Big Business drone delivery - effecting Recreational use of Drones

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Does anyone know if the FAA looked at the safety aspect of drone delivery? For example when I fly my drone I have to make sure my dogs are not in the same yard as I takeoff or land my drone. My dogs try to catch the drone. I keep them away so they do not get hurt or damage my drone. Now how is Amazon or other delivery businesses going to make sure they can deliver a package without a customers dog or small children from getting hurt? If my kid is in my yard and a drone comes in to drop a package off and the drone hurts my kid, I will be suing someone severely. Without VLOS the delivery drones may be too dangerous to use safely.
 
There are MANY aspects of their "Business Model" that leave more questions than answers. I think, in time, they are going to realize it wasn't a viable plan after all.
 
I agree. IMO it will never happen. Too many physical hurdles to solve. They probably keep moving forward with their pipe dream because they may have otained some government grant money. They can't even deliver NOW without porch pirates stealing the packages. Can you imaging the people shooting drones down with BB, pellet, and paint guns to get free merchandise? Good luck with that.
 
I agree. IMO it will never happen. Too many physical hurdles to solve. They probably keep moving forward with their pipe dream because they may have otained some government grant money. They can't even deliver NOW without porch pirates stealing the packages. Can you imaging the people shooting drones down with BB, pellet, and paint guns to get free merchandise? Good luck with that.

Sadly I've been privy to several "local" conversations that go something like this:

Every AMAZON DRONE I see flying over my property is going to be quickly shot down.
 
:innocent: I might have said those words in a past life
The annoying ultra-light guy though............
he does flinch the controls when I send bullets down range

I just had to take a UPS parcel down the road for like the 5th time this year, they can't seem to get i'm a #3, my neighbor is a #2
 
I can see where drones would deliver to delivery trucks already in the field from a distribution station, but I agree that delivery to consumers will be difficult to implement.
 
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Does anyone know if the FAA looked at the safety aspect of drone delivery? For example when I fly my drone I have to make sure my dogs are not in the same yard as I takeoff or land my drone. My dogs try to catch the drone. I keep them away so they do not get hurt or damage my drone. Now how is Amazon or other delivery businesses going to make sure they can deliver a package without a customers dog or small children from getting hurt? If my kid is in my yard and a drone comes in to drop a package off and the drone hurts my kid, I will be suing someone severely. Without VLOS the delivery drones may be too dangerous to use safely.
We'd all agree that drones can bring efficiency to the delivery business, as they do to the businesses in which they are already used. But the model won't work if they are required to adhere to the same onerous restrictions we all face -- e.g.....no flying over people, line of sight contact, altitude and distance limits, certifications that border on pilot level knowledge, etc. If they get a pass on any of that, then so should we, especially for the recreational flyers.
 
.... certifications that border on pilot level knowledge, etc. ....

You say "Border on Pilot Knowledge" but....

  • We want to be called Pilots (there are hundreds if not thousands of arguments where Drone Operators want no demand to be called Pilots)
  • We operate AIRCRAFT
  • Our Aircraft operate in the National Airspace System
  • We have begged for the RIGHT to fly in the exact same spaces as Manned Aircraft...

Please explain to me WHY you wouldn't be expected to know any "applicable" rules & regulations for operating in this environment? I mean if you were only flying at 100' at a designated airfield and all within 100' or so laterally than I could totally see no need to know anything about Aviation. Fact of the matter we want to fly outside of that "bubble" so we SHOULD know and adhere to Aviation Rules & Regulations. Anything less is unacceptable.
 
You say "Border on Pilot Knowledge" but....

  • We want to be called Pilots (there are hundreds if not thousands of arguments where Drone Operators want no demand to be called Pilots)
  • We operate AIRCRAFT
  • Our Aircraft operate in the National Airspace System
  • We have begged for the RIGHT to fly in the exact same spaces as Manned Aircraft...

Please explain to me WHY you wouldn't be expected to know any "applicable" rules & regulations for operating in this environment? I mean if you were only flying at 100' at a designated airfield and all within 100' or so laterally than I could totally see no need to know anything about Aviation. Fact of the matter we want to fly outside of that "bubble" so we SHOULD know and adhere to Aviation Rules & Regulations. Anything less is unacceptable.
I agree that, if you want to fly in the same airspace as manned aircraft, your point is valid. But another anomaly is the distinction between hobbyist and for-pay. Part 107 is only if you want to charge for, say, taking photos. If you do ti for free, then no. If it were about safety, why the difference?
 
I agree that, if you want to fly in the same airspace as manned aircraft, your point is valid. But another anomaly is the distinction between hobbyist and for-pay. Part 107 is only if you want to charge for, say, taking photos. If you do ti for free, then no. If it were about safety, why the difference?


I sort of agree... let me explain...

I personally feel like anyone who is flying a GPS enabled, autonomous able, UAS that can fly further than 200' away and 100' AGL should have to have a MIN of the Part 107 but don' call it Commercial Credentials. Call it UAS License.

Also I feel like Commercial Operations should be held to a higher standard than Part 107 and also require a physical Flight Demonstration aspect.
 
We'd all agree that drones can bring efficiency to the delivery business, as they do to the businesses in which they are already used. But the model won't work if they are required to adhere to the same onerous restrictions we all face -- e.g.....no flying over people, line of sight contact, altitude and distance limits, certifications that border on pilot level knowledge, etc. If they get a pass on any of that, then so should we, especially for the recreational flyers.
That is why the regs are being rewritten for flight over people and daytime (partially). It still leaves flight over moving vehicles which might be relegated to a waiver instance as will BVLOS. As far as certifications, they should be more intensive than a 107 cert IMO because you are carrying cargo et al beyond VLOS. They will also likely be operating more than one aircraft at a time too.
Then there is the remote ID requirement that is going to get shoved down all our throats so big commercial services can make deliveries. I don't think anyone will get a pass (rec rules and requirements will change too). Certain types of operations will just have the door opened for them to begin.
 
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I sort of agree... let me explain...

I personally feel like anyone who is flying a GPS enabled, autonomous able, UAS that can fly further than 200' away and 100' AGL should have to have a MIN of the Part 107 but don' call it Commercial Credentials. Call it UAS License.

Also I feel like Commercial Operations should be held to a higher standard than Part 107 and also require a physical Flight Demonstration aspect.
The big operators (Amazon) really need more than a 107 to operate. That operations borders on what the military does with its UAS fleet. I think they (military UAS operators) are pilots (fixed wing) if I'm not mistaken.
 
I sort of agree... let me explain...

I personally feel like anyone who is flying a GPS enabled, autonomous able, UAS that can fly further than 200' away and 100' AGL should have to have a MIN of the Part 107 but don' call it Commercial Credentials. Call it UAS License.

Also I feel like Commercial Operations should be held to a higher standard than Part 107 and also require a physical Flight Demonstration aspect.
I wish we could have a spec like that. Most photo operators NEVER get to 100 AGL or 200' away. I'm talking real estate, weddings, sports, etc. Higher or farther, and everything's too small.
 
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I wish we could have a spec like that. Most photo operators NEVER get to 100 AGL or 200' away. I'm talking real estate, weddings, sports, etc. Higher or farther, and everything's too small.

I totally agree.
 
The big operators (Amazon) really need more than a 107 to operate. That operations borders on what the military does with its UAS fleet. I think they (military UAS operators) are pilots (fixed wing) if I'm not mistaken.

Delivery companies cannot operate under Part 107; they must apply for and receive authorization under Part 135, which is specifically for unmanned aircraft deliveries; Part 107 has nothing to do with commercial delivery.
 
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That is why the regs are being rewritten for flight over people and daytime (partially). It still leaves flight over moving vehicles which might be relegated to a waiver instance as will BVLOS. As far as certifications, they should be more intensive than a 107 cert IMO because you are carrying cargo et al beyond VLOS. They will also likely be operating more than one aircraft at a time too.
Then there is the remote ID requirement that is going to get shoved down all our throats so big commercial services can make deliveries. I don't think anyone will get a pass (rec rules and requirements will change too). Certain types of operations will just have the door opened for them to begin.
Part 107 has nothing to do with drone deliveries; deliveries by unmanned aircraft are governed by Part 135.
 
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There are MANY aspects of their "Business Model" that leave more questions than answers. I think, in time, they are going to realize it wasn't a viable plan after all.
I think they will deliver to specific locations, like organ delivery to a hospital, or car parts from one spot on an industrial campus to another. Probably not ever to consumers, except in sparsely populated areas. Consumer delivery over cities, probably will never happen.
 
Ah, my toy drone goes 300 ft. Couldn't we at least have recreational drones go 500 ft. horizontally? I'd be happy. I'd still be on my property. Lol
 
In a recent discussion about Amazon making deliveries with drones, one comment I found humorous but prophetic was “That will be like skeet shooting with prizes”.
 

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