If you want more "human drama" read up on Hong Kong protesters' extensive use of lasers against police and security cameras. A powerful enough laser can pretty quickly render a security camera unusable. Ofc it can also blind someone (even indirectly looking at the beam) quite easily
A lot of helicopters today are being used to harass entire neighborhoods where complaints to local government go completely unresolved, so I can emphasize with that situation, not that I'd ever do something that stupid.
Its not uncommon to have them hovering for 1-2 hours straight 3-7 times a week, every week, at times with no active calls on the community police dashboard almost entirely between 11pm and 4am, often less than 1000 feet in altitude (high dBs enough to shake windows).
That aside, using a helicopter as a broadcast mechanism over a loudspeaker to a neighborhood is entirely unacceptable during hours people normally sleep.
Everyone is complaining and they've been doing that at least 3 years now.
How many times can you hear, "Missing person, or Felony Suspect", black shirt, denim pants, black suspect, call 911", or "suspicious person, black hoodie, call 911", before they lose all credibility. Around 10?
It seems really racist too, always hispanic or black, where the descriptions provided apply to most if not all people of those demographics.
Makes the average person feel like we live in a police state without due process or a rule of law when the only means to resolve is front-of-line blocked through local government which ignores complaints.
I shouldn't be hearing this at 2am regularly, some people work.
Seems an awfully extravagant use for extended periods of time. The hourly cost of operating a helicopter, particularly a turbine ship, is very high, several hundred per hour.
We're near a non-military regional airport. Apparently the military likes the airspace above our neighborhoods to train Blackhawk crews. IDK which branch because the craft have zero insignia. Flightradar24 only id's them as Blackhawks.
They fly 1-3 at a time in a several mile loop. The parade begins late afternoon and ends at 10pm. I'm grateful we don't get the giant all-night FU, that the GP gets from their local LEO.
But it costs the individuals nothing, and it sends a strong “we are watching you” message to the undesirables. Dystopian AF but I’m sure they rationalize somehow.
Sure but this is in the category of "I decided to shoot at the plane with my gun" type logic. What possible outcome is someone expecting from aiming a high power laser at an aircraft expecting?
Like the top-end of that is "after considerable discussion they abort whatever expensive activity they are engaged in and return to base". Literally everything else ranges from "inflicting grevious bodily harm" to "mass casualty event".
The gravity of the crime to the one that commits it is lessened by the ease of committing that crime. Brutally stabbing someone to death is heinous because the person commiting that crime had to get up and personal with their victim and the weapon and the act. Meanwhile, if I angle my foot down by 10 degrees while in my car, I'm speeding, and hardly anyone considers that a reprehensible act that should ruin my life forever. The problem with lasers is there's no gravitas to them. They can be powerful and dangerous af, and barely make a sound. And they're way too easy to get off eBay. Shooting an RPG at a airplane... nevermind how big and heavy one is, how would I even get one? Operating one is non-trivial, too. Because a laser is a simple pushbutton to complete the circuit and turn it on, to the uncareful, and impulsive, you can commit a felony before your brain comprehends that it's even a crime in the first place. You have to really think things through before doing them an unfortunately not everyone is blessed with a brain that has that capability. I don't say this to excuse someone hurting other people, but to promote laser education.
I do consider excessive speeding as reprehensible. A little over, fine, whatever, but there's a threshold where it becomes dangerously reckless.
But otherwise I agree. Someone might not consider just how dangerous a laser pointer is. I do hope they know how dangerous their car is though.
I understand the frustration but in the case of aircraft, that's a nope-not-ever. Even a 50mw handheld can wreak havoc on night vision equip. Put away lasers until they're gone.
A larger but somewhat different issue is that pilots have some obligation to report laser sightings. Most reports are beams waving elsewhere and not striking their aircraft.
But even those sightings are an issue because officials commonly (and misleadingly) present the stats as if they were all aircraft strikes. News orgs repeat the claims without vetting.
Generally, I treat handhelds of >1W with weapon-ish caution. I won't point them in a direction where people are likely to be.
I have an LEP light and I'm more flexible with that but I still keep it off of moving objects.
For nightly walks, I carry a 21k lumen LED torch that helps with oncoming highbeams. The highest setting is a reasonable response to lightbars.
It's amazing to see how people are getting thrown to prison for years in the US and the same criminals getting suspended prison time/community service in the UK.
"They try to build a prison for you and me, oh baby you and me" ;)
Arecibo's radar had a EIRP of up to terawatts. They were basically pinging space for asteroids etc. It feels a lot like using lasers at a helicopter kind of thing. Quiet and suddenly a sharp pulse.
The cables snapped at some point. These things were tough, able to last decades. This whole thread made me think aliens cut it.
