Connecticut teen tests fire-breathing, turkey-roasting drone

The daredevil drone enthusiast and self-made engineer Austin Haughwout from CT has posted a video of his latest invention in action on his YouTube channel.

The Hartford Courant reports that Austin Haughwout, whose prior video made headlines over the summer, published the new video onto his YouTube page on Monday.

The four-minute cooking demonstration, which presumably has Haughwout standing behind the camera in an apron and chef’s hat, is sponsored by HobbyKing, a supplier of drone parts that apparently doesn’t mind putting its name to a remotely controlled fire-spitting copter. Last July, he posted a video showing his drone firing shots from a handgun he strapped onto it. The FAA ruled the teen was not breaking the law.

Clinton police are not releasing a statement at this time. Sgt Joseph Flynn told the Courant, noting no state laws now exist that could prevent Haughwout from converting his drones into mobile weapons.

On Wednesday, police said they are investigating the matter. He said there were buckets of water, fire extinguishers, and hoses nearby. Haughwout was, however, arrested in an unrelated incident in July 2015 for assault on an officer and interfering with an officer in Clinton. Andrea Mears was charged with third-degree assault and breach of peace after Haughwout captured a cellphone video of her purportedly attacking him and calling him a “little pervert”.

Haughwout’s experiments with drones first landed him in the news in May 2014, when a woman accused him of using his drone to photograph women on the beach at Hammonasset State Park.

Speaking to WTNH News, drone advocate Peter Sachs said: “Anyone who does anything of this nature or a similar nature is operating unsafely and irresponsibly, and I certainly would not condone it and I would certainly chastise it as would any responsible operator”. “Whatever talent he has in creating these unsafe contraptions is far surpassed by his immaturity and lack of sensibility”.