Austin Haughwout has a thing for drones and, it seems, weapons.
So maybe it’s only natural that Haughwout, an 18-year-old from Connecticut, would combine his two interests to build a home-made drone mounted with a flamethrower and shoot things with it.
On Monday (7 December), Haughwout posted a video on his YouTube channel showing his invention as it shot flames at what the video title describes as a holiday turkey, which was mounted to a spit in a wooded area with a house nearby.
The quadrotor drone’s flamethrower appears to be a kit built with a propane torch, fuel pump and a car battery.
The drone video bears the logo of a company called HobbyKing that sells drone parts, radio controlled planes and other gear, and links to pages on the HobbyKing website showing the components used to build the drone (it’s not clear if HobbyKing is involved in sponsorship).
Haughwout explained in the video description that his creation also required a “significant number of 3D printed parts, wiring, soldering, and miscellaneous parts.”
Haughwout has tried this kind of stunt before, and he has a lengthy record of run-ins with law enforcement.
In July, Haughwout posted a video showing a flying drone firing a handgun in a wooded area, which drew the attention of international media and the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Haughwout’s hijinks with drone, flamethrower and turkey likely won’t be investigated by local police, according to the Hartford Courant.
Connecticut doesn’t have any laws prohibiting what Haughwout was doing, and “laws have not caught up with technology,” one police detective said.
In May 2014, Haughwout got into a physical altercation with a woman who accused him of being a “pervert,” for flying a drone equipped with a camera nearby as she lounged on a beach – the woman was arrested for assault but Haughwout never faced any charges.
The emergence of recreational drones as a popular hobby in recent years has raised some difficult questions about how they should be regulated, and numerous incidents point to drones as a potential threat to privacy and physical safety.
Drones have interfered with firefighters and other aircraft, and crashed in crowded public places.
On the other hand, drones are useful for rescue operations and going places humans can’t. They’re also handy for law enforcement and military applications, and companies like Amazon and Wal-Mart plan to use drones for deliveries and other commercial uses.
The FAA could soon issue rules requiring hobbyists to sign up for a drone registry.
Image of flamethrower drone via YouTube.
Mahhn
The cats out of the bag. All the components for drones can be home made. I’ve seen pistols, AK47, cameras, flame throwers, kids and even drones mounted on drones. You know bombs will be next. There is no way package delivery will be allowed (I hope) by drone, the bombers will dress their drones to look just like them. Not sure what to say… but if I see one over my house it will get taken down. If I have to use a net, ice pellets from a paintball gun, a HomeDefence drone of some kind or throw balls of string (to knot up the props) or just rocks.
Paul Ducklin
A drone carrying an AK47? With mag and ammo that’s going to be close to, what, 5kg? Even an AK74, which looks similar at a distance, would be over 4kg. You’d also need some sort of fairly sturdy mounting/clamping system, and some kind of mechanical actuator to operate the trigger.
AFAIK, there are top-end hobbyist drones that could just about handle that sort of mass, for short flights…maybe. (I’d love to see what happens when you fire it and the action cycles :-)
But I’m sceptical. As for a child born aloft by a drone…I’m not buying.
Mahhn
Although I don’t expect you to let the gun drone link I shared to be posted. I hope you found the videos interesting. Especially the kid flying.
Paul Ducklin
I didn’t see a link (though you are right we usually don’t let links of that sort through anyway)…but I was just thinking aloud from first principles. A hobbyist drone that can lift an AK (7.62mm or 5.45mm sort) that is held securely, is loaded and ready to fire, has a remote firing actuator, and can fire without wobbling itself all over the place…
…I’d have to see it with my own eyes (YT video wouldn’t convince me), but I never shall , because I’m not standing around under the flight path of a home-made assault-weapon drone with an amateur “pilot” wobbling around the sky with a cocked AK with the safety lever down :-)
Mike
Yet one more idiot to give the responsible RPA user a bad name. You Tube is full of these imbeciles who tarnish the test of us who take time to hone our skill, carry £50 million of liability cover and fly within the CAA recommendations. Sad old world.
KEN
don’t think it would be cooked through or edible with all that fuel on it.
Paul Ducklin
Especially not if the forest burned down around it.
Jakob
Aren’t there any fire protection laws in the US? Here in Germany doing something like that in a forest area would be strictly illegal.