Florida Man flies gyrocopter (containing himself) over US Capitol to protest corruption

boing
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Yep, Florida Man strikes again

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He landed on the west lawn of Capitol Hill between the Capitol Building and the Ulysees S. Grant Memorial which overlooks the Capitol Reflecting Pool.

He landed only yards from where last year the mentally ill woman was shot to death after ramming the White House entrance and tearing around the streets, hitting barriers and police cars She had a child in the car that was unhurt. The whole thing was rather tragic.

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didnā€™t they set SAMs after 9/11?

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Iā€™m just as surprised as you are, truth be told.

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Those things donā€™t look like they could possibly fly.

On the rare occasion I happened to see one, with my own eyes, at first I thought it was a cropduster. Then I thought it was going to crash.

I was in the passenger seat of a car on the interstate, and there was this thing dipping and bobbing over a grass runway near the road. As we got closer I could see that it was just a gyrocopter. They always look like they are crashing.

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maybe they could borrow some S-300s from Iran

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The only way to improve this story is if Larry Lessig was the pilot ā€¦

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ā€œThat wuz thā€™ last we saw ov 'imā€¦ā€

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Hereā€™s his website, he calls his political philosophy Civilism.
Itā€™ll probably give one a better idea of the person than the media.

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According to the <a href=http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/florida-mailman-lands-a-gyrocopter-on-capitol-lawn-hoping-to-a-send-message/2015/04/15/3be11140-e39a-11e4-b510-962fcfabc310_story.html?tid=pm_pop>WashPo Corporate Media story I read, Mr. Postal Worker alerted the Secret Service, among other agencies, to his plans so they wouldnā€™t shoot him down.

Dude flew into a Flight Restricted Area:

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I think youā€™d actually have to aim them down to hit something flying at that altitude.

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The missile veers off course and takes out a riding mower.

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*looks down at open bottle of liqueur

*pours bottle out

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Or a few new body cavities, depending on the attitude of the Capitol police.

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Itā€™s propeller driven. The rotor acts as a wing. Much safer than a helicopter. Not that this was a particularly risk-free way to make a point. Things could have gone wrong, and itā€™s probably a good idea to discourage this sort of thing.

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There have been a significant number of incidents where small private aircraft that have deliberately crashed or landed at secure federal buildings.

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Could you imagine your obituary saying that you were killed in a Barney Copter attack?

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In 1931, an autogyro landed in front lawn of the White House and that time the pilot got a medal. ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpBrYGZo0EI ) In fact, that same year various autogyros landed repeatedly in front of the Capitol building, once to give a senator a lift to the golf course. ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfXwDL_E014 ) I guess the terrorists have wonā€¦

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