If You Give a Drone a Flamethrower …

There's a practical reason for this! We swear!

February 23, 2017 9:00 am EST

One man’s trash is, apparently, a high-altitude target for another man’s flamethrowing drone.

At least that’s the case in Hubei Province in China, where workers for a power line company in Xiangyang have been using a flamethrower-equipped drone to burn trash off of power lines. The process is pretty much as straightforward as it sounds, requiring naught but an operator on the ground to pilot the octocopter and press a button to dispense flames. The aluminum lines are reinforced with steel and aren’t covered with plastic themselves, so as long as the operator uses short bursts of flames, the high-voltage conductors aren’t damaged.

Safe and efficient, the process eliminates paper lanterns, plastics bags and kites in just seconds.

Pigeons beware.

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Evan Bleier

Evan Bleier

Evan is a senior editor with InsideHook who earned a master’s degree in journalism from NYU and has called Brooklyn home since 2006. A fan of Boston sports, Nashville hot chicken and Kentucky bourbon, Evan has had his work published in publications including “Maxim,” Bleacher Report and “The Daily Mail.”
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