PilotEdge Forums

So i was practicing for my I-7 and it seems quite straight forward on the flying of it. I was using a C172
My question is this :
On my first attempt on final to land on 22 there were 2 drones. One taking off from RWY 4 and one taking off from RWY 22...at the same time!!
Needless to say I went missed (first time in my life...very exciting). I called back approach and told him I would like to do the full approach VOR/DME B again.
I got set up and headed inbound again from RIGLI. I was calling out all my points on CTAF and was on final from base....nothing on the runway. Nothing around me that I could see.
All of a sudden a Citation Mustang came right over top of me and landed 22! I landed right behind him.
I know you cannot communicate with the drones, but they do not seem to be playing by the rules. I think the Mustang should have not landed as I am the slower aircraft and should have right of way according to the reading in the ratings area. If it was a balloon or glider, I would have given way.
So what was I supposed to do?

The simultaneous takeoffs on 4 and 22 should not be happening, can you verify they actually happened at exactly the same time?

No, the drones don't play by the rules, they're playbacks of recorded flights, they don't have intelligence. It's a definite limitation of the system. AVX has periods of drone activity that make it hard to actually fly there in a real aircraft, I apologize for that. No need to actually go missed for VFR traffic...you can simply continue the circle maneuver or enter a VFR pattern there, that's perfectly fine. The LOWER aircraft normally has the right of way in the pattern, not the slower one, but even so, the drones won't honor that, they just fly their entry and that's about it.

On the off chance that one disrupts your flight you can choose to handle it one of two ways: treat it as a technical limitation and ignore, or treat it as a real world situation and react. There isn't a right answer, both have their merits. I have certainly done it both ways before.

Keith Smith wrote:The simultaneous takeoffs on 4 and 22 should not be happening, can you verify they actually happened at exactly the same time?

No, the drones don't play by the rules, they're playbacks of recorded flights, they don't have intelligence. It's a definite limitation of the system. AVX has periods of drone activity that make it hard to actually fly there in a real aircraft, I apologize for that. No need to actually go missed for VFR traffic...you can simply continue the circle maneuver or enter a VFR pattern there, that's perfectly fine. The LOWER aircraft normally has the right of way in the pattern, not the slower one, but even so, the drones won't honor that, they just fly their entry and that's about it.

On the off chance that one disrupts your flight you can choose to handle it one of two ways: treat it as a technical limitation and ignore, or treat it as a real world situation and react. There isn't a right answer, both have their merits. I have certainly done it both ways before.

Thanks Keith,
That all makes pretty good sense. I now know what to do when attacked by drones.
Yes, the two aircraft were taking off on the same runway at the same time, both ways!! My eyes must have been huge!!! I was so flabbergasted at what I was seeing, I did not react as soon as I should have. I actually saw the whites of the pilot's eyes( I mean, I was that close) that was taking off from RWY 4. I cut a hard right and then went missed.
Under my breath, cursing you and praising you at the same time...
If you listen to the 122.7 recording today, you can hear when I go missed. Maybe you can give those drones a good talking to...