Officials want to make sure your next visit to Yosemite National Park isn't marred by a drone buzzing overhead. On Friday, the National Park Service issued a statementinforming visitors that unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are banned inside the park's 1,169 square miles of land in California. The Park Service pointed to existing federal conservation regulations in justifying the ban. The regulations prohibit "delivering or retrieving a person or object by parachute, helicopter, or other airborne means, except in emergencies involving public safety or serious property loss, or pursuant to the terms and conditions of a permit."

By making clear that the Park Service does not welcome drones — and presumably enforcing those rules as best it can — officials hope to cut back on a practice that has become more and more popular over the years. Relatively inexpensive unmanned drones have made it easy for amateur videographers to capture some incredible shots, and sites like Yosemite with fantastic natural beauty are an attractive subject. However, the Park Service notes that drones are not only a nuisance because of the sound they produce, but they can "can cause confusion and distraction for rescue personnel and other parties involved in the rescue operation." In addition, they can impact wildlife in the area, like "sensitive nesting peregrine falcons on cliff walls."

When old fighter jets are retired from service, they're not necessarily mothballed — sometimes, they're turned into unmanned planes for test pilots to shoot down. And that's precisely what's happened with this F-16 retrofitted by Boeing, which was recently tested at Florida's Tyndall Air Force Base. The first of its model to be converted, the redesignated QF-16 has successfully made its first flight, taking off from the base and reaching 40,000 feet at supersonic speeds over the Gulf of Mexico. After completing a series of maneuvers, the plane landed safely. While the cockpit was empty, the jet was controlled by two Air Force test pilots.

For at least one pilot, working on the project is a mixed blessing. After all, the QF-16 isn't exactly getting a new lease on life: now that it's completed its flight testing, it's one step closer to being used for aerial training missions and, eventually, target practice. "To get something ready to take off on its own so somebody else can shoot it down makes it a little bittersweet," says Jason Clements.

Nonetheless, Boeing has already modified six F-16 jets into QF-16s, and the plane is following in a long tradition. Unmanned F-4 Phantom jets have helped pilots train for years; an article from aviation site Fence Check runs down the history of the program and notes that over 230 Phantoms have been turned into drones since 1995. And while the modified planes aren't meant for anything but testing, they're not always harmless: earlier this year, a pair of drones crashed at Tyndall, with one temporarily shutting down a local highway.

Update: A previous version of the article referred to a "Boeing F-16," not the correct Lockheed Martin / General Dynamics F-16 retrofitted by Boeing.