Drones

Discussion in 'Referee' started by Bubba Atlanta, Sep 28, 2015.

  1. sulfur

    sulfur Member+

    Oct 22, 2007
    Ontario, Canada
    I had a game at our local military college (the token one left in Canada) last weekend, and a CF-18 came flying over at about 400-500 feet. The visiting team all stopped to look up, the home team? Completely unphased.

    Very odd experience.
     
    nsa repped this.
  2. Dayton Ref

    Dayton Ref Member+

    May 3, 2012
    Houston, TX
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    I went to an AYSO tournament in Lancaster, CA many years ago. Edwards AFB is less than 30 miles away where they train the stealth bomber pilots. One of the trainers there was the Regional Referee Coordinator so all week, the bombers flew over head. It is a little eerie to see a large plane coming toward you and not hear anything.
     
  3. wguynes

    wguynes Member

    Dec 10, 2010
    Altoona, IA
    I've got this one topped. Rec tournament in New Mexico. A hot air balloon landed on our field. Power line positioning necessitated they come down immediately.

    I don't recall if we moved fields or waited for their pack up, though. It was a while ago.
     
    dadman repped this.
  4. Eastshire

    Eastshire Member+

    Apr 13, 2012
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    I used to live in Kansas City. The Royals and Chiefs would frequently have B-2 flyovers out of Whiteman AFB. I never did get used to having something that big sneak up on me like that.
     
  5. chwmy

    chwmy Member+

    Feb 27, 2010
    Our youth fields in town are across the parking lot from a model airplane airfield. So weekends that are nice weather there is a constant hum of all sorts of model flying contraptions. Most are planes (there's even an occasional one with jet engines) doing stunts and some scale helicopters. They are super careful, with rules about not flying outside of the boundaries, not going out onto the Tarmac unless there is nothing in the air. They are enthusiasts about actually replicating the controls required to fly these things.

    The drone thing of course requires little or no skill and has no associated culture, so naturally the users are not mindful of the risks to others. Fortunately, drones are quickly becoming safer (like returning to takeoff site when battery running low) but I'm sure we are going to learn the hard way that these things and crowds of people won't mix very well.
     
    dadman repped this.
  6. Vinnydabody

    Vinnydabody Member

    Jun 10, 2014
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    There was a kid at our local public park a few weeks back flying an RC warbird around while our AYSO U10 and U12 boys extra teams were holding practice. Good luck keeping 8-11 year old squirrely boys focused on soccer when there's that kind of distraction nearby. :rolleyes:
     
  7. That Cherokee

    That Cherokee Member

    Mar 11, 2014
    Stillwater, Oklahoma
    The only military bases I lived on, all had quite a few harrier jets landing and taking off quite a bit. Hanging things on the wall was not usually the best of ideas. As far as the air space goes, a private park can kinda control* the use of drones. Public parks though has a lot more politics to what can happen there and these areas are treated as general green spaces.



    Civilian drones the operators are suppose to have visual contact with their drone.
     
  8. Slaskwroclaw18

    Jun 26, 2011
    Philadelphia, PA
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I am sure EPA, NJ, and ENY referees who ever done a MAPS/MSSL tournament at Fort Dix in NJ can relate to this.
     

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