Unmanned drones to patrol Montana-Canada border?

I wonder if this will pose any safety issues for people flying back and forth through that area on the way to or from Alaska, or just flying in Montana in general:

http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=83ed3cf5-b413-4bcb-9ec6-8f5d0d8e93fd&k=52497

Before I retired with Uncle Sam, I attended a seminar about the UAVs and the problems they had in busy airspace.

One video from the UAV showed and big airliner engine blasting past the camera.

All you saw was a jet intake and then nothing. So it was REAL CLOSE.

The Airliner never saw it, and the delay time from the UAV to the ground controller made sure it was too late to do anything...


xx

Another knee-jerk reaction, IMHO. Or maybe a pork-barrel project.

The terrorists who brought down the World Trade Towers didn't sneak across our border through the vastness of Montana. They came through traditional checkpoints that, at the time, didn't check incoming visitors very thoroughly. Most of the time, we were not even asked for any paperwork.

Living in Michigan, we go across the border to Ontario through Windsor (the U.S.-Canada most travelled checkpoint) or Sault Ste. Marie. We're asked: Of what country are you a citizen (or, Where were you born)? Where are you going? How long are you staying? Anything to declare? Okay, have a nice visit (or, Welcome back, if you're returning to the U.S.). Not too tough for anyone, including a terrorist who has probably scoped out the border customs. Just act like you belong here, and you're passed through the border.

Anne.

P.S. If you're a terrorist, please ignore this post.

Thank heavens someone is finally doing something to protect us from all the gun running activity out of Canada

MTV

I'm surprized the Canadian Government isn't doing somthing like that on the Ontario/Minnesota border. I seem to be catching all of the big trout and bringing them back home. :lol:

At least one or two every trip. Sometimes. If I don't get skunked.

Interesting

Christina-

Unless the UAV's fly at low altitudes, they won't interfere with air traffic in the area.

I live in North Central MT, about 10 miles south of the border. The area along the border, from the Rocky Mountain Front to the North Dakota border, is about 400 miles long. There are no roads, towns, and very few occupied dwellings within 10-20 miles of the border over most of that stretch. The only roads that are near the border are the roads that lead to the part-time ports of entry, which are scattered out about every 40-50 miles along the border. US Highway 2 runs parallel to the border, about 30-40 miles to the south. Between the highway and the border there is about as little human activity as any place in the Lower 48. In that entire area, about 15-20,000 square miles, there is a permanent population of, perhaps, 2,000 people. Cattle outnumber humans 50:1. West of Hogeland,(Pop. 15), near which I live, there isn't another town of any size for almost 200 miles. There are no airports with scheduled air service near the border, and the great circle routes which cross through here are up in the flight levels.

There are quite a few airplanes in this area. Not too surprising considering the size of the country, and the distances involved. We locals seldom fly near the border, and seldom over 500 ft AGL. We seldom fly into Canada, as there are no longer airports of entry on either side of the border close enough to make travel by light plane practical, unless the destination is hundreds of miles away.

UAV's could cut down on the massive Border Patrol presence on the ground here since 9/11. Pork barrel politics being what they are, however, we will probably have hundreds of BP officers, plus air patrols.

The border region of the northern plains is a very isolated place. It would be easy for someone to slip across undetected, except for one thing: Rural people, in remote areas, are keenly aware of any activity which appears different from the routines they are accustomed to. If one strange vehicle passes by, the phones and business band radios light up. "Did you see that green van going by the old Jackson place? Wonder who that was. Which way did they turn? I'm gonna call my niece who works at the sheriff's department and see what she knows".

Nosy neighbors are a more effective deterrent than all the high-tech wizardry the Dep't. of Homeland Security can dream up. Trust me.

Mark

mvivion said:

Thank heavens someone is finally doing something to protect us from all the gun running activity out of Canada

MTV

Click to expand...

You forgot about the whiskey.

Reminds me of a comic's routine:"When you live in a small town, you don't need to use your turn signals, because everybody already knows where you're going...."

How about the twelve million dollar a mile fence you all are going to pay for down here in Tejas! (texas)

Things are ridiculous. That figures 120 Very fancy Pa-18's per mile. Or you could park Escalade's bumper to bumber the length of the border.

I cant wait to see all the brother-in-law type deals these texas political types shovel out to contractor's who will be building it. We are almost going to be as bad as louisiana.

Sooooo, after they picked up the scrap metal from the border with Mexico due to the wee small problem of losing contact with the UAV and it subsequently creating a smoking hole in the ground they head north to try it out. Lousier weather, more chance of problem due to weather, icing etc, guess that makes sense to someone.

I noticed that they don't seem to be using CAP to patrol the borders like they did in WWII....in fact, CAP doesn't seem to appear anywhere in DHS's list of assets....hmmmmm...

Nosy neighbors are a more effective deterrent than all the high-tech wizardry the Dep't. of Homeland Security can dream up. Trust me.

Click to expand...

Mark,

No doubt some or most of those nosy neighbors are packing side arms on their belts and/or rifles in the pickups. Uncle Sam could give them a little authority and that would be the safest border in the country. Maybe it already is.

Bill

I think we should just turn all these problems over to John Kerry he can solve most anything and that way we can't blame Bush.

MTV Guns from Canada??? Oh doesn't their gun control program work??

Jerry,

From Wikipedia.com:

"Sarcasm is sneering, jesting, or mocking a person, situation or thing. It is strongly associated with irony, with some definitions classifying it as a type of verbal irony intended to insult or wound[1] -- stating the opposite of the intended meaning, e.g. using "that's amazing" to mean "that's awful". It is used in a humorous manner, often harshly, and is expressed through vocal intonations such as over-emphasizing the actual statement or particular words. "

MTV

MTV

You should really try and get more rest(ha).

How is the bird hunting down there this year?

Cub_Driver

MTV... Roger that