@Jakumo

Thanks for the early clarification on the fact that this is just a hobby grade quad copter.
I got back from our regular RC flying club Sunday meetings to see the internet flooding again with another drone gist. I personally know Mr Folayan, the RC operator involved with this incident. He is not just an RC hobbysist, but a seasoned engineer with very strong interest in open source ArduPilot Project for Multirotor DIY UAVs. The QC that lost RF link is a walkera product, which Mr. Folayan was experimenting with together with his son.

Mr. Folayan is a member of our RC Club in Abuja and a major contributor to the ICT industry in Nigeria. The use of very small inexpensive Quads for Aerial Photography is fast becoming a reality in Nigeria and we should not be scared but rather look at the benefits to the civil markets & tourism. This is just like a project any student in unmanned aviation study would undertake... and anything can fail in an experiment.

I have been demonstrating the role and use of these quads in film production, photography, site survey, tower inspection and e-agriculture on my youtube page. I will make some videos i made of Abuja public and post back here in a couple of hours from now so we can all appreciate the role this 'toys' are playing in our fast changing world.

I will be happy to answer any further questions where clarification is required. Mr. Folayan has accepted responsibility for this and will personally talk soon on NL (if he hasn't yet).

UFO no dis one IFO he he he he he he he he he he he

Seriously OP? That's a child's toy.

As for those accusing USA. Ask yourselves, why would USA want to spy on Nigeria? While at it, ask yourselves why would USA try to spy on Nigeria now that Obama's spying in other countries is being discovered? Why would they risk it? LMFAO. Una funny die

homerac7: chai! a kid has lost his Christmas toy.

na who tell this oversabi reporter say US military drones dey fly all way from Texas to Ibadan ? :-/

So u don't know dat a drone can fly dan dat distance?...even more.
Dis one is just a surveillance drone na.

Guys please stop saying that you can buy this for $100 at Walmart, you can't.

If you have them for sale for $99 I will buy every single last one you have immediately.

One_Naira: Seriously OP? That's a child's toy.

As for those accusing USA. Ask yourselves, why would USA want to spy on Nigeria? While at it, ask yourselves why would USA try to spy on Nigeria now that Obama's spying in other countries is being discovered? Why would they risk it? LMFAO. Una funny die

They are actually spying on Nigeria but they don't have to have a physical presence in Nigeria to do so.

They for sure have operatives amongst Nigerians, I am sure the embassies in Lagos/Abuja have an army of CIA working there conducting surveillance, they have high altitude aircraft with sophisticated cameras that can read license plates from 50,000 feet, to top it they also have many satellites of which they can just park one in orbit over Nigeria if needed.

Its not a drone, ,i saw it today in nta's news line, .it was said to be a toy,

Somorin#1:


They are actually spying on Nigeria but they don't have to have a physical presence in Nigeria to do so.

They for sure have operatives amongst Nigerians, I am sure the embassies in Lagos/Abuja have an army of CIA working there conducting surveillance, they have high altitude aircraft with sophisticated cameras that can read license plates from 50,000 feet, to top it they also have many satellites of which they can just park one in orbit over Nigeria if needed.

COMMON GUYS.. THIS IS NOT A DRONE. NOT A DRONE. NOT A DRONE... AND AGAIN, NOT A DRONE. FINALLY, IT IS JUST AN RC TOY... AT BEST A HOBBYIST AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY GADGET...

Sidajili:

COMMON GUYS.. THIS IS NOT A DRONE. NOT A DRONE. NOT A DRONE... AND AGAIN, NOT A DRONE. FINALLY, IT IS JUST AN RC TOY... AT BEST A HOBBYIST AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY GADGET...

I never said it was a drone. In fact I said it wasn't a drone. I have over $5k in remote controlled hobby helicopters so I know it's a hobby craft.

nutty_hnic:

See ignorance. Lol.
Ibadan people are just hilarious.

I cannot believe in their right minds they said that thing took off from nasa base in Texas. LMAO.

The journalist and the rest sources needs to be investigated. They must be lunatics...us drone. Lol.

It should be moved to the jokes section.

The journalist is obsessed with anything Americans(Americanophile) -there is nothing wrong in that. He has being watching too much of American fictional movies lately. So, don't blame him for being a daft!

coolshegs10:
So u don't know dat a drone can fly dan dat distance?...even more.
Dis one is just a surveillance drone na.

^^^ guy, Abeg park well with your ignorance to one side. which useless drone you know wey dey fly all the way from Texas, US to Ibadan, Nigeria? I don't know who is dafter, the oversabi journalist or you.

Sidajili: @Jakumo

Thanks for the early clarification on the fact that this is just a hobby grade quad copter.
I got back from our regular RC flying club Sunday meetings to see the internet flooding again with another drone gist. I personally know Mr Folayan, the RC operator involved with this incident. He is not just an RC hobbysist, but a seasoned engineer with very strong interest in open source ArduPilot Project for Multirotor DIY UAVs. The QC that lost RF link is a walkera product, which Mr. Folayan was experimenting with together with his son.

Mr. Folayan is a member of our RC Club in Abuja and a major contributor to the ICT industry in Nigeria. The use of very small inexpensive Quads for Aerial Photography is fast becoming a reality in Nigeria and we should not be scared but rather look at the benefits to the civil markets & tourism. This is just like a project any student in unmanned aviation study would undertake... and anything can fail in an experiment.

I have been demonstrating the role and use of these quads in film production, photography, site survey, tower inspection and e-agriculture on my youtube page. I will make some videos i made of Abuja public and post back here in a couple of hours from now so we can all appreciate the role this 'toys' are playing in our fast changing world.

I will be happy to answer any further questions where clarification is required. Mr. Folayan has accepted responsibility for this and will personally talk soon on NL (if he hasn't yet).

Hey Sidajili it is good to hear from you, and to learn that you even know the owner of this Walkera quad that has caused so much hysteria. I only hope that the Ashipa will abandon his theories about witchcraft, aliens or the NSA, and return the bird to its rightful owner. Perhaps His Royal Highness could be encouraged to do the right thing with a few crisp naira notes, and the promise of fleeting fame for his trouble.

Despite your conclusive esplanation above, there are still bound to be writers here in the Nairaland forum who will simply ignore all previous posts on the subject, in order to propound ever more outrageous speculative theories. I agree that there are phenomenal possibilities and applications that will open for the use of RC aerial platforms in Nigerian airspace, as soon as the flapping about and shreiking finally subsides on the ground.

Warmest regards.

Drones are used for espionage. Maybe they have come to spy on us.

The Chairman described a media report that an
object crashed into the home of a resident as
very unfortunate and misleading.
Prof Olowofela also frowned at the report and its
writers intention, saying there was nothing like a
crash as reported, and that it was untrue that
the US used the object as a spy .
“What happened was that a man was playing
with a toy with his son and the toy got lost only
to be discovered by a neighbour and instead of
searching for the owner of the toy, the
neighbour kept it in his home for a week . And
the next thing was to read on a newspaper that
a spy object lost control and crashed into a
resident home”, he said.
The owner of the kite- like object, Sunday
Folayan, an Electronic engineer and the Vice
President,Nigeria Internet Registration
Association, also expressed shock at the reported
crash.
Folayan ,who is also into orbit, is the owner of
Skynet , a service provider company based in
Ibadan.
Folayan accompanied the Chairman, top local
government officials, the police, SSS and other
security men to recover the toy on Sunday.
Folayan who claimed to have produced many
similar toys for his son in the past explained
that he was playing with his son with the
battery propelled toy when it got missing and all
effort to retrieve it failed last week Sunday.
He gave a vivid description of the toy which he
produced for his son “The weight of the toy is
0.8 kilogram with the shape of an i-pad . It
cannot run more than 15 minutes . It is not
solar panelled, but uses battery and a remote
control .”

The owner is lying, he is trying an experiment or on a mission on it's own and not a toy for his son, looking at his line of job.

I saw this on because before reading it on Nl , pls of u want to blame any one for calling this a drone, blame the journalist that called it a drone for u and stop twisting it to insult ibadan people. The owner stay around the area and every one in d area knows what it is and where its from the only thing is dat the man had to report the case to the police. And as for u talking about the look of Ashipa house, Awotan is one of the numerous town/village within ibadan , I don't even know the place so u can use that to judge ib, and in case u still want to judge with it just think of how primitive ur village is too, at least I've been to villages in other zones of the country, they are worse wen u talk of being primitive

Lwkmd, this drone is from Calabar, they used it during the calabar carnival

I have drones which I use for aerial videos. That little drone could not have broken the roof except the roof was broken before . Secondly . The pilot must be near by . Such drone can't fly for more that 10 mins . Its not for surveillance . It's not carrying a camera . Someone was just practicing flying and lost controll .

Let me post one of my works here


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpDg6Bifaok

Ok. I researched this object. It is called a Walkera QR X350-9. It is a remote -controlled device used for aerial photography. (doesnt that sound like a drone ?) The 'pilot' was most likely in the area. Now what the purpose of the photograph taken by the drone is, i cannot say. It could most certainly be used for espionage, depends on the intent of the owner/'pilot'.

See links to the same thing here: http://biydrones.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=58

Joagbaje: I have drones which I use for aerial videos. That little drone could not have broken the roof except the roof was broken before . Secondly . The pilot must be near by . Such drone can't fly for more that 10 mins . Its not for surveillance . It's not carrying a camera . Someone was just practicing flying and lost controll .

Let me post one of my works here

Very true... and here below are some of my works in Abuja:

Grand Square

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oa01tKJtZuI

Silverbird Cinemas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGvT2usN7Lk

Chelsea Hotel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-rqjZ15YYw

National Mosque

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7H_Wv_X1_4

Royal Falls Garden

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEc0eGOAEUI

CBN

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HMr903ZnCg

Mr Folayan's side of the story on his blog:

http://sundayfolayan.name.ng/odds/80-drone-crash-story

fkaz:

http://tribune.com.ng/news2013/index.php/en/news/lead-stories/item/29586-flying-object-crashes-into-home-in-ibadan-•controversy-trails-mission-of-spacecraft-•object-believed-to-be-us-drone.html

Another state of emergency

Jakumo: If the quad-copter shown in the picture above IS the object that crashed through the roof in Ibadan Nigeria, then it was most certainly NOT launched from Texas, but from somewhere less than ONE mile from the crash site.

That is NOT a military "drone" but a hobbyist quad-copter with very limited range, that is available to anyone with $350 to spend, from numerous internet websites. Somewhere in Ibadan there is a hobbyist who has lost his aerial photography toy, and that is all there is to this story.

US drones that are designated for long-range operations are ALL fixed-wing airplanes, and NOT helicopter derivatives like the Walkera Model QRX350 shown in the above picture, which, by the way, looks suspiciously un-damaged, in the aftermath of a purported crash.

Why do you say that usa drone are all fixed wing airplanes,,, haven't u heard about US drones mosquitoes and Birds,,, these are drones designed in. The form and size of mosquitoes and birds,, they can travel to anywhere ,, the Drones mosquito can inject some chemical into the skin of enemies,,, and lot more,,,, google is ur friend

martinz1:


Why do you say that usa drone are all fixed wing airplanes,,, haven't u heard about US drones mosquitoes and Birds,,, these are drones designed in. The form and size of mosquitoes and birds,, they can travel to anywhere ,, the Drones mosquito can inject some chemical into the skin of enemies,,, and lot more,,,, google is ur friend

@Jakumo's point here is that long range drones cant be quads. YOu cant fly a 0.8kg quad all the way from texas to Nigeria. Haba na... read Jakumo's point again:

"US drones that are designated for long-range operations are ALL fixed-wing airplanes, and NOT helicopter derivatives like the Walkera Model QRX350 shown in the above picture, which, by the way, looks suspiciously un-damaged, in the aftermath of a purported crash"

sainty2k3: I saw this on because before reading it on Nl , pls of u want to blame any one for calling this a drone, blame the journalist that called it a drone for u and stop twisting it to insult ibadan people. The owner stay around the area and every one in d area knows what it is and where its from the only thing is dat the man had to report the case to the police. And as for u talking about the look of Ashipa house, Awotan is one of the numerous town/village within ibadan , I don't even know the place so u can use that to judge ib, and in case u still want to judge with it just think of how primitive ur village is too, at least I've been to villages in other zones of the country, they are worse wen u talk of being primitive

Don't mind the numerous 1diots on this thread, most of them are wretched souls that cant afford three square meal will join mouth to abuse Ibadan.

@ mr sidajili
Quite a wonderful works there!
can you advise which one to buy, cos im interested in aerial videos and photography myself
and i hope one is not breaking any law by deploying these kind of hobbyist crafts?
I will be in Nigeria briefly in March, is there any hobbyist club in lagos?

Pangea: @ mr sidajili
Quite a wonderful works there!
can you advise which one to buy, cos im interested in aerial videos and photography myself
and i hope one is not breaking any law by deploying these kind of hobbyist crafts?
I will be in Nigeria briefly in March, is there any hobbyist club in lagos?

@Pangea

Hi my bro... good to hear from again... Am only sure of an organized club in Abuja. I will hook you up with some guys in Lagos who fly as individuals... about time we all get together nationwide and organize this hobby.

When coming, grab yourself a DJI phantom from Amazon...you wont regret it. The rest of the rig depends on how pro you want to go. I own some phantoms with H3-2D gimbals with GoPro3+, and an s800 Spreading wings EVO with a Panasonic GH3 gimbal. My s800 setup is rigged to the teeth... 5 waypoints, 5GHz video downlink, Pilot camera, Payload camera, A2 autopilot, IOSD, 7inch screen with Diversity, fatshark goggles, tons of batteries. I am yet to post the stuning vidoes from the S800. What you see posted on youtube so far is the very simple DJI phantom with H3-2D and GoPro... And by the way, I am an authorized distributor for DJI products for anyone interested in a local purchase for aerial photography. There is a lot to learn to successfully operate these toys and get a good production.

emmalexabl: That is obviously US/UK drone mounting surveillance on SOUTHWEST,Nigeria.
The fight against terrorism continues.,
SAY NO TO TERRORISM !!

FOOL

all said and done. How then could a sensible human being call this a toy? Nigerian Security apparatus: Police and SSS called it a toy!

I can see guys are already using these UAVs in Naija just like that. I think it's time the use is regulated before one 'big' bad news springs up. Authorities in US are trying to control the use of these 'toys'.

namdo: I can see guys are already using these UAVs in Naija just like that. I think it's time the use is regulated before one 'big' bad news springs up. Authorities in US are trying to control the use of these 'toys'.

A seriously big fine and an irresponsible act to see these folks flying these things over populated areas and over innocent people.

Guys find a flying a field to play in.

Do your part on developing Nigeria and practise safe habits.

I think we should stick to the subject matter and discuss the use and regulation of theses 'toys' in a fresh post. Regulation is a huge discussion and we will get nowhere here.

The crux of the matter in this post is that the media misrepresented the 'toy' as a US drone from Texas and security agencies questioned mr Folayan as a suspected US spy. I am happy this misrepresentation has been corrected by both the press and security agencies. Case closed. We can 'die' this post for now and discuss regulation in another.