Drones & Other Aerial Dangers

Earlier this month, I received a newsletter from an insurance broker, which included an interesting article on drones.

There is no doubt that these will become much more prevalent. Having first come to our attention through military use, they have become popular as a toy (a neighbour of mine has one & for those of a certain vintage, I was contemplating a similar act to that in the Condor Pipe Tobacco remote controlled boat advert – you can see it on You Tube).

Increasingly, they are being used commercially (there are almost 3000 registered commercial users in the UK), for photography/filming and by insurance companies, surveyors and emergency services, amongst others.  Amazon had their first trial flights to customers in December 2016.

The CAA has developed a drone code – the key elements are:

·        Keep your drone within your line of sight and at a maximum height of 400m.

·        Make sure your drone is within 500m from you horizontally.

·        Always fly your drone well away from aircraft, airports and airfields.

There are further guidelines for drones with cameras.

All common sense stuff, but there have been a number of drone near misses with aircraft, with over 70 recorded at Heathrow during 2016. Military aircraft have also been threatened, as well as Prince William’s air ambulance.

There have of course been earlier examples of aerial dangers and on reading the article, I was reminded of the story of Lawnchair Larry, from July 1982.

Larry Walters had always wanted to fly, but poor eyesight meant he couldn’t train as a pilot. Aged 33 he hatched a plan and attached 45 helium filled weather balloons to a garden chair. Strapped in with sandwiches, beer and a pellet gun, he planned to cut the anchor and float up to about 30 feet, spend a couple of leisurely hours, then pop some of the balloons to drift back down.

When the cord was cut, Larry was catapulted, as if shot from a cannon, eventually levelling off at 16,000 feet.  Afraid that he would unbalance the load if he shot any of the balloons, he drifted for several hours, crossing the main approach corridor of LA airport whilst he considered his options (admittedly I’m sat at a desk, with both feet on the ground – but the options appear limited!). In the meantime Delta & TWA pilots radioed in incredulous reports of what they had seen to LA airport.

Eventually he gathered the nerve to shoot some of the balloons and slowly descended until the hanging tethers, caught in a power line, blacking out a Long Beach neighbourhood for 20 minutes. Larry climbed down to safety and was immediately arrested by LAPD.

Larry’s efforts won him a $1500 Federal Aviation Administration fine, a prize from the Bonehead Club of Dallas, the altitude record for manned gas-filled clustered balloon flight and a Darwin Awards Honorable Mention.

When asked by a reporter why he had done it, Larry nonchalantly said “A man can’t just sit around”.

Drones are an example of business innovation and of being able to do business differently. If you want to explore ideas of how you might be able to innovate or do business differently, please contact John or Martyn in the Ducketts Business Development Team on 01432 370572.