I nearly hit a Roomba while flying?!?

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Dronepiper
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I nearly hit a Roomba while flying?!?

Post by Dronepiper »

Ok, so here is the scoop:

We were flying DAY VFR to Niagara Falls, USA (KIAG) from Canada in a small piston single. I think we were around 25-3000 ft ASL. We had just been switched from Centre to KIAG tower. We had just checked in with Tower and stated our intentions. A few seconds later, we observed 2 Unidentified Flying Objects off our right wing. They were approximatley 20 feet away from us, and they were only 10 feet apart from each other. They looked like they were flying together in formation.

I am assuming they were drones, but they didnt look like any drones I have ever seen. They literally looked like flying Roomba Vacuum Cleaners.

We tried to pull out a camera, but by the time we could capture a photo or video, they disappeared behind us out of sight. We informed KIAG tower. He asked where they were. We told them we encountered them about 7nm from the airport). He said that was outside of his zone, and he didnt seem to care at all. He didnt enquire further. Take note that we were operating outside, and to the north of the restricted airspace around the falls.

We landed safely. This happened in early November, and we never did follow-up, even though we probably should have.

My question: what kind of drones were they? Any ideas? 30 minutes of Google searches uncovered nothing close to that design. Is there a central database with drone designs and pictures?
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lownslow
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Re: I nearly hit a Roomba while flying?!?

Post by lownslow »

I bet you saw Mylar party balloons. They tend to flop on their sides when set free and in my experience enough helium to make them nicely buoyant at ground level is just enough to get them to level off somewhere around 1,000 - 2,000 feet AGL.
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plausiblyannonymous
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Re: I nearly hit a Roomba while flying?!?

Post by plausiblyannonymous »

lownslow wrote: Fri Jan 03, 2020 4:03 pm I bet you saw Mylar party balloons. They tend to flop on their sides when set free and in my experience enough helium to make them nicely buoyant at ground level is just enough to get them to level off somewhere around 1,000 - 2,000 feet AGL.
Saw a group of them over the city of Toronto once. Those f'ers are quick for balloons.
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jschnurr
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Re: I nearly hit a Roomba while flying?!?

Post by jschnurr »

Well, these guys did build a Roomba that can fly...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wA2yIVFb2lI
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pdw
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Re: I nearly hit a Roomba while flying?!?

Post by pdw »

Autonomous drones are apparently very good for that kind of work. A late handoff could take the security station by surprise. Until the tower has contact they come up tom have a look. Formation flying with a couple of drones is not dangerous ... not like a head-on collision.
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Last edited by pdw on Thu Jan 09, 2020 1:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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AirFrame
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Re: I nearly hit a Roomba while flying?!?

Post by AirFrame »

It would really suck if you hit one.
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pdw
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International border interception ?!?

Post by pdw »

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Last edited by pdw on Thu Jan 09, 2020 6:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
pdw
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International border interception ?!?

Post by pdw »

Drones "appeared" on right wingtip just seconds after initial contact with tower ? ... "2nm" from kiag's 5nm control zone ?

I read that again ... so they're right close to the international border there for a number of minutes without any tower contact in that critical area with an unsecured aircraft (DAY VFR).

Either "handoff" is somewhat late and/or KIAG contact was a bit latent for the circumstances ?
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rookiepilot
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Re: International border interception ?!?

Post by rookiepilot »

pdw wrote: Thu Jan 09, 2020 6:51 pm Drones "appeared" on right wingtip just seconds after initial contact with tower ? ... "2nm" from kiag's 5nm control zone ?

I read that again ... so they're right close to the international border there for a number of minutes without any tower contact in that critical area with an unsecured aircraft (DAY VFR).

Either "handoff" is somewhat late and/or KIAG contact was a bit latent for the circumstances ?
Question is....what were the winds doing.....
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pdw
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intercept?

Post by pdw »

Date not given
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pdw
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Re: I nearly hit a Roomba while flying?!?

Post by pdw »

AirFrame wrote: Wed Jan 08, 2020 7:38 am It would really suck if you hit one.
Sure would

(Caus we would have to dissect all the details in an accident forum)
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Re: I nearly hit a Roomba while flying?!?

Post by Beefitarian »

pdw wrote: Fri Jan 10, 2020 10:59 am
AirFrame wrote: Wed Jan 08, 2020 7:38 am It would really suck if you hit one.
Sure would

(Caus we would have to dissect all the details in an accident forum)
It was a vacuum joke brah.
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pdw
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Re: I nearly hit a Roomba while flying?!?

Post by pdw »

..could be ....


BUT ...
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Last edited by pdw on Sun Jan 12, 2020 10:58 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: I nearly hit a Roomba while flying?!?

Post by pdw »

The "scoop" appears legitimate.

... although this seems like it could be a bit stretched:
Dronepiper wrote: Thu Jan 02, 2020 10:44 pm ... had just been switched from Centre to KIAG tower. We had just checked in with Tower and stated our intentions. A few seconds later, we observed 2 Unidentified .... about 7nm from the airport ...
"had just been switched" and "had just checked in" ?

"Centre" is Toronto Centre ... so it looks like this shows "dronepiper roughly on a continuous southerly heading well-before / up-to/ during the "encounter.
"7nm" location reference is 2nm "outside" (at the north end of) the map's 5nmile ring for KIAG tower control zone, yet looks like 15nmiles past the handoff area. "A few seconds later" (in the quoted material) maybe takes a quarter mile, not 15nm. This "DAY VFR" from direction of Toronto/"Canada" after "handoff" is parallelling the international border from 'out over the lake' probably for 4-5 minutes in a single ( or 2-3min if a twin), ... so according to this description there seems to be 'sans communication' with USA tower until quite late in the arrival .....
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daniel.o
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Re: I nearly hit a Roomba while flying?!?

Post by daniel.o »

Dronepiper wrote: Thu Jan 02, 2020 10:44 pm Ok, so here is the scoop:

We were flying DAY VFR to Niagara Falls, USA (KIAG) from Canada in a small piston single. I think we were around 25-3000 ft ASL. We had just been switched from Centre to KIAG tower. We had just checked in with Tower and stated our intentions. A few seconds later, we observed 2 Unidentified Flying Objects off our right wing. They were approximatley 20 feet away from us, and they were only 10 feet apart from each other. They looked like they were flying together in formation.

I am assuming they were drones, but they didnt look like any drones I have ever seen. They literally looked like flying Roomba Vacuum Cleaners.

We tried to pull out a camera, but by the time we could capture a photo or video, they disappeared behind us out of sight. We informed KIAG tower. He asked where they were. We told them we encountered them about 7nm from the airport). He said that was outside of his zone, and he didnt seem to care at all. He didnt enquire further. Take note that we were operating outside, and to the north of the restricted airspace around the falls.

We landed safely. This happened in early November, and we never did follow-up, even though we probably should have.

My question: what kind of drones were they? Any ideas? 30 minutes of Google searches uncovered nothing close to that design. Is there a central database with drone designs and pictures?
Hey Dronepiper. I'm a journalist and aviation enthusiast investigating stories like this for a new project. Send me a message? Or email me otisstories [at] gmail [dot] com.
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