That Droning noise.

[Plane]

Alcohol, Tobacco,Firearms and Explosives. A Federal Bureau? Or a checklist for a redneck party supplies? 

ATF acquired six drones of three different models between September 2011 and September 2012 for use by its Special Operations Division. One model was ultimately only able to fly for about 20 minutes before its battery drained. A smaller drone that cost $90,000 was “too difficult to use reliably in operations,” according to the Inspector General’s report. The last model, a gas-powered drone costing $315,000, was apparently so plagued by problems that it was never operable at all.

In June 2014, the ATF Special Operations Division gave up on the drones and transferred them to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service at no cost. The report did not mention whether ATF warned NCIS that it was receiving useless drones.

http://highlandcountypress.com/Content/In-The-News/In-The-News/Article/ATF-gives-away-unused-drones-buys-more-drones-it-couldn-t-use/2/20/26984

[Xavier_Onassis]

The road to perfection is paved with failure.

A failed drone is useful because it tells us what does not work, no matter how much money is thrown at it.

Some ideas are simply unworkable and therefore should be discarded at the start. The atomic airplane, for example.

Eisenhower ended a program to develop an atomic airplane based on the wise observation that a crash proof airplane is impossible because of many uncontrollable factors, like weather, to name one.  Therefore all airplanes are prone to crash. Most crashes occur on takeoff and landing. And these usually take place near cities and military bases. What do you call an atomic airplane that crashes?