General Announcements

[gbar7217]

It's a future intention and sounds like it may involve something like a transponder so that other aircraft may be able to be alerted to a drone's presence. I can only imagine that it would be/could be used on large drones that are flying a pre-set GPS course over long distances, way beyond LOS. Smaller models may have a microchip injected somewhere, so that when they're ingested into a cessna's cockpit or engine, CASA will be able to scan it and then return it to it's owner with a smile. Easy...

Kelvin and a mate of his were developing a program for full size aircraft that warned that a drone was in the area. it meant that all drones will be fitted with transponders, so Kelvin had an inkling that Casa was going down the road of registration of drones a few years ago. Turns out the cost of development of program & implementation into aircraft big & small was going to cost millions and the USA partners were starting to buck a bit at the cost of implementation. 
If someone could develop a transponder that shut down the drone if it was in the controlled airspace around a airport would save a lot of grief. The chip would be incorporated on the main board & linked so that tampering would render drone incapable of flight. People would soon learn not to fly near airports.

[DaveW]

This afternoons flying is on. The Bazza burgers are defrosting. If its too blowy we can discus Casa^s proposal. My two bobs worth is the airspace between 0 and 1400 is going to become a saleable commodity. Secondly commercial aircraft are currently fitted with proximity telemetary alarms so fitting chips or whatever will make the drones electronically visible. Cant discriminate between commercial or private as to the worth of human life. So how long before all civilian aircraft must be fitted with sensors. Big money ticket there.

[Celwin]

A young guy behind the counter at Hobbyrama in Brisbane was telling me he is an Air Cadet and comes to Warwick to fly gliders (real ones). He also flys RC at Amberley at times. He said that there is a big sign on the gate where they drive in to the RAAF field that says models may lose control at any momen without warning. Apparently the new Super Hornets have a radio scrambling device that shuts down any RC device by flooding the frequencies. He was there when a $20k plus twin jet plunged to the ground, completely destroyed, shortly before a FA18 flew past in a circuit. The pilots are supposed to switch off the device before approaching the field, but some forget to do so. Devices like that would be very expensive and I don't know if they'd disable a GPS piloted drone anyway.

[Liam Walton]

I can imagine that a micro-transponder could work alright if it was less than 5g and quite compact. If it were any heavier, the FPV community would not even consider it (there's already huge opposition against current rules). It would also be impossible to enforce people to use receivers and/or flight controllers which could be hijacked by authorities on custom-built aircraft. I like the idea of registration and EID tags IF it is unobtrusive. If I could paint a few small numbers on my aircraft (big as possible but not a set size) and/or add a tiny transponder, that's no trouble at all.
I think the main 'drone' issue lately has been people not bothering to find out about rules and flying their RTF multirotors around stadiums and airports. The proposed scheme seems to cover that very well even if it is a bit vague on FPV pilots flying custom aircraft.
So far I'm unsure what to think of the proposed scheme without more long-term information on EIDs etc

[Celwin]

There's small transponders already in use in RC aircraft (not that I've seen one...), as they are used for pylon racing. How big were they in the Scanners last weekend in Toowoomba guys? They may only have a short useful range though, not enough for a Cessna to pick up in time to take evasive action.
Your last paragraph is exactly right Liam. The issue of people not bothering to look for rules and perhaps still not knowing there are actually rules. People are still thinking that the small drones are just toys; harmless toys, so they can be flown anywhere they like.
I'm wondering about how CASA will be able to keep up with the turnover of models that park-flying pilots have. I don't suppose that commercial drone operators will have a high fatality rate, so keeping the data base up to date won't be hard for them.

[DaveW]

https://youtu.be/dP381RfUu_8 video is self explanatory. If this works

[Celwin]

What are you planning Dave? It's not something involving scanners and BB guns is it?

[Ando]

Apologies for sunday's meeting I cannot attend Cheers Dando

[RodG]

The timing at Toowoomba was done by the officials, there are no transponders

[Patch]

The club would like to give a big thank you to Barry, Jo, Dawn, Jason, Janet, Nick, Reilly and Joanna for
giving up their time on Australia Day at the Bunnings BBQ. It wasn't one of our best ones but at the 
moment we need every cent we can raise.
Thanks 

Thanks for throwing in the free sauna