Exemption Hell

farklefats · Jun 10, 2016

It's been almost 5 months since my FAA Section 333 Exemption was submitted and posted on regulations.gov and I'm still in pending status. I contacted the FAA and it doesn't look like my application is missing anything, but that they're overloaded with requests. I'm curious how long everyone else had been waiting??? Mine posted 1/19/16...anyone post around that time and get approved or are you still waiting too?? I'm in exemption purgatory.....

Hickeroar · Jun 10, 2016

From what I've read and heard, most people/companies that are waiting for approval just use their drones as if they have it. I've also read that the FAA hasn't yet fined a single person/company for not having the exception.

This is a pretty good article about it: The FAA Has Never Fined Anyone for Flying a Drone Commercially

I'm not a lawyer, and you can feel free to take my opinion with a fat grain of salt, but I would just go about your business, flying as usual, and the FAA will hopefully get their **** together one of these years.

Gary M · Jun 10, 2016

We in this forum have been going back and forth about this forever. The FAA has been dragging it's feet on this for approaching a decade now. They love to cry and moan, "We have been blindsided by this drone issue and are working to find a way to safely integrate drones into the NAS." Ummmm, WRONG. Congress ORDERED them to get this stuff worked out in 2008. Here we are, still waiting. I'm done. I'm over it. Thanks for sharing this article. I'm going to start doing whatever I want to do, FAA be damned. I and many others have been saying all along that there's no way the FAA can enforce these ridiculous "rules" they have in a court of law. I would love to be a fly on the wall while they try to explain to a judge, "Yes sir, it is perfectly legal for a 14 year old punk to fly a drone and take all the pictures he wants as a hobby, but if an adult chooses to do the exact same thing as a profession, he needs to spend many thousands of dollars to obtain a pilot's license to do so." Riiiiiiight.....

Hickeroar · Jun 10, 2016

Gary M said:
I would love to be a fly on the wall while they try to explain to a judge, "Yes sir, it is perfectly legal for a 14 year old punk to fly a drone and take all the pictures he wants as a hobby, but if an adult chooses to do the exact same thing as a profession, he needs to spend many thousands of dollars to obtain a pilot's license to do so." Riiiiiiight.....

This, to me, is the silliest part of the whole mess. It seems to me that if you're going to have to get a pilots license and pay out the nose for registration, legal fees, the exemption, etc....that should entitle you to do something different with the aircraft. Instead it just lets you have a career doing the same things everyone else can do for $5.

Gary M · Jun 10, 2016

Hickeroar said:
This, to me, is the silliest part of the whole mess. It seems to me that if you're going to have to get a pilots license and pay out the nose for registration, legal fees, the exemption, etc....that should entitle you to do something different with the aircraft. Instead it just lets you have a career doing the same things everyone else can do for $5.

Exactly. Again, I have a hard time believing a judge would by that line of BS, much less a jury.

MapMaker53 · Jun 10, 2016

The arguement the FAA would have the most problem with is the fact that a commercial operator can fly the exact "flight plan" as a hobbyist and take exactly the same photos, but if money is exchanged it is illegal. The FAA's authority is limited to issues of air safety - which is why the FAA was formed. So how does the simple exchange of money change the element of safety?

Gary M · Jun 10, 2016

MapMaker53 said:
The arguement the FAA would have the most problem with is the fact that a commercial operator can fly the exact "flight plan" as a hobbyist and take exactly the same photos, but if money is exchanged it is illegal. The FAA's authority is limited to issues of air safety - which is why the FAA was formed. So how does the simple exchange of money change the element of safety?

Duuuuude....I have never heard anyone put it that way before and it's a PERFECT point.

Jason Porembski · Jun 10, 2016

Gary M said:
Duuuuude....I have never heard anyone put it that way before and it's a PERFECT point.

Yea really!!!! Well said!!!

Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app

NADM · Jun 11, 2016

Mine was posted 1/24/2016. My problem is I have spent a gazzilion dollars on my license/certificate (slight exaggeration) and I don't want to jeopardize it. If I was not worried about keeping my pilot's license I also would say screw those guys and fly it whenever and wherever I wanted. Unfortunately I feel I must wait, even though I know what the FAA is doing on this is not right and probably unlawful, I just cant afford the attorney fees to fight it.

Jason Porembski · Jun 12, 2016

It's absolutely ridiculous. I am looking into getting my pilots license just so I can fly my drone commercially. It's not fair.

Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app