Is it feasible for a civilian drone to reach 9000'?
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Is it feasible for a civilian drone to reach 9000'?
Is this feasible for a civilian drone, or is it more likely to be something that the boys & girls that operate within the "unspecified military expenditure" section of the budget?
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-essex-48352513
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-essex-48352513
I wouldn't try it with my "common or garden" widely available hobby done, for legal and common sense reasons, but given it's fairly sporty initial ROC and battery life I'd suspect it's possible, and certainly possible with something more bespoke.
As Kelvin has pointed out, probably the bigger mystery is the horizontal position..the lat/long given in the Airprox report puts the device over the North Sea, about 10 miles southeast of Clacton on Sea...
As Kelvin has pointed out, probably the bigger mystery is the horizontal position..the lat/long given in the Airprox report puts the device over the North Sea, about 10 miles southeast of Clacton on Sea...
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Look up High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE)
I think perhaps the wrong question was asked. The OP probably meant is a standard hobby octocopter able to reach 9,000ft.
I think perhaps the wrong question was asked. The OP probably meant is a standard hobby octocopter able to reach 9,000ft.
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We have a MW controlled 10m blimp, with full payload and hydrogen, can go much higher.
really, the only limit is the MW controller. If we lose control, the limit is near orbit!
On the 'hobby' type of drones, same issue, signal.
really, the only limit is the MW controller. If we lose control, the limit is near orbit!
On the 'hobby' type of drones, same issue, signal.
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It's possible and in fact not even that hard. Some people use very light setups so that any impact (if it crashes) will not hurt anyone. I take "drone" as an UAV. So with wings etc. Since they are autonomous range of signal is not a problem. I've seen these things make 100+ km autonomous flights but usually at lower altitudes. See video:
Not it sure you would get a quadcopter up there
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The altitude record for a "standard" DJI quad copter is around 16000 feet I think (and then it can make it to the ground again without dropping out of the sky). I guess they would be able to go higher but then you lose it.
A DJI spends lots of battery life trying to stay in place though. If you would let it drift who knows where and at what altitude it would end up.
A DJI spends lots of battery life trying to stay in place though. If you would let it drift who knows where and at what altitude it would end up.
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Since the article didn't specify that it was a quad/octacopter type, perhaps it was a military target drone(sea and air assets practice engaging electronically) or loyal wingman UAS test. I know for certain these are flying now, and flying in the UK. They are a fraction of the size of a manned fighter but have a flight envelope of a manned fighter. But they do look like a traditional jet aircraft only much smaller, like large RC aircraft. The target drones are sometimes painted bright orange, but other time standard military grey.
When I was in undergrad, I flew R/c aircraft and we would have x/c events where competitors would pile into the back of pickup trucks and fly as many planes as we had channels (analog radios) to see who could go farthest. As I recall, the best we ever saw was about 90 mi by a guy with what amounted to a motor glider.
at the same time, the smart guys in the engineering school broke the world record for R/C airplane altitude by achieving something over 38,000 ft. It was limited by transmitter power only. (Was still climbing 1000 ft/min+ when they lost control authority IIRC)
That was 30 yrs ago with glow plug engines burning nitromethanol lubricated with castor oil. Pretty sure the Uni engineering wonks are WAAY past that now in the era of cheap gps and semi-autonomous control.
at the same time, the smart guys in the engineering school broke the world record for R/C airplane altitude by achieving something over 38,000 ft. It was limited by transmitter power only. (Was still climbing 1000 ft/min+ when they lost control authority IIRC)
That was 30 yrs ago with glow plug engines burning nitromethanol lubricated with castor oil. Pretty sure the Uni engineering wonks are WAAY past that now in the era of cheap gps and semi-autonomous control.