First Drone I've Seen

[mrstellar]

A drone few directly over my house today at 7:22 PM. I watched it as it turned north to land at Centennial Airport. They are a lot louder than I thought and have a very unique sound.

[02ducky]

Really? I work close to there what time did you see it at? I want to go see one out of curiosity.

[GilpinGuy]

Was it armed?

[KAPA]

A drone few directly over my house today at 7:22 PM. I watched it as it turned north to land at Centennial Airport. They are a lot louder than I thought and have a very unique sound.

Gonna call BS on that one... Buckley would have been more plausible, but Centennial, doubt it.

[USAFGopherMike]

Pics or didn't happen.

[rbeau30]

May be a good time to brush up on the Skeet skills. cheap walmart birdshot is still obtainable right?

[spyder]

We have 3 here in Trinidad. We got to go see them with my daughters girl scout troup. They're not the big ones, about a 15' wing span. They let everyone get up close and personal with them. I'll post pictures later.

[airborneranger]

A drone few directly over my house today at 7:22 PM. I watched it as it turned north to land at Centennial Airport. They are a lot louder than I thought and have a very unique sound.

It is probably the SHADOW. We call them the flying lawnmowers due to the sound.

[TAR31]

Was it armed?

Nope, just got done dropping its payload on a "domestic terrorist camp" in eastern CO.

[BuffCyclist]

I live near Holloman AFB, where they are home to some MQ-1 (Predator) and MQ-9 (Reaper). I've seen them flying over the highway while driving to Las Cruces all the time, pretty sure they're doing vehicle surveillance training. They're definitely an awesome sight to see!

[bryjcom]

Get used to seeing a lot more in the near future.

[WETWRKS]

we need an emp weapon...something that will fry the electronics with.

:D

[mrstellar]

Pics or didn't happen.

Didn't get a chance to grab the camera because I was walking out of my garage. I just stood there watching it in shock. I'm gonna keep my camera in my garage from here on out. I want to get some pics of one next time. I've been curious all night about what kind it was and what markings it had on it. I seem to be right under the flight path for quite a few planes and jets that land at Centennial. I never look up because I'm use to hearing aircraft, but the unique loud sound caught my attention. You can choose to believe it or not but with my untrammeled vision, I know what I saw. It flew very low and it sent chills up my spine when I realized what I was seeing.

[mrstellar]

Was it armed?

No it wasn't

[mrstellar]

Gonna call BS on that one... Buckley would have been more plausible, but Centennial, doubt it.

I frequent the Perfect Landing restaurant at Centennial quite a bit. I see military aircraft there a lot.

[Mtn.man]

Taxidermists are getting ready for the new Drone Mounts.

[funkymonkey1111]

, I know what I saw. It flew very low and it sent chills up my spine when I realized what I was seeing.

don't you know you're supposed to think it's an awesome sight to see?

[USAFGopherMike]

I haven't seen RPAs approved for use by anyone other than in MIL-use controlled airspace. If you know otherwise, please post a link. Are you sure it was unmanned?

[Ridge]

Sure it wasn't a Starship? Or A-500?

[IFFV]

Centennial Airport is a Back up to Buckley.
Like the Man said they have Military flights all the time there, not the Large planes.

[rondog]

I wonder what an M1 would do to one.....

[R&S]

Gonna call BS on that one... Buckley would have been more plausible, but Centennial, doubt it.

I'm not supprised, Front Range Airport held a meeting for the "resident pilots" of the airport and had a presentation of an outfit wanting to fly drones out of Front Range. They were met with a lot of oppsition from the pilots because those damn ulta light and alike are hard enough to see/miss now they want to introduce drones in and out of the airspace. The last word was they were flying out of a college campus somewhere (I wished I had taken notes).

[motohooligan]

Just to play devils advocate... How do you feel about police helicopters? Is it somehow better for the human flying the aircraft to be physically be inside it instead of on the ground?

[R&S]

Safer for the pilot in the airplane


Just to play devils advocate... How do you feel about police helicopters? Is it somehow better for the human flying the aircraft to be physically be inside it instead of on the ground?

[USAFGopherMike]

I don't know where you live, but apparently the cops are using them. A quick search yielded these articles:

http://news.discovery.com/tech/drones-sky-122302.htm

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/R42940.pdf

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqnjxYjaLxs&feature=player_embedded

http://rt.com/usa/drone-surveillance-mesa-colorado-433/

[rockhound]

ve are vatching always vatching

[Shootersfab]

I have one in my garage right now.....

[jerrymrc]

I have one in my garage right now.....

Trying to catch the boss with something so you can get a pay raise never ends well.[Flower]

[mrstellar]

Sure it wasn't a Starship? Or A-500?

Hi Ridge. No, it wasn't either one of those. I've seen a A-500 and a Starship 2000 in person. This aircraft was one solid color. Dark charcoal. It had a rear prop, and the v shaped rear landing gear that drones have. It had it's strobes on as well.

[USAFGopherMike]

Sure it wasn't a rutan Long EZ?

[mrstellar]

I don't know where you live, but apparently the cops are using them. A quick search yielded these articles:

http://news.discovery.com/tech/drones-sky-122302.htm

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/R42940.pdf

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqnjxYjaLxs&feature=player_embedded

http://rt.com/usa/drone-surveillance-mesa-colorado-433/


I'm in Castle Pines. I remember when this happened. http://rt.com/usa/drone-plane-colorado-pilot-529/ Read Dan W's comment on the bottom of that page as well.

[mrstellar]

Sure it wasn't a rutan Long EZ?

No. But I actually had to look that one up because I have never seen a Rutan Long EZ before. The Rutans landing gear is bowed and more like a U shape than V. I'm positive what I saw was a drone. I saw the surveillance equipment under the nose.

[hollohas]

The Predator B is in use by the DHS. Was it rocking a thick blue stripe on the side?

The DHS could certainly be using Centennial Airport. I have seen DHS "Police" cars crusing around town.

Although people with more experience than me will have to weight in on if a Predator B sounds like you described.

[hollohas]

Also, CU has authorization to fly drones from the FAA. Perhaps the aerospace folks there are testing a new aircraft?

And NOAA operates drones as well. I don't know what aircraft they fly but the program is called NOAA Unmanned Aircraft Systems Program.

[DOC]

I wonder what a Plasma Rifle in the 40 watt range would do....

[KAPA]

Yes military jets frequent Centennial from time to time. Usually it is on training flights as its a great stopover for fuel and food in the area with all the places to eat just a short drive by crew car.

Unless there was some sort of mechanical problem, I don't see any way a drone would land at Centennial. There are not facilities there for stuff like that. What would the drone be doing there? Since Adam bit the dust they don't even do any manufacturing there, and certainly not of drones. Also describing it as low makes no sense either, when they are in a class D or controlled environment they will have to follow the same rules other aircraft do especially at a busy airport like Centennial. Is it possible yeah, but I would say it ranks up there with the chances of an M1 driving down Colfax in the middle of the day.

If I had to guess, I bet you saw a Rutan Long EZ or one of its variants, maybe even a Beech Starship which I actually saw at Centennial several times over the past few weeks. Even Diamond's Twinstar looks different enough where I could see that mistaken for a drone.

[Gunner]

We have 3 here in Trinidad. We got to go see them with my daughters girl scout troup. They're not the big ones, about a 15' wing span. They let everyone get up close and personal with them. I'll post pictures later.

Where are these pictures at?

[USAFGopherMike]

I wonder what a Plasma Rifle in the 40 watt range would do....

Just what you see on the shelves buddy.

[spyder]

26573
These are the ones we have down here In Trinidad.