For the first time ever, the Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA) has granted somebody a certificate to fly an
unmanned aircraft (drone) over land, though exactly whom is unclear. AeroVironment, Inc., a California firm with
operations in Monrovia and Sim Valley, manufactured the drone, so it’s probably
somebody there, and BP Exploration, Inc. contracted the missions as part of
their North Slope maintenance effort in the Prudhoe Bay oil field, and that crowd got so tired of screwing up big time a few years ago that it’s not
likely to be one of them. Called a Puma,
the fancy model airplane has a wingspan somewhere around 9 ft. and flies for up to
3½ hours at 200 to 400 ft., getting launched when this guy, whoever he is, throws it through the air with
both hands over his head.
Puma’s been operating for a week now, and
has already helped truckers drive heavy drill rigs through dense
fog by providing them with real-time high-resolution 3D computerized models of
the tight roadways ahead. Absence of the
word, “map”, anywhere at all in the coverage we read leads us to wonder just how childish a mind playing with toy airplanes for a living can get, and substitution of the expression, "3D
computerized model" for proper English scares us into questioning whether the words "ground safety", omitted from the article as well, are being addressed on the North Slope of Prudhoe Bay today, or NOT.
Last summer the FAA handed drone
operators two certificates to fly over water in remote areas. No certificates have been issued for flights over
any kind of surface in sparsely or heavily populated areas.
Yet.
In any case, MacDougal is warning staff
and subscribers to deal with this new airstrike risk by avoiding the Prudhoe Bay North Slope area entirely and remaining outside a radial perimeter 350 miles from both Monrovia and Sim Valley,
California until further notice.
Furthermore, and elevating such matters well beyond the level of totally unacceptable, Google has announced it will build 200
driverless automobiles, some without steering wheel, gas pedal, or freaking brake
for Chrissake, and is planning to test them on public roads near
corporate headquarters in Mountain View, California. UNDER NO CONDITIONS SHOULD STAFF OR SUBSCRIBERS
VENTURE ANYWHERE NEAR SILICON VALLEY ON ANY KIND OF PAVED THOROUGHFARE UNTIL THE ACCIDENT
REPORTS START TO COME IN AND WE HAVE ENOUGH DATA TO ASSESS HOW SERIOUS THE COLLISION RISK OUT THERE
IS GOING TO BE.
Be safe, valued subscribers. MacDougal loves you all.
