FAA UAV Flying rules. Comments? Questions?

[evonbart2]

I know this topic has been asked and answered numerous times, but in the light of recent stories, a lot more people are asking about the rules and consequences of commercial flying. Maybe we should create a sticky post or an up to date blog for this for everyone to refer back to reliably. Yes, I know you can do a search and blah blah, but this is a rapidly changing subject and it's something most of us want to keep up on.

http://dronebuzzz.blogspot.com/2014/07/ ... rones.html

https://twitter.com/uavpilotbuzz

Here are some articles for some who have not read them yet.

FAA Takes on NYC high end realtors for drone flying
http://nypost.com/2014/07/01/faa-takes- ... ng-drones/

FAA Says Realtors - drone flying is illegal
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nati ... /12299591/

NYPD Helicopter 'near miss' causes Phantom pilots to land in jail.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/gregorymcne ... -arrested/

peace
Erik

 

[Suwaneeguy]

I liked the idea the one realtor has.
Attach a camera to a balloon.
Use a good large size helium filled balloon, a 200 foot rope, and guide the balloon by hand all over the property.
Let's see the FAA try and control that.

 

[evonbart2]

I liked the idea the one realtor has.
Attach a camera to a balloon.
Use a good large size helium filled balloon, a 200 foot rope, and guide the balloon by hand all over the property.
Let's see the FAA try and control that.

True, in a pinch it's not a bad idea, but judging by how my Phantom behaves on even the slightest of windy days a balloon would require a 3 axis gimbal and some sort of stabilization for the balloon - otherwise your video footage won't be worth squat. IF some brainiac would devise a failsafe to cut the motors and pop a chute - during a critical fail, that would solve so many of the worries and probably speed up the process for approving commercial use. They need to also reclassify the new models into different weight categories. A one and a half pound UAV is FAR less dangerous then something weighing 20-50 lbs, but they are all lumped together currently. It's possible to say small class - lightweight drones could be allowed for use commercially because they pose a very small risk. It's like allowing different sized fireworks to be used by civilians. Some items smaller than a certain size are allowed because they aren't a significant risk to the public. But if you're a dipshyt and act irresponsibly with that item, it gets confiscated and you go to jail.

I mean FAA safety concerns are merely about causing damage to manned aircraft, property damage and injury to people on the ground, right? Give approval for commercial use to the small UAVs and that at least gets the ball rolling. I do think companies like Amazon & Google putting pressure on the Fed about this, in the end will help our cause.