I am not knowledgeable about lasers (other than a typical laser pointer is used to point at something a short distance away) or aircraft really. This is an honest question. What is the significance of pointing a laser pointer at an airplane?
I am not knowledgeable about lasers (other than a typical laser pointer is used to point at something a short distance away) or aircraft really. This is an honest question. What is the significance of pointing a laser pointer at an airplane?
A laser shot directly to the eye could blind the pilot.
This is a big concern to the astronomy community. A lot do use laser pointers (responsibly) for alignment, as finders, and for teaching purposes. These jerks that have nothing better to do are ruining a tool for amateur astronomers.
And I agree, I never once had the idea 'hey this laser would be a blast to shoot at a plane', but now with all this talk about it ... maybe
No, it's dumb. The more it's reported on, seems like gmash hit it in the face with the whole copy cat thought.
I understand the confusion. I only used the to represent sarcasm, I probably should have used either or the online accepted /sarcasm.Forget your idea, smiley. Remember that if you are/were caught, the feds take control of your life. Apparently, some 1,100 pilots have reported incidents. And it can be costly, at $11,000.00 per incident. Not to mention, the safety of the passengers.
Things have changed since I spent a hundred or more for a diode pointer. Now they are dirt cheap. The problem is power. They are becoming very powerful. In the one watt range in the case of those offered by Wicked Lasers. You can set things alight from a distance.
Interesting that WL sells a more or less conventional flashlight that can be used to set things on fire as well as cooking eggs. Not a laser, just a very strong flashlight.
Their lasers fit in your hand and they cannot be used for anything most people use them for. No cat teasing and definitely not foe gun sights.
The FDA is concerned and they have tried to ban these powerful hands full of wondrous light. I can see the FAA raising hell because some fools do not care about the safety of others. The government does indeed want their importation limited.
Things have changed since I spent a hundred or more for a diode pointer. Now they are dirt cheap. The problem is power. They are becoming very powerful. In the one watt range in the case of those offered by Wicked Lasers. You can set things alight from a distance.
Interesting that WL sells a more or less conventional flashlight that can be used to set things on fire as well as cooking eggs. Not a laser, just a very strong flashlight.
Their lasers fit in your hand and they cannot be used for anything most people use them for. No cat teasing and definitely not foe gun sights.
The FDA is concerned and they have tried to ban these powerful hands full of wondrous light. I can see the FAA raising hell because some fools do not care about the safety of others. The government does indeed want their importation limited.
The main reason is not blinding pilots, but terrorism. Laser sights= weapons. They don't know if you are aiming a weapon at the plane.
The main reason is not blinding pilots, but terrorism. Laser sights= weapons. They don't know if you are aiming a weapon at the plane.
Honestly, I think the risk is very overblown, but I see no problems with the law. I don't think there's a mob of rampaging people shining lights at every airplane and causing problems. You could shine a pointer at a plane in flight. Not the easiest thing in the world depending on where the plane is, but easily doable for most people. Shining that pointer on the cockpit part of the plane is more difficult. Shining it in the pilot's eye has got to be just dumb luck IMO. But if someone was able to pull it off, the more laws we have to throw at idiots like that, the better we are I think.
No, go back and re-read Aviator's note. He is correct. As might be guessed from his name.
AA weapons are not typically laser sighted.
The issue is that night vision is easily disrupted even by "eye-safe" low-power lasers.
How about a no to you? The Department of Defense says otherwise. That is one pilot, not the government. That is his opinion.
The department of defense says otherwise? Tell you what, you go pull the open source material on AA weapons, and tell me how many laser guided weapons you find. Go ahead, I'll wait.
At best, the terrrorism concern is a "me too" piggy-back concern. I suppose in theory some joker with a rifle could be using a laser sight to take pot shots at a plane on approach. But that's a minor issue relative to blinding a pilot at a bad time of the mission.
Not saying they do, but that is the rule why.
Good job blinding a pilot when:
A: The cockpit is facing upward, so how would the laser go from the ground and into the cabin?
B: The glass is built to reflect sun rays and ultraviolet rays. Even if the plane was pointing at a ridiculous angle to be able to have the laser reflected in the cabin, the laser would bounce off.
You do realize that if a pilot has a line of sight to the ground, someone on the ground has LOS on the pilot, right? And when pilots are in proximity to the ground, they do, in fact, look at it?
Ahh, nevermind. You think what you want, bud. No skin off my nose if you want to argue from a position of ignorance with people in the industry.
Peace out, homz.
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