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The ISP-Wireless list discusses placing fixed wireless antennas on unmanned hovering drones. It's not as crazy as it seems; flying discs may someday fill the sky.

[September 22, 2000]

On the ISP-Wireless list in September, JD claimed:

"I've heard about unmanned hovering drones running on solar power that provide an alternative to satellites. Would be nice to hover one of these over an area at say 200'-500' with a flashing strobe, with FAA authorization. Towers are so expensive: just think, instead of beaming through trees, you just point up directly at the flashing light in the sky. Has anyone seen anything like this?"

A number of respondents contended that Mother Nature would likely wreck the idea:

[TI warned] "If solar powered, it would need to hover up around 40,000 feet, or clouds could be disastrous. The next problem, the higher you go, is how effective a fan would be in thinner air. Plus, I seriously doubt that the FAA would approve anything like this in the next decade. Strobes aren't that visible during daylight, and the sky would become cluttered with these devices."

[CF added] "One problem with this: wouldn't do so well in a thunderstorm. As to higher orbiters, if they can get above the weather, maybe... but then, where does the jet stream end? A 10-mph hoverer would have a big problem with a 200mph jet stream."

[RB suggested] "Can't imagine the legal and liability issues of a pilotless craft hovering endlessly over a populated area, dependent totally on solar power and a human-programmed computer to keep it aloft against all the elements. The lawyers must have been lining up for this one since the idea was first published."

Others noted that the idea is currently being developed by a number of companies:

[MCC observed] "Raytheon is teamed with Boeing and a few other companies to do just this. It will be installed on high-altitude (60,000 feet) manned aircraft that would basically circle a city. This project is in development for Tier 1 cities; I wouldn't hold my breath for rural areas or even for Tier 2 cities. Nothing magic about it, other than lots of software to provide for the hand-off when one aircraft goes down for refueling and the next one takes over."

[FA shared a link to the Helios program] "Check out http://www.aerovironment.com/area-telecom/telecom.html for pictures and info on one proposal. This isn't hovering; it's flying in very slow, very high circles for a very long time."

—End