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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 23rd, 2023

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  • That site is full of false claims with zero sources to back up those claims which is pretty funny seeing as that article is claiming to be written by a retired corporate attorney. The site is also chocked full of SEO tricks which is possible why it was the first result that came up for you. For example on 5. the word drone is stealthily a link to another irrelevant article about drone deliveries on a different as sketchy site. Link hiding is a well known trick to gain the system and bump up your page.


  • In the United States that is not true. The airspace above your private property is only sorta yours. You are entitled to do whatever you like with the airspace however you do not have the right to dictate what can fly through your airspace.

    Since drones are classified as aircraft by the FAA they are entitled to transit the navigable airspace just as a manned airplane might [1]

    Navigable airspace is defined in ‘public law 85-726 -AUG. 23, 1968

    “Navigable airspace” means airspace above the minimum altitudes of flight prescribed by regulations issued under this Act, and shall include airspace needed to insure safety in take-off and landing of aircraft.


  • That is incorrect on a federal level, your milage may vary with city/country/state laws. Federally in the United States the right to reasonable expectation of privacy does not extend to outside of your house per Hester v. United States, 265 U.S. 57 (1924). The government is allowed to surveil you from public airspace without a warrant per Florida v. Riley, 488 U.S. 445 (1989).


  • If it’s being operated over a home then it will almost certainly have to follow the rules on Operation Over People and those can be quite restrictive, especially for drones that weigh more than .55lbs.

    That is incorrect… If you actually read the law you are trying to reference you will learn it’s a prohibition on flying over “open-air assemblies of people” and if you read the final rule report (found on the very bottom of the page you linked under resources) on page 128 & 129 you will see how the FAA classifies “open-air assemblies of people”.

    The FAA received a few comments addressing the proposal to prohibit Category 3 operations over open-air assemblies of people. One commenter recommended the FAA clarify what it means by an “assembly of people” and provide a quantity or density of people that constitute a significant risk. The FAA has declined to define this term by regulation; rather, the FAA employs a case-by-case approach in determining how to apply the term “open-air assembly.”58 Whether an operational area is an open-air assembly is evaluated by considering the density of people who are not directly participating in the operation of the small unmanned aircraft and the size of the operational area. Such assemblies are usually associated with public spaces. The FAA considers some potential examples of open-air assemblies may include sporting events, concerts, parades, protests, political rallies, community festivals, or parks and beaches during certain events. Some potential examples that are less likely to be considered open-air assemblies include individual persons or families exiting a shopping center, athletes participating in friendly sports in an open area without spectators, individuals or small groups taking leisure in a park or on a beach, or individuals walking or riding a bike along a bike path, but whether an open-air assembly exists depends on a case-by-case determination based on the facts and circumstances of each case.

    While the FAA refused to strictly give a definition, what was provided is enough to construed that private property does not constitute an “open-air assemblies of people”.



  • You will get leagues better picture quality using a camlink/capture card and a camera with clean HDMI out. A gopro is a good budget option but a used DLSR or mirrorless camera is going to be the best. Some DSLR and mirrorless cameras support video out over usb so you don’t even need a capture card. Here’s a guide on getting it to work on Linux with a camera capability list inside the guide. If you do want to go the capture card route I hear elgato’s camlink works in Linux.



  • I am comparing payload weights because it’s directly comparable between all vehicles. I am not sure if you understand payload weight fully. This is the rating for everything you put in the vehicle (airship or not) and includes everything from people to the trailers tounge if you are towing. Just because your truck can tow 20Klb does not mean you can exceed the payload capacity. A lot of first time RV buyers learn this the hard way when they buy a 10Klb trailer to tow with their 2018 F150 only to find out there isn’t even enough payload capacity left over for the driver because the tounge weight is 1000lb. Air ships (and aircraft for that matter) use the same payload capacity calculations where again anything put inside the vehicle counts towards the payload including people. This is why we can directly compare the two vehicles payload capacity.





  • if you look at the history of what happened to each Zeppelin airship you get a really good idea why it’s a bad idea.

    LZ1: damaged during initial flight, repaired and flown two more times before investors backed out causing the ship to be sold for scrap.

    LZ2: suffered double engine failure and crashed into a mountain. While anchored to the mountain awaiting repairs a storm destroyed it beyond repair.

    LZ3: built from salvaged parts of LZ2. Severally damaged in storm. After LZ4’s destruction LZ3 was repaired and was accepted by the German military who eventually scrapped it.

    LZ4: suffered from chronic engine failure. While repairing the engines a gust of wind blew the ship free of its mooring and struck a tree causing the ship to ignite and burn to the ground.

    LZ5: destroyed in a storm.

    LZ6: destroyed in its hanger by fire.

    LZ7: destroyed after crashing in a thunderstorm.

    LZ8: destroyed by wind.

    LZ9: this one actually worked and survived for three years before being decommissioned.

    LZ10: caught on fire and destroyed after a gust of wind blew its mooring line into itself.

    LZ11: destroyed while attempting to move the ship into it’s hanger

    LZ12 & LZ13: both flew successful careers before being decommissioned a few years later.

    LZ14: destroyed in a thunderstorm.

    LZ15: destroyed during an emergency landing.

    LZ16: was stolen by the French. ***

    LZ17: decommissioned after the war.

    LZ18: exploded during its test flight.

    LZ19: damaged beyond repair during an emergency landing.

    LZ129: the Hindenburg.

    LZ127: retired and scrapped after flying over a million miles.

    LZ130: flew 30 flights before being dismantled for parts to aid in the war effort

    The problem is with airships and aerostats in general is you need a massive balloon just to lift a small amount of weight but the larger you make it the more susceptible to weather it ends up being. With the amount of surface area a balloon that’s a 1km long has you would have to spend a considerable amount of energy just to stop it from blowing away in the wind, as inefficient as it is the truck may actually use less fuel because of this.





  • TSA literally says on their own website that they are not looking for drugs and will only report it to the police if it’s blatant.

    TSA’s screening procedures are focused on security and are designed to detect potential threats to aviation and passengers. Accordingly, TSA security officers do not search for marijuana or other illegal drugs, but if any illegal substance is discovered during security screening, TSA will refer the matter to a law enforcement officer.

    -source