Now The Panic Begins

The media is beginning to jump on the idea of using model planes to attack US targets. This is trouble.

http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2011/09/29/analysis-model-planes-as-weapons-of-terror/?hpt=hp_t2

I'm pretty sure I can hit a target on 60 ft lines

Jim Lee proved this with his Auto the Gyro at Tulsa last weekend by winning balloon but with it.

The main problem for us is that the government does not know the difference between R/C and C/L models. If they outlaw or restrict R/C, we will most likely go down with them.

>The main problem for us is that the government does not know
>the difference between R/C and C/L models. If they outlaw or
>restrict R/C, we will most likely go down with them.


Exactly, and even if the regulation says it applies only to RC, that doesn't mean that anyone enforcing it will know the difference.

I am amazed it has taken this long. I would have expected this to happen after the transatlantic flight.

Brett

From a couple AMA emails/letters I saw, the FAA and HSA had no interest in CL at all. It poses no security problems since the planes, while one might fly away once in awhile, can't be aimed or even guided once the lines break. Plus, it is hard to build one big enough to cause any major problems except for a few scale builders or experimenting type fliers. What good is a CL model that pulls you off your feet at full throttle.

>The media is beginning to jump on the idea of using model
>planes to attack US targets. This is trouble.
>
>http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2011/09/29/analysis-model-planes-as-weapons-of-terror/?hpt=hp_t2

Well, I know the AMA is involved in helping draft regulations concerning this situation. I would think that they know the difference between R/C and C/L, and would have the common sense to inform their fellow government drafters of our existence and what the limitations of target selection is with C/L.
Then again...they haven't done such a hot job for C/L in the past.
Have they?
I'm sorry for our R/C compatriots but most of them also have not done much to support C/L in the past either.
One recently told me that C/L was for kids and was dead anyway!
This guy was the proprietor of a Hobby Shop!
Most hobby shops believe that, and the big mail order places don't know we exist or think there isn't enough market to support investment.
No I'm not going to jump up and down for joy over the potential limiting destruction of R/C, but I'm not gonna cry either.
The AMA actually has the most to lose...No park fliers!

Randy Cuberly [photo not recovered: sipcof.gif]

Does anybody think that when R/C is banned, CL will see a resurgance? I know, I know, it is really a stretch...but it would be a very nice stretch! Steve

If RC goes down, there won't be any suppliers of hobby products that can stay in business. There goes CL with it.

The other shoe is getting ready to drop.

[photo not recovered: 40094.jpg]

Attachment #1, (jpg file)

Selfishly, control line guys should contact their AMA reps and remind them that control line planes are tethered and should be exempt from any (I wager pending) regulations.


See Ya

Peabody

www.gscb.us / www.richpeabody.com

To All:

Well, regarding the Tower Hobby E-mail. They speak half truths.

Changing the subject slightly, the "Shipping ban on Electric" R/C batteries is probably going to happen anyway, and it's not a ban. There have been numerous documented cases of Li-poly batteries causing catostrophic fires and loss of life in aircraft.

2 examples that come to my mind immediately, UPS DC-8 burned on the ground, undeclared and suspected possibly improperly packaged li-poly battereis. The fire was so hot they could not definatively determine the cause of the fire.

UPS 747 accident and on-board fire after take off in India. Carrying large quantities of li-poly batteries.

What is being proposed is that li-poly batteries be classified as Haz-mat and shipped and labeled accordingly, not banned. Same thing happend to model fuel, jsut costs more to ship. This will result in a prohibition of shipping on passenger aircraft and specific protocals to ship on freighters.

ALPA has been advocating this regulation and ban on passenger aircraft for years only to be stopped by lobbying and the computer industry. In the mean time, we will continue to have on-board fires and is only a matter of time before we have another major accident caused by declared or undeclared li-poly batteries.

Remember, as many have stated before, properly handled, there is no problem. However, you get the 19-year old highschool drop out driving a fork lift in a warehouse, runs into a pallet of batteries, damages them, and you get the idea...if they were regulated better, the shipping standards would take care of stuff like this.

Unfortunately, I just saw a piece on the news. A US citizen jihadist had bought a couple of RC jets with GPS. On the good side, he had talked about his plans and the FBI was informed. They were able to get in with him and sold him the explosives he was looking for, so he now is in jail an under indictment.

This is a real problem that will not have a good solution. A 25 lb. jet carrying a gallon or so of kerosene and a pound of Semtex makes a pretty scary missile, especially when it is easy to hook up to a GPS autopilot to send it someplace 5-10 miles away at nearly 200 mph.

Right now the AMA is aiming to get the regs to allow flying from registered fields that are run by AMA clubs. That will prevent the terrorists from flying there anyway. But it does not solve the problem that the equipment is relatively cheap and available and no terrorist is going to bother trying to do the dirty work from a recreational RC field.

The rocket motor is another example of a bureaucratic CF. The fuel in the hobby motors is formulated so that it simply won't explode. It can't burn fast enough. Same for the igniters. They can cause a fire and shipping them by air certainly is not a good idea. But they are probably less of a hazard than LiPoly batteries.

Phil C

AMA's statement:

AMA and aeromodelers everywhere outraged at terrorist’s plan to attack Pentagon, Capitol with RC model converted into a UAV



M U N C I E - The Academy of Model Aeronautics is shocked and outraged by the actions of a 26-year-old Massachusetts man arrested this week on federal charges for his intent to use an RC model airplane reconfigured as a UAV, similar to a military drone, for an explosive-laden attack on the U.S. Capitol and Pentagon. The suspect is not an AMA member nor has he been confirmed as being a model aviation enthusiast.

“When an otherwise safe and wholesome hobby becomes the focal point in a planned terrorist attack, we are as outraged as all citizens,” said AMA Interim President Mark Smith. “Like all Americans, we appreciate the professionalism of the FBI in this case. The AMA’s 143,000 aeromodelers throughout the country pledge to keep a vigilant eye in their communities on any suspicious activity involving RC aircraft.”

To read the FBI’s affidavit on the case, go here. To read the media release from the Department of Justice, go here.

Rezwan Ferdaus, a U.S. citizen from Ashland MA, and a physics graduate from Northeastern University, was arrested after lengthy monitoring and a sting operation by the FBI this week. Ferdaus had acquired three RC jets, an F-86 Sabre and two F-4 Phantoms, plus explosives and cell phones wired like IEDs. He kept them in a storage facility to work on. It isn’t known at this time if Ferdaus was able to fly the airplanes or if he had assistance. The public, according to the bureau, was never in danger.

Though Ferdaus’ plan was to convert a commercially available model aircraft into a GPS-guided unmanned aerial vehicle, there is a strong distinction between a hobbyist’s model aircraft and UAVs designed for commercial or military use. “Modelers everywhere are outraged by the literal hijacking of model aircraft for such a nefarious purpose,” said Rich Hanson, AMA’s Government Relations and Regulatory Affairs representative and former Vietnam helicopter pilot. “Our 143,000 members follow a strict safety code, always fly within sight, and remain clear of frangible property or people. When we hear this sort of item and activity labeled as a ‘model’ we are concerned that our recreational and educational hobby is being misrepresented.”

To date, the FBI has not released photos of the actual RC airplanes, only photos such as below of models that are “similar.” “The public will see these photos and think ‘model” when it is the internal configuration, capabilities, and use of the plane that defines it,” continued Hanson.



This subversive plot has also been condemned by the National Aeronautic Association. “The Academy of Model Aeronautics and its 143,000 members are the embodiment of education, professionalism, hobby pursuit, and friendly competition in the United States,” said Jonathan Gaffney, president and CEO. “While this individual has never been associated with the AMA or modeling, we have the utmost confidence in AMA to work with the authorities in any way possible to assist in this investigation.”

The Academy of Model Aeronautics is celebrating its 75th year in 2011. For generations it has posted what is arguably the safest record in all of aeronautics while providing a hobby and sport which has been the incubator of numerous luminaries in aviation and aerospace.

I'm not too worried....

The GP has the attention span of a gnat. Next week, Kim Kardashian will get a divorce, and people will forget all about it.

As for Gov't regulation, this does set back the work that the AMA has done to solidify the lines between UAS and recreational models, however its not really game-changing I think. Coming from someone who has been to Afghanistan and seen the enemy firsthand, I can tell you that those guys can make something out of nothing. Theyre very creative; could probably make a reconissance UAV out of a paper airplane and a disposable camera. Quite frankly,Im suprised that it has taken the Taliban thinktanks this long to put hobby-grade airplanes and explosives together.

The best we can do is, in addition to the afforementioned vigilance at the flying field, is not lose sleep over it. Write your congressman, back the AMA's efforts, and then go out to the field and fly without a second though. Life will go on for us.

Meanwhile, the Taliban will think up new and exciting ways to blow us infidels up. Maybe chlorine IEDs in car washes? Or how about packing C4 into people's bluetooth ear pieces? Life will go on for them too. Hopefully, and if I can help it, not for too long....

Long story short: Be concerned, but not worried.

> I'm not too worried....
>
> The GP has the attention span of a gnat. Next week, Kim
>Kardashian will get a divorce, and people will forget all
>about it.
>
> As for Gov't regulation, this does set back the work that
>the AMA has done to solidify the lines between UAS and
>recreational models, however its not really game-changing I
>think. Coming from someone who has been to Afghanistan and
>seen the enemy firsthand, I can tell you that those guys can
>make something out of nothing. Theyre very creative; could
>probably make a reconissance UAV out of a paper airplane and a
>disposable camera. Quite frankly,Im suprised that it has
>taken the Taliban thinktanks this long to put hobby-grade
>airplanes and explosives together.
>
> The best we can do is, in addition to the afforementioned
>vigilance at the flying field, is not lose sleep over it.
>Write your congressman, back the AMA's efforts, and then go
>out to the field and fly without a second though. Life will go
>on for us.
>
> Meanwhile, the Taliban will think up new and exciting ways
>to blow us infidels up. Maybe chlorine IEDs in car washes?
>Or how about packing C4 into people's bluetooth ear pieces?
>Life will go on for them too. Hopefully, and if I can help it,
>not for too long....
>
> Long story short: Be concerned, but not worried.

Thanks for your thoughtful response, Sean...probably the best response on this subject I have read. Mature, goes right to the heart of the matter, and is from someone who has been there & knows the enemy.

Solutions are needed.

1- stop making primitives wealthy by saving the world from evil oil.
Drill and produce in the U.S.
Only draw back is the North would loose out economically and financially to the South and this is what it has really been about since just before the Civil War.
The North on a level field cannot compete with the South.

Greenies save the world from us? Ha! propaganda- nothing more.


Thus the increase in 'Brady Bomb' incidences of late.


2-many multiple choices for this one(2)