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August 06, 2004
Marines' littlest eye in the sky takes flight in Iraq
"Cpl. Mel W. Plummer has got a whopper of a story to tell at his high school reunion.
His former high school class president won't be able to match it. Here it is. He flew airplanes on combat missions in Iraq. He flew so low, he could see the enemy's face right before a big attack. He did it all with a plane that was unarmed and unmanned.
That's right. Plummer never left the ground.
Plummer, a 23-year-old from Stevens Point, Wis., turned a child-like fascination for model airplanes and the mysteries of flight into the best thing going for the grunt on the ground. He's a pilot, the latest in unmanned aerial vehicle flight to get a better picture of the enemy on the other side of the battlefield.
Technically, it's called a Small Unit Remote Scouting System. The cool kids in class just call it Dragoneye.
Plummer's flown the six-pound airframe with a 45-inch wingspan in places other pilots wouldn't dare to fly. He's been flying for the Marine Corps since February."
Read more at Marines' littlest eye in the sky takes flight in Iraq.
Posted by Darren at August 6, 2004 03:29 PM | More from UAV News |