Simple ground based vehicles may be easier to work and deal with, as well as less likely to draw unwanted attention to you.

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- Try a radio controlled zeppelin (quieter, easier to for extended observation than a helicopter or plane) with a video-camera smartphone.

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The rc planes,also cars and boats,do make a lot of noice and would attract attention.I wonder if the noice could be reduced or elimateded entirely?Is the noice produced by the operation of the electric motors or produced to give a sence of realism?
I have seen the rc ballons and they are a good idea.The only possible drawbacks are that you will need a tank of helium and that the ballons can't operate against the wind.

Heck, get a camera up high enough on a helium or hot air balloon and you don't need to maneuver.

I'm not sure if this is for laughs or just free association or a practical thought experiment, but if I were planning an intrusion on a site with a tethered balloon that had an observation capacity, I'd shoot the gasbag with a suppressed .22 and bring it down. Of course the residents would be alerted that someone was up to no good, but they'd lose their eyeball. Unless of course if the balloon was a decoy from the start, and the residents' plan was to have their REAL eyeball on the likely sites for an intruder's shootdown.

Measure, countermeasure and then counter-countermeasure.......we've invented our own DoD.

If you're any good at trap/skeet/sporting clays any other type of mobile camera would be short work, too.

Yea,you could shoot it with a .22,but you would need to get close...maybe too close.I still prefer the idea of a rc plane, it's faster and more maneuverable.Just fly as high and fast as you can,and limit the exposure.I think most people would ignore it thinking that it was just a toy and no threat.Others might stand and marvel at the sight of a reminder of all that has been lost.Some might shoot at it.Hopefully,I'll get some good intel nomatter what they do.Say,"CHEESE"!

If someone has an RC plane it's a sure bet they've got power or fuel. If I were an MZB that'd raise them right up on my priorities list.

You wouldn't have to shoot with a .22 even. A pellet gun might work.

I've also seen little RC helicopters, some of which might have a camera. Remember that if it's not a live feed of some sort, it has to get back to you before you know what's going on. If I saw an RC camera and I were trying to get in and do damage, it'd probably make me speed up so I can get there before the intel.

Good points, both of you. For the people on their own ground, a rc plane with a live feed is the way to go: get it in the air, gather the information quickly and get it home ASAP, minimizing the chances of exposing their position. For the intruders, be quick also: notice the rc plane and follow it home. Who wins the struggle? The quickest, the one making the fewest mistakes, the one making their own luck.....

I'm an armchair tactician, I admit, still a deep structure question occurs: will the risks of ambitious aggression outweigh the risks of caution?