Lasers vs Airplanes on ABC

Come on man, think about it for a minute. Of course the person cannot shine a laser into the window from DIRECTLY below it! The pilots cannot see the ground directly below it either! If you look out an airline window can you see the ground? If yes then you can see a laser shined from any area you can see!

I'm not fighting just posting facts! And replying to what others say. I'm not fighting just defending the points I'm trying to make.

Specialp try this experiment to see what I mean!
All you need to do is stand outside infront of a window one story above you and try to shine a laser at eye level. You can't because of line of sight! The beam will always hit the celing.

And if you have ben on a plane you can only see the ground if the plane is turning or if you press your face agenst the window.

Stephen j gilman said:

I'm not fighting just posting facts! And replying to what others say. I'm not fighting just defending the points I'm trying to make.

Specialp try this experiment to see what I mean!
All you need to do is stand outside infront of a window one story above you and try to shine a laser at eye level. You can't because of line of sight! The beam will always hit the celing.

And if you have ben on a plane you can only see the ground if the plane is turning or if you press your face agenst the window.

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Ok well then do this: Stand about half a block away and shine it in the window. I have flown planes and you can see the ground for sure! Time for some trigonometry. Suppose I am 1000ft up (about as high as a plane on approach) and someone from 3 miles in front of me shines a laser... That will come in my window at an angle of 3.81 degrees! That is nearly dead on. If you cannot understand that then I am afraid you will never understand.

Right Triangle Angle And Side Calculator

Ok now you said 3 miles away from the plane someone shined a laser. The atmosphere would distort the laser to be unnoticable by the time it got to the plane! There is no proof a laser has ever hurt a pilot, just hersay!

Untill a plane crashes it's just overblown by the media and FAA that's fact! :b

Stephen j gilman said:

Ok now you said 3 miles away from the plane someone shined a laser. The atmosphere would distort the laser to be unnoticable by the time it got to the plane! There is no proof a laser has ever hurt a pilot, just hersay!

Untill a plane crashes it's just overblown by the media and FAA that's fact! :b

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You can shine it from closer and still have a very low angle that the beam enters the cockpit. Dude people on here are laser enthusiasts just like you. I'm not saying the pilot will instantly become blind. And your assertion that you cannot shine a laser 3 miles is completely wrong. Even a relatively low power laser can easily travel that far.

Having a laser shining around in your cockpit when landing a plane is bad! And that is not overblown. Anyone that does it is a complete idiot and deserves the time in prison they will get. Nobody claimed a plane has crashed from lasers etc but are you honestly arguing that it is harmless to shine lasers in pilots eyes?

Your argument that it is not possible to shine a laser in a pilot's eye is debunked and I think 99% of people on here will agree that it is really stupid and bad to shine a laser at a plane.

Even if a plane is at 1000 ft and someone with a laser is 2000 ft in front of it... that is a 26 degree angle which is also very low. The laser would hit someone right in the eye sitting 3ft away from the window.

specialp said:

Your argument that it is not possible to shine a laser in a pilot's eye is debunked and I think 99% of people on here will agree that it is really stupid and bad to shine a laser at a plane.

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Stephen j gilman said:

Here is a crayon like drawing of what I mean!

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I don't see what is "stupid" about this "crayon like" drawing.

Stephen j gilman said:

I'm not fighting just posting facts! And replying to what others say. I'm not fighting just defending the points I'm trying to make.

Specialp try this experiment to see what I mean!
All you need to do is stand outside infront of a window one story above you and try to shine a laser at eye level. You can't because of line of sight! The beam will always hit the celing.

And if you have ben on a plane you can only see the ground if the plane is turning or if you press your face agenst the window.

Click to expand...

I don't normally post here these days but I am a pilot and own my own Cessna and I flew in the military for 8 years. I've also flown helicopters to ferry men to the oil rigs offshore and flown seaplanes in Alaska for a guide service, so I'm very very familiar with aviation.

Most reports of lasers being shined into cockpits are with pilots coming in to land at an airport and I can tell you 100% positively that yes I can see a laser being pointed at us from the ground and I have even been temporarily blinded by a spotlight being aimed at my plane as we came in to land. Our cockpit is usuallly darker than you would expect and intense light shines in very easily.

I can look out my window from the cockpit and easily see people and cars on the ground, so if I can see you, then surely you can look up and point a laser towards me, especially at an angle.

Now because of all of this, the government is looking at restricting the sale of lasers even more, requiring background checks like the gun owners go through, age restrictions, and possibly even a ban on high output lasers completely to the public.

I agree with the age restrictions, should be 21 and I also agree with a background check because I have nothing to hide, but if people aren't careful they will make it a felony to own one and all because some half wit kids think it's funny to aim at planes.

ZapU said:

qumefox, take it easy on the noob.

He probably hasn't seen this, you should have. This is required reading SJG, unless you want to be banned!
http://laserpointerforums.com/f59/no-fighting-57842.html

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Sorry. I'm just sick of people arguing on the pro-aircraft illumination side. Shining lasers at aircraft is a dumb thing to do. It just really bugs me when people start arguing the other side like they should be allowed to do it without repercussions regardless of the consequences.

I'm not sure i'm for an age limit, but i'm definitely for licensing requirements for ownership and purchasing of anything over 5mW(in the US)

There was a story last night too on FOX and it was also not as slanted/sensationalized as many I have seen.
But they did have the local stations(in Fl) news chopper pilot on for a comment and he stated he was very 'concerned' about the 'problem'. One thing I do remember was instead of saying that a very dangerous laser can be purchased for a few dollars they said for a 'couple hundred dollars' They showed a few lying on a table- but no WL arctics-- a few pen pointers,two shorty C123s and one CNI type. They showed a guy pointing a green on the floor and a few beam shots of a 445. or maybe a 473.
They also said the in 2008 a Florida guy was arrested and admitted lasering an aircraft- iirc It was police chopper-- what a total idiot!!


Totally unrelated in todays Miami headlines "Jim Morrison pardoned"
IIRC he got busted after a Miami concert for lewd behavior on stage.


also T_J tipped us off long ago about the AWESOME child sex offender --

hak

My only input into this thread is this: There is no good reason to point a laser at an airplane, and since doing so is a felony in the US and a criminal action elsewhere it should be avoided at all costs.

I don't disapprove of discussing the finer points of the issue, but the act of pointing high-powered lasers at airplanes is the single biggest point that will bring about new legislation against portable lasers and possibly lasers in general. DON'T DO IT. EVER.

Any Idea how many mw that green laser was in the video that the guy used?

I think it's a dumb idea also. And its illegal But since none of you finished reading my posts, I sum it up for you! Their is, or has ben, no crash caused buy a laser! Their will be no crash caused buy a laser in the near future. Untill their is a crash it's just an idea... Not a problem! Yes its better to be safe than sorry. But the media has blown laser dangers way out of proportion! Go ahead and twist my words any way you want!!! untill anything happeneds, I'm still right! :b let the hate commence lol

Isn't it interesting that the more these incidents get sensationalized by media coverage, the more it happens?

And, does anyone here suppose that the people who run the media services don't realize that sensationalizing these kinds of stories leads to just that?

Like most of these crusades in the media, it likely has little to do with (lasers in this case), and a lot to do with passing certain types of laws.

It fits the same basic pattern; Oo, look at this, be afraid, be Very afraid, pass laws to curtail more freedoms.

After all, this is, like it or not, an Orwellian society. The truth is almost always disguised. Just my humble opinion, of course.

Stephen j gilman said:

I think it's a dumb idea also. And its illegal But since none of you finished reading my posts, I sum it up for you! Their is, or has ben, no crash caused buy a laser! Their will be no crash caused buy a laser in the near future. Untill their is a crash it's just an idea... Not a problem! Yes its better to be safe than sorry. But the media has blown laser dangers way out of proportion! Go ahead and twist my words any way you want!!! untill anything happeneds, I'm still right! :b let the hate commence lol

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How do you not think people pointing lasers at aircraft is not a problem? :yabbmad:

I see you're side of the story yes, no aircraft have been caused to crash from such things but being blinded while trying to land...really is that not a problem in you're eyes? no pun intended

Just my 2 cents

Well I think the lasers are even more threat on highways .. imagine being hit in the night by 200mw of green. I certainly would not like that. On the other hand, strong halogen light or photographic flash gun would be nasty too. They just don't have the range of (especially green) laser.

You know how oncoming high beams glare on a car windshield? It's not just the light, but the glare on the glass that it causes that makes it so bad. Here is an image from a laser glare on a camera lens. Same effect:



Either in a car or an airplane, this is not good.