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I keep hearing about this and wonder
how it is that the lasers get into the pilot's
line of sight. First they are several thousand feet
up in the air, or if not, they are looking forward
in their cockpit most of the time.
How does a laser shine into their eyes if it is
basically hitting the bottom or side of the plane?
Seems to me that unless they are landing or taking
off and it is pointed at them then, then it might
get into their eyes.
Please enlighten me.
Thanks !
From my understanding it isn't that the laser beam itself gets in the pilots' eyes, it is the beam meeting the cockpit windshield and having the light disperse among the microfractures, at best causing serious distraction but more likely severely limiting visibility for the pilots.
There was a Tom Clancy novel where two CIA agents rented a hotel room near the airport, and shined a laser into a plane that was landing, causing it to crash and kill some high-ranking government official. I forget which book, but it was pretty cool, and made me kinda worry that someone could do this IRL.
TheMeeper Wrote:
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> There was a Tom Clancy novel where two CIA agents
> rented a hotel room near the airport, and shined a
> laser into a plane that was landing, causing it to
> crash and kill some high-ranking government
> official. I forget which book, but it was pretty
> cool, and made me kinda worry that someone could
> do this IRL.
It was Debt of Honor (1994) and they were taking down Japanese command-and-control / communications birds, not any particular government officials. Although in the beginning of the book, they used the same light setup to take an African dictator into custody (but that didn't involve airplanes).
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/23/2012 11:08AM by snowdenscold.