L@ser attacks on Aircraft

[Whiskey Papa]

Hi ChristiaanJ

I'm afraid it's definitely repression. Otherwise it's only a matter of time before there's a serious incident. The morons are begining to receive sentences (four months seems to be the tariff) so the more publicity this offence gets the better.

WP

Stop press! Scrub the bit about before there's a serious incident! From the Independant:-

A bus driver was badly injured when a ray from a laser pen was shone into his eyes as he drove a vehicle full of passengers. The victim was taken to hospital with a serious eye injury following the incident in Walsall, West Midlands.

Phil Bateman, a spokesman for the bus company, Travel West Midlands, yesterday called for a ban on the sale of the pens to children. "The consequences of this incident could have been absolutely horrendous," he said. A youth has been given police bail in connection with the incident.

[ChristiaanJ]

Sepp,
It's "lumps of concrete", actually.

You don't want me to include you in the "monobrowed scrotes" category too, now do you?

I'm not so sure... I still have the impression that a lot of these people have been 'handed' a very simple-to-operate very high-tech toy, and just "play" with it.

People know by now what a gun is, and what it can do... or at least most people do. Even chavs watch gangster movies.

I doubt whether most people know what a l@ser pointer really is, and what it can do.

CJ

[BOAC73]

Simple solution....

ban them , make it illegal to own the damn things unless you have a valid reason. Perhaps licence them, but do something positive before the worst happens,
B73.

[Green-dot]

Mercurydancer wrote:

However, whilst I am not a fnantical astronomer it is pleasant to take the telescope out on clear nights and see what is out there. l@ser sights are really most useful in acquring a good position and the more coherent the light then the better the alignment. I have both red and green l@sers but there is a flight path due south of me so although I try to be careful it is possible I might shine a l@ser at about a right angle to an aircraft on approach to an airport.

I would apppreciate some comments about this -

Why not use a "red dot finderscope" instead of a l@ser scope to locate stellar objects? I am an amateur astronomer and I only use a red dot finderscope (attached to the telescope) which is basically a red LED projected on the finderscope screen but does not illuminate objects (such as overflying aircraft) in the sky.

Safe and effective.


Green-dot

[Sepp]

@ ChristiaanJ:

Lol, that's what comes of replying and rushing straight out to play without doing a quick check. Busted, and rightly so!

edit/ Forgive me my poor English - I'm a Brummie, so it's my second language...

[awblain]

Red-finder scope vs mW l@ser

Green-dot:

Red-dot HUDs are great for someone looking down the pointing direction of a telescope, but not to guide the eyes of a class-sized crowd standing around.

I've asked this before, but I'll try again, both because MagnusP has been described the professional lasers, and the thread has been re-energized by news that UK-based laser-wielding moocs are getting convicted:

10-W yellow/orange professional astronomy observatory laser beacons are launched from Mauna Kea, Hawaii, Palomar Mt, nr San Diego, Mt Hamilton, nr San Jose, and from Cerro Paranal near Antofagasta, Chile, as well as from several air force observatories in Arizona and Maui, Hawaii. Human spotters ensure that these DO NOT point at aircraft (and USAF Space Command checks that they do not fire in the direction of satellites). Has anyone flying around noticed the ~50-km high beams from these facilities?

[CaptW5]

He picked the wrong target:

Man charged after laser pointed at Edmonton police chopper

Man charged after laser pointed at Edmonton police chopper

[ChristiaanJ]

CaptW5,
We just went through that earlier
It's not just a police helicopter that's the wrong target.
It's any person or vehicle.
As to "vehicle", I'm not only thinking of airliners, even.
What about a big petrol (gasoline) tanker in a narrow street, and somebody doesn't like it there? Next thing we'll have one crashing into a house and catching fire....

Your link is interesting... the ignorance shown in the comments is staggering.

CJ

[AnthonyGA]

Originally Posted by ChristiaanJ

What about a big petrol (gasoline) tanker in a narrow street, and somebody doesn't like it there? Next thing we'll have one crashing into a house and catching fire....

It may not be necessary for it to crash into the house in order to catch fire. Many lasers are powerful enough to set things on fire on their own. So if the beam should happen to hit, say, a black hose filled with jet fuel from 500 meters away …

The implications are worrisome, not just with respect to airheaded troublemakers, but with respect to bad guys seeking deliberately to do damage. No need to get past security if you can just fire a laser beam from a random rooftop a kilometer away. And unlike a missile, there's no time to do anything about a laser beam, even if you can devise a system to do something useful. The beam can certainly blind people (and there are laser rifles designed specifically to do this), but it can also heat things up to very high temperatures very rapidly.

[bank_angle]

Well, 8 months might make this idiot realise the actions of his consequences.

'Stupid' dad spared jail after laser put chopper in danger

'Mr Wood said: "He said he thought it was a microlight, although it is not clear why that would have made the offence any less serious. He accepted his behaviour was stupid but he had not appreciated how dangerous the consequences could have been."

I'm amazed at the ignorance of some people

[glad rag]

Enjoy!

Man Toys. You know the sort





Someone needs to have a quiet word with Haymarket, Pistonheads new owners....

[mercurydancer]

Thanks greendot

Ive not found the red led spot to be that good. Its ok if the telescope has perfect alingnment but getting alignment is what I find the lasers most useful for.

All in all its safer if I dont use the laser at all.

[glad rag]

Greendot You are talking about a Telrad, best used under dark sky conditions.

I have a green <1mW laser secured to the 8" OTA of my SCT.
This is attached to a powered GEM mount that in normal operation physically could not track a moving aircraft.
Manual operation is achieved by losening TWO clutches but even then the scope will only move in Right Asention and Declination.
The green laser is an absolute boon for initial alignment that is carried out after power up for quickly determining rough alignment accuracy using the laser in short bursts to indicate OTA pointing.
And thats it!
Once the PEC and alignment error routines are completed it doesn't get used again.

What I find "irritating" is the repeated accusation that I am a danger to aircraft.
Frankly this attitude is losing more support that it gains!!

rgds

glad rag.

[angels]

I'm amazed at the ignorance of some people

Personally, I think he was just trying to get a reduced sentence by shedding crocodile tears.

I think its ridiculous he wasn't banged up for a while.

[Say Again, Over!]

Quick question...

Why the spelling l@ser instead of the simple "l@ser" with a regular a?

Just curious...


As has been explained several times in this thread already.....................

Duck Rogers
Moderator

[MagnusP]

Say again, over: because the advertbots pick it up, place adverts on the pprune pages, and anyone who can read, albeit with their lips moving, can then buy a coherent light source to shine in your eyes when you're on short final. Could you maybe edit your post to adopt the "safer" spelling?

[Say Again, Over!]

Thank you!

I changed the post! Thanks much for your reply, MagnusP. Clever!

[ChristiaanJ]

MagnusP,
I think PPRuNe automatically changes the spelling.
Test : this was laser spelled with an 'a' rather than an '@'

CJ

Edit, to add that it doesn't change in the preview, but as soon as you submit the reply, it is changed automatically.

[Finn47]

Some 20 cases reported in Sweden this year. One conviction coming up for a 19-year-old man in Malmö for interfering with the flight of a police helicopter, punishable by up to 10 years.

The article is in Swedish but the point is clear: these things are happening everywhere.

Fler laserattacker mot flygtrafik - DN.se

[MagnusP]

For some reason, the 'a' doesn't become '@' in the title of a post, so it's worthwhile using '@' as a habit.

Cheers.