Aiming LASERS at Aircraft
© September 2010 – by: David Todeschini CEO, AwesomeLASERS – all rights reserved

          I've been working with LASERS and LASER equipment for more than 20 years. Suffice it to say that I have enough experience to know from whence I speak. I started this Web site as an extension of one of my hobbies, and it is what you see it as today – and it's growing fast! Only a few months online (a/o 2-11-2010), and over 42,000 unique visitors – some of whom I have spoken with at length, a few who call me almost every day, and a few whom I consider good friends.

          This is a great hobby. I've met and spoken with many intelligent, knowledgeable, friendly, and interesting people. I'm having fun doing this – and if I wasn't I'd delete the files from the server and go vegetate somewhere... but I'm not ready for the Old Folk's Home... not just yet!

           The community of businesses that deal in LASERS and LASER-related products has also put a 'bad taste' in the consumer's mouth by companies such as Wicked Lasers, who promise, promise, promise, then don't (or can't) deliver, but continue to promote to the U.S. market (because that's where the money is) KNOWING their product is being seized by US Customs, and their customers will ALMOST NEVER get what they paid for. If you want a LASER of any power over 5 milliwatts, the King has decreed that you can't have one - but you WANT one.... and so you (the consumer) have to build it yourself. Fine with us. We made it child's play, and we plan to make our customers very happy - after all, we've invested lots of time and money in this business, and we aren't going to stop doing business because a few idiots have given LASERS a bad reputation. You can rest assured that whatever happens, the public who WANTS something will find a way to have it. Cf: Prohibition, Drugs, Guns, what-have-you.

          It disturbs me that this hobby is getting a bad reputation from those IDIOTS who insist on targeting aircraft with their measly little Brookstone's Hand-Held LASERS. In all the incidents I know about, NOT ONE person who has been arrested was associated with the Laserist Community – the people targeting aircraft with these devices have been mostly kids and morons who got their Hand-Held LASERS from an Office Supply Store, or got them on eBay before eBay banned their sale. NONE of them are serious researchers or LASER Enthusiasts who have literally hundreds of legitimate uses for these devices, such as firemen and military personnel. It disturbs me  even more that there are politicians out there who are creating Federal Criminals from little boys just out having a bit of (innocent by ignorance) pre-adolescent mischief.

         Now don't get the wrong idea – I am in no way MINIMIZING the danger of having a pilot distracted while he's trying to fly an airplane.... what I DO intend to put into perspective is the criminal INTENT of some people (who are mostly children, or adults with a child's IQ) who, for lack of KNOWLEDGE, or just plain STUPIDITY¹, believe that it is a harmless prank to try to paint a "dot" on an airplane with a Hand-Held LASER. Now it is true that "ignorance of the law is no excuse", but I know a bit of law myself, and the more obscure a law is, and the more that it goes against the grain of 'common knowledge' (or with the grain of the common ignorance) the more likely it is to be (inadvertently) violated. Also, a MITIGATING FACTOR in any criminal case is the INTENT of the defendant.

          Now I'm not going to go "Denny Crane" on ya' – just letting you know that THIS is what the LASERIST COMMUNITY is up against, and it is OUR moral responsibility – because we have the KNOWLEDGE – to EDUCATE those who don't know any better.... and particularly those who own or have access to hand-held LASERS and don't know any better. Pretty soon, the way LASER sales are going, we're going to have to go door-to-door with LASER Safety Evangelism. I think that we should show the opportunist politicians who are passing laws making anything above 5mw as illegal, or ban the sale of them outright like eBay did, that we can do a better job than they can by not only policing ourselves, but by educating the public, and acting when we see violations happening. Is a nation-wide ban on high-powered LASERS even possible? I believe it would exacerbate the problem with the few who are abusing this equipment. It may make a politician look good in the eyes of voters who are ignorant of the facts, but it will only make the problem worse. In such a case, I propose that all of us who own anything above 5 milliwatts march en-masse on Washington DC and show the politicians the light – LITERALLY!

          Because high-powered LASERS, like Radial Arm Saws and Jackhammers, are inherently dangerous for anyone but an ADULT who has a bit of knowledge about them to handle, we have to protect our children, and teach them just as we would teach a teenager how to operate a Radial Arm Saw or handle a firearm. Teach them RESPECT for the power of these things and their capacity to harm them, and allow them to handle the LASERS with supervision, so that the "adventure" of sneaking off to play LASER night-tag with dad's Cobalt 2000 against friends who are using boardroom 5mw LASERS from Joe's Office Supply Company, isn't as attractive.

          If laws are passed making high-power LASERS illegal, an entirely new category of "criminal" will be produced. Own a LASER? You're automatically a criminal. Put you in prison. One step closer to the Techno-Nazi Dictatorship that George Orwell in his classic novel "1984" caught a glimpse of, but could never have imagined in his wildest nightmares. I propose an amendment to the second amendment: "I'll own what I damn-well please, and it's none of the government's damn business so long as I don't hurt anyone", and a slogan: "You'll pry my LASER out of my cold, dead fingers". ENOUGH WITH THE LEGISLATION, ALREADY!! It's time for common sense – which isn't as 'common' as it used to be – to prevail.

          On the night of September 11, 2010, after demonstrating a LASER to a customer in Brooklyn, from my (former) office in Jersey City, I had one of those moments of what can only be called "crystal inspiration" or "flash of genius". I thought it over for a few days; saying to myself "... surely... something so STUPIDLY simple would have occurred to a MORON by now!!" But apparently not, since my search on the Internet for even mention of such an idea turned up nothing even close! And so, after a few days of kibitzing with myself, I offer the following suggestion for what it's worth:

          I, as a principal of Awesome LASERS LLC, would like to offer the Airline Industry a suggestion. This will piss a lot of politicians off, because if my idea were to be implemented, it would render the "political hay" of LASER criminal legislation MOOT, because it would protect airline pilots from any and all LASER "attacks" on their aircraft, and it would ELIMINATE the need for any CRIMINAL penalties for (innocently or not) pointing what amounts to – at any appreciable distance – an "amplified flashlight" into the night sky.

          If you INTENTIONALLY try to harass a flight crew and endanger people (with a LASER or without one), you should spend a few years picking up soap with your toes in the shower.... and that'll teach ya'!– and send a message to the rest of the morons, imbeciles, and sociopaths. But morons, imbeciles, and sociopaths won't get the message, and that's why they are morons, imbeciles, and sociopaths. These people who don't care or don't know enough to care about other people, should be isolated from society.

          The INTENT – what the law calls "mens rea" – is the problem... most people don't INTEND to endanger, much less harm anyone, and I can't bring myself to believe that a 12 year-old would consider it a thrill to knock a plane full of people out of the sky with a LASER, or that he would believe it were even possible.

          As much as the politicians try to make of this, the MINIMUM SAFE DISTANCE² (MSD) or NO HAZARD DISTANCE³ (NOHD) on even the most powerful Hand-Held LASERS is only a few hundred yards – and if you’re ½ mile away in a plane going 400MPH, you’re not going to be INJURED by even a 1,000mw LASER like the one we demonstrated when Jim Hoffer interviewed me for Eyewitness NEWS. It is even less likely that a person on the ground, aiming a LASER manually could maintain a "lock" on the "target" for anything but an accidental, fleeting moment. At any distance over 500 yards, the energy imparted to the target is not enough to cause eye damage, but it would be distracting if it was coming right at you. This is primary due to the divergence angle. The LIGHT, however, is still EXTREMELY bright, but it is difficult to see the beam in daylight, again, unless it’s pointed DIRECTLY AT YOU.

But all of that aside, here’s my idea:

          From the "Well.... duhhhh! Why didn't I think of that before?" department:

          We are all familiar with the rolls of plastic window tint you can get at PepBoys or Sears to tint a car’s windows. Why not get tinted film – it would have to be custom manufactured because it would have to be two layers that filters out 632nm (green) and 445nm (blue) light – and apply it as an INSIDE windshield treatment to all US Aircraft? (maybe I should PATENT this idea, eh?)⁴

         The cost would be one-time, minimal, and require no maintenance (other than periodic cleaning which is done anyway), and it would make LASER distraction of pilots a MOOT ISSUE, and the Assholes can shine all the LASER beams they want to, have a LASER sky show disco party, and the pilots would barely see it…. (oh, but then the politicians wouldn’t have an issue to bandy about endlessly and propose more legislation to “prevent” so they can appear to give a crap about us, and (stupid 'us') – we're Gonorrhea Lectim).

         Tinting the cockpit windows against 632-650nm (green) would decrease normal SUNLIGHT glare DRAMATICALLY, because our eyes are MOST SENSITIVE right where the GREEN LASERS are in the visible spectrum. A second tint layer for 405-445nm (Violet / Blue) would – in addition to filtering out the LASER light – protect the pilots from the short-wavelength solar radiation – the same protection you get from wearing “UV-Blocker” sunglasses. I wear the 445nm glasses as sunglasses – and they’re great if you’re driving! In short, by so treating the windows in an aircraft, the pilots would not only gain protection from being distracted by LASERS, it would give them greater visibility and less eyestrain when they must look out the window.

          An EASY solution! (that’s because I have a 170 [MENSA]⁵ IQ)
          It would solve the problem, and it would negate the need for turning adolescent pranksters into Federal Inmates.

          (No Applause, please….. just doing my job as the resident genius).

FOOTNOTES

1.  Stupidity is the pursuit of ignorance; if you're ignorant, you can be educated, but there's no hope for STUPID.
2.  Minimum Safe Distance – the minimum distance at which actual injury from a LASER is unlikely.
3.  The distance at which actual injury from a LASER is almost impossible.
4.  This article is copyrighted, so I can prove the idea is mine – if there's any money to be made here.
5.  I was tested and invited to become a member in 1997, but I declined because of the attitude of a few members, and the fact that they employ "psychologists".

After Eyewitness NEWS aired my interview with Jim Hoffer, I received a Google Alert that my name appeared on the ABC Web site. I was the first to submit the following comment to the piece:

Hello – I am David Todeschini, CEO of Awesome LASERS – http://www.AwesomeLASERS.com – I want to thank Jim Hoffer and the staff at Eyewitness NEWS for a great, balanced piece, and for the exposure we got for a very interesting hobby. Shortly after this piece was filmed, I met casually with a few Jersey City firefighters standing outside a coffee shop. When the conversation gravitated to my business, it occurred to us that LASERS would make great distress beacons or locator signals for a firefighter trapped or disoriented in a smoke-filled room. I explored this idea under the "FIREFIGHTERS" tab on my Web site. I also am exploring the possibility of developing these high-power LASERS for use in military and tactical situations where their power could be used to blind enemy snipers or foot soldiers advancing on a position. Smaller units are already being employed in this capacity. These LASERS are already being used as distress beacons for wilderness explorers and skiers. Their legitimate uses are endless. However, there are a few IDIOTS who would abuse them, and that is truly unfortunate. LAWS will not change anything; people who want them can BUILD THEM or have them BUILT if they cannot be purchased, and the critical component (the LASER diodes) are readily available at any electronics superstore. What Congress needs to do – if it does ANYTHING, is to approve funding to have all commercial airlines' planes cockpit windows tinted with special foil that eliminates the 442, and 532nm wavelengths and the problem of pilot distraction would become a moot issue. No one would become a criminal by pointing a beam of light into the night sky.

"Homeland Security" needs to get away from creating distractions, and have the 9-11 investigation re-opened, and the criminals who were responsible, and those who became accessories after the fact with their BS stories about 19 hijackers with box cutters, prosecuted and executed by hanging for high treason. Instead, they will try to distract you from the REAL issues by claiming a beam of light – and the way they say it – will have you believe it can literally make a plane crash, which is PURE NONSENSE.

First of all, NO PILOTS TODAY actually land a commercial aircraft – it is all handled by computer....and you can't distract a computer with a beam of light.

Secondly, the most powerful LASER we sell is 1,250 milliwatts, and at 300 yards the beam is STILL very bright, but it will NOT cause permanent eye damage. This is thoroughly explained on our Web site in the Q&A / FAQs / Definitions section under "Minimum Safe Distance (MSD) or NO Hazard Distance (NOHD).

The LASERIST community are NOT crackpots or terrorists, and many of the advances in technology we have today were brought about by hobbyists and tinkerers like Steve Jobs of Apple Computer to name just ONE of the many examples. The famous "Photonic Disruptor" now used by troops in Iraq is a 150mw 532nm Green LASER with a micro-fine diffraction grating and a focusable beam. It is used by SWAT teams in hostage situations and by soldiers in the field in Iraq. We have our own focusable LASER, but it LACKS the component that makes it harmless to stare into.

The Photonic Disruptor was invented by ONE OF US, and for his "tinkering" with LASERS, he earned himself a $40 million government contract and saved countless lives of our brave men serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

And finally, I would like to know just how a "terrorist" would use a LASER to inflict "terror"... When you shine one of these things into the sky, you mark your position for all to see... it's not like you're going to go anywhere; you'll get caught. You should read my entry in "LASER STORIES" on my web site and see for yourself.

We are RESPONSIBLE people, and we sell ONLY to buyers we can VERIFY are SANE adults. If Congress starts banning "dangerous" things, I suggest they start with Radial Arm Saws (because lots of people cut their fingers and hands off every year – despite all the safety features) – then we can move on to car doors, electronic flashes, and the cheap plastic forks that come with Chinese food that inevitably break off and get mixed in with your Pork Lo Mein.