields, saw them earlier, the one I saw was in Charlwood, surrounded by trees, great view of the sky he had. Not.

Well I'll be out tomorrow with my drone on a flight with friends, we're not stopping flying just because you lot want us to, so if you would be so kind, if your idiot colleagues have managed to borrow an aeroscope system and they see a flight take off near Redhill (we'll be within range of aeroscope if they have one at Gatwick) please tell them it's just the know it all drone racer on the towers forum and not to shoot us, we won't run away and will co-operate is they talk to us like humans, pretty please, thanks.
 
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Apparently two arrests have been made, but it's funnier to think about them being incompetent... Probably because they don't have any budget to play with...

Though the Sussex police in some areas couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery and lie to cover their tracks... So it's no wonder there's little trust or expectation in some circles...

Plus I thought we were all sick of experts?
 
Well well I take it all back, you better PM me your email address so I can PayPal you the tenner @pluk

The only thing I will say is arrest is not a conviction, but I dam well hope they throw the book at them and actually secure a conviction rather than we find out in a few days they simply arrested the first people they found with a drone in the area and it didn't turn out to be them.

Benzin said:
Though the Sussex police in some areas couldn't organise a **** up in a brewery and lie to cover their tracks... So it's no wonder there's little trust or expectation in some circles...
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Is this tounge in cheek or a genuine observation? You may have detected s disdain from me towards the Police and there is a reason for it, but I'm not sure if you're poking fun at me or had similar experiences?
 
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IanSR said:
Rofl, if they had bTE]
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IanSR said:
Rofl, if they had...
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And there we are back to the start again, with you knowing exactly how you could have resolved it in minutes without having the first clue of the detail or scope of what was happening because that is not in the public domain. I'm not towing any line (an odd stance when I've just pointed out the stupidity of some aspect of what they are doing), I just have an idea of how policing works (how policing has to work), and it's entirety boring reading how everything could be done better by clueless people.

IanSR said:
We're not stopping flying just because you lot want us to
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And now you're just making shit up. Who lot wants what lot not to do what? Do you think the police somehow have some collective thought of 'we must not allow IanSR to have fun with his toy'? Take off your tinfoil hat. If I can speaks for thousands of us for a moment, I assure you we don't care. The police are not against you, or anyone anywhere doing anything, so long as you don't break the law or put others in danger. Simple.
 
IanSR said:
Is this tounge in cheek or a genuine observation? You may have detected s disdain from me towards the Police and there is a reason for it, but I'm not sure if you're poking fun at me or had similar experiences?
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Referring to incidents last year surrounding a Brighton Vs Palace football match where it was badly organised, and the force flat out fabricated the existence of weapons to support their questionable decisions... Currently pending further development through the FoI acts and the like a year on...
 
pluk said:
And now you're just making **** up. Who lot wants what lot not to do what? Do you think the police somehow have some collective thought of 'we must not allow IanSR to have fun with his toy'? Take off your tinfoil hat. If I can speaks for thousands of us for a moment, I assure you we don't care. The police are not against you, or anyone anywhere doing anything, so long as you don't break the law or put others in danger. Simple.
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Well I'm not going to bother repeating what I said earlier, but this in itself is a bit naive because most coppers I've come across barely know anything about drone laws, and you're in the unique position of being one so it would probably be a bit easier for you, if you were flying one, to explain to your colleagues that what you were doing was not illegal and not putting others in danger than it would be me to.

Actually, how do you suggest I handle this? Because I have been approached before and I know others have too in the area and when we try to politely explain the regulations and why what we are doing is not illegal, we're still told it is and not to question the word of a police officer.

So how am I supposed to react when being told by a Policeman what I'm doing is illegal when it's not?

It was bad before, it'll be positively hysterical now, yes you are correct that nobody is singling out me directly, but do you honestly believe the reaction of the Police will not be any different now than what it was before this incident?

I do most of my flying indoors this time of year, so this will probably be my last out door drone flight until next April, but I'm seriously interested in how you would deal with that scenario?

Benzin said:
Referring to incidents last year surrounding a Brighton Vs Palace football match where it was badly organised, and the force flat out fabricated the existence of weapons to support their questionable decisions... Currently pending further development through the FoI acts and the like a year on...
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Yeah, I think I heard about that.
 
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IanSR said:
Actually, how do you suggest I handle this? Because I have been approached before and I know others have too in the area and when we try to politely explain the regulations and why what we are doing is not illegal, we're still told it is and not to question the word of a police officer.

So how am I supposed to react when being told by a Policeman what I'm doing is illegal when it's not?
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We are supposed to drop everything and kneel down on the ground while we wait to be shot like good little citizens.
.... But as much as I agree with you on these matters, Ian, I'm pretty sure this is slightly off topic. ;)

Now then, back to my UFO theory, has anyone seen any proper footage or pictures of this "drone" yet? The only ones I've seen just show a blurred dark spec. That's usually more than enough to get people screaming "ALIENS!".
 
For those wondering what I was talking about regarding Aeroscope:
https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/14...ion-interception-tech-next-level-lauren-goode

A newspaper article saying the man arrested was at work on Wednesday evening...
https://metro.co.uk/2018/12/22/first-photos-couple-brought-gatwick-standstill-drones-8277219/

I'm not gonna say too much because I just know @pluk will jump in here and tell me to stop speculating because secrets, Police, facts, you don't have ( you can put them in order ) and that I don't know what I'm talking about, but erm, did the Police just arrested the first poor sap to switch on a DJI drone in the local area? Seriously? Kinda looks that way a tiny bit. (Yes, just switching the drone on would cause it to show up on Aeroscope, even if you just plug it into the PC to download some files or do maintaince).
 
Well I hope the Police and every newspaper that labelled this couple "morons" are sued into bankruptcy now they've been released without charge and PC Sussex is going to great lengths to confirm they were not involved.

Looks like Sussex are still the incompetent baboons they've always been, if they're going to round up every model flier within a few miles, they should be careful, some are quiet old (80+) and probably wouldn't react well to having their front door kicked in by PC Incompetent.

And RTFM before firing up your Aeroscope again, make sure you understand what the dots on the screen mean before you start arresting people again.
 
IanSR said:
Well I hope the Police and every newspaper that labelled this couple "morons" are sued into bankruptcy now they've been released without charge and PC Sussex is going to great lengths to confirm they were not involved.

Looks like Sussex are still the incompetent baboons they've always been, if they're going to round up every model flier within a few miles, they should be careful, some are quiet old (80+) and probably wouldn't react well to having their front door kicked in by PC Incompetent.

And RTFM before firing up your Aeroscope again, make sure you understand what the dots on the screen mean before you start arresting people again.
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Gatwick is now offering a £50,000 reward to find the real culprits.
 
skyscraper said:
Gatwick is now offering a £50,000 reward to find the real culprits.
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Oh I bet one of my neighbours will be dobbing me in soon trying to cash this in, I just know she will, she really hates my drone lol

Maybe they'd be wiser to put the money towards buying some antidrone tech instead since they ignored all the advice previously given to them on the subject cos they knew best, and that worked out really well didn't it? LOL
 
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