Interesting times ahead. I read a post on mavicpilots where the OP shared what is said to be CASA’s responses by way of email to questions about the rules. The 30m rule for separation from people not actively involved in the operation of the AC was described as an imaginary cone extending from the surface, no surprises there. What was interesting was the avoiding flying over people requirement was confirmed as requiring 30m horizontal distance. Populous area was said to include any residential premises, flying over your neighbors property is likely to be in contravention of the rules as you can’t know with certainty what the movements of people might be. Flight over populous areas is restricted to certified aircraft and apparently no such certifications have been issued to any UAV in Australia. I will post the link to the thread if I find it.
Surprisingly CASA is n our side in this one.Reading this, triggered a thought:
Is it time to be pro-active with the authorities?
Senator O'Sullivan has an ongoing campaign to ground drones and has a heightened sense of the dangers of drone use.Surprisingly CASA is n our side in this one.
CASA had carefully thought out their rules (and took years to do it) and stood up to him.
Sadly Sen. O'Sullivan isn't that sort of person.It's not that difficult to change minds of people in positions of authority, providing you're on solid factual ground and can bring integrity to the table. Politics is "of the people and for the people" - and, yes, this commonly gets forgotten by career politicians.....but most are actually not that bad when you meet them. I've spent time with a number of senior figures, on a one-to-one basis, and there's usually a good human being lurking somewhere inside the hardened politician.
Sadly Sen. O'Sullivan isn't that sort of person.
Here's a sampling:
A Coalition senator is calling for a ban on drones
Tensions boil over drone safety dispute
Nocookies
He's had his enquiry for a year, received submissions from lots of people and could have learned something but it appears he hasn't let facts sway his opinions at all.
My communications with his office were very disappointing.Meta4: He's obviously not an easy character. But I'd be encouraged that he's a former air crash investigator. That suggests some excellent qualities such as appreciation of the need for fine detail. Sometimes, once you finally get through to "difficult" people, the switch can be dramatic.