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The BNSF Air Force : Coming to a Railroad near you...

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Posted by tree68 on Thursday, March 26, 2015 3:49 PM

Stagehand "Unit 6-8."

LarryWhistling
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Posted by SALfan on Thursday, March 26, 2015 10:43 PM

Murphy Siding

    Yeah, right, that's the ticket, and maybe the engineer could have a lazer beam mounted to his drone and blow up the offending truck. Dead

 

Would be more fun to mount a 155mm howitzer on the front of the train and BLOW the truck out of the way.Big Smile

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Posted by Phoebe Vet on Friday, March 27, 2015 6:39 AM

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/05/10/airliner-nearly-collides-with-drone-over-florida/

 The near-miss in March between a drone and a US Airways jet in the sky over Tallahassee appears to be the first time a commercial airliner nearly collided in midair, raising fear about the possibility of future close calls.

Dave

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Posted by Murphy Siding on Friday, March 27, 2015 7:34 AM

SALfan

 

 
Murphy Siding

    Yeah, right, that's the ticket, and maybe the engineer could have a lazer beam mounted to his drone and blow up the offending truck. Dead

 

 

 

Would be more fun to mount a 155mm howitzer on the front of the train and BLOW the truck out of the way.Big Smile

 

   Wouldn't work in a quiet zone.  Besides, don't you think the engineer and conductor have enough duties in the cab already, without worrying about reloading and such?

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Posted by Norm48327 on Friday, March 27, 2015 7:38 AM

"Wouldn't work in a quiet zone.  Besides, don't you think the engineer and conductor have enough duties in the cab already, without worrying about reloading and such?"

But it would create new employment opportunities because they'd have to hire a nose gunner.Big Smile

Norm


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Posted by Murphy Siding on Friday, March 27, 2015 8:22 AM

Phoebe Vet

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/05/10/airliner-nearly-collides-with-drone-over-florida/

 The near-miss in March between a drone and a US Airways jet in the sky over Tallahassee appears to be the first time a commercial airliner nearly collided in midair, raising fear about the possibility of future close calls.

 

  I saw a 737 suck achickenhawk into an engine on it's take-off run once.   The front wheel was just about to lift when it happened.  The engine made a big *POP!* sound, and the pilot set the nose back down and hit the binders.  Two mechanics had to fly in from another city to disasemble the engine and pull out feathers and bird guts.  There's no doubt in my mind that sucking in a hobby sized drone type thingie into a jet engine could be catastophic.

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Posted by Wizlish on Saturday, April 18, 2015 11:28 PM

Resuscitating this because comments to the FAA close April 24th

http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=FAA-2015-0150-0017

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Posted by BroadwayLion on Sunday, April 19, 2015 9:16 AM

Wizlish

Resuscitating this because comments to the FAA close April 24th

http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=FAA-2015-0150-0017

 

 

56 pages for a government regulation. Looks a little short to me, but then it does look like it is printed in Governmentese.

ROAR

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Posted by Wizlish on Sunday, April 19, 2015 9:37 AM

The NPRM (governmentese for 'notice of proposed rule-making', which is itself governmentese for pending enforceable 'laws' as applied to people) covers just the additions and enhancements to the existing policies regarding aircraft use that they expect will be 'requirements for the safe operation of [UAVs/'drones'] in the national airspace system'.  To quote a bit more governmentese, here is the rationale as they give it:

"This rulemaking is promulgated under the authority described in the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 (Public Law 112-95). Section 333 of Public Law 112-95 directs the Secretary of Transportation (1) to determine whether “certain unmanned aircraft systems may operate safely in the national airspace system.” If the Secretary determines, pursuant to section 333, that certain unmanned aircraft systems may operate safely in the national airspace system, then the Secretary must “establish requirements for the safe operation of such aircraft systems in the national airspace system.” (2)

"This rulemaking is also promulgated pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 40103(b)(1) and (2), which charge the FAA with issuing regulations: (1) To ensure the safety of aircraft and the efficient use of airspace; and (2) to govern the flight of aircraft for purposes of navigating, protecting and identifying aircraft, and protecting individuals and property on the ground. In addition, 49 U.S.C. 44701(a)(5), charges the FAA with prescribing regulations that the FAA finds necessary for safety in air commerce and national security."

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Posted by BroadwayLion on Sunday, April 19, 2015 12:27 PM

"BNSF 4432, Bismarck Tower, you are cleared for take off on track 3"

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Posted by Wizlish on Sunday, April 19, 2015 2:40 PM

No, more like "BNSF 4432, Bismarck Tower, you are cleared to launch drone NDBX99032 at 2100 hours, and operate within envelope A* until mile 532."

(I'm using fake numbers here, as I don't know either the conventions or road details in the Bismarck area.  But it will involve some form of N-number for each device carried (here NDX being N, American tail number, D drone/UAV, X by analogy with four character private railroad car identifier); and give specific time and location information for the authorization.  Here the time would correspond to the anticipated start of the train, and the distance indication would be for some limiting condition -- a bridge, natural feature, airport boundary, or some other area.  The 'envelope' would be a code system in railroad rules incorporating things like line-of-sight, permissible altitude or distance from locomotive, use of sensor fusion or night vision augmentation, etc., and would probably be precoded into the drone control unit carried onto the locomotive by a given crew.)

I'm personally looking forward with great interest to the upcoming chapter of Don Oltmann's blog on future electrified railroading that incorporates and expands on this sort of operations.  Since il miglior fabbro I expect to learn a great deal about the practical implications of this...

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Posted by carnej1 on Monday, April 20, 2015 11:24 AM

SALfan

 

 
Murphy Siding

    Yeah, right, that's the ticket, and maybe the engineer could have a lazer beam mounted to his drone and blow up the offending truck. Dead

 

 

 

Would be more fun to mount a 155mm howitzer on the front of the train and BLOW the truck out of the way.Big Smile

 

SALfan

 

 
Murphy Siding

    Yeah, right, that's the ticket, and maybe the engineer could have a lazer beam mounted to his drone and blow up the offending truck. Dead

 

 

 

Would be more fun to mount a 155mm howitzer on the front of the train and BLOW the truck out of the way.Big Smile

 

What you probably would want is a direct fire weapon such as the 120mm main gun from an M1 Abrams tank.

 O.C, any artillery would still leave enough chunks of truck on the tracks to derail the lead locomotive...and any weapon powerful enough to vaporize a truck would also catastropically damage the track and roadbed.

I'm thinking maybe a Russian M-26 flying crane chopper with an electromagnet.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mil_Mi-26

Drone spots the truck and heli swoops in. Of course if the offending vehicle is over 20 tons the 'copter won't be of much help...

  

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