Interesting Article on US Drone Laws and the FAA

[ems12a]

From the Heritage Foundation.


Redefining “Aircraft,” Defining “Drone”: A Job for the 115th Congress

 

[Rogerc]

Remember we have a do nothing congress.

 

[ems12a]

Remember we have a do nothing congress.

True but there is always hope

=)

 

[BigAl07]

Remember we have a do nothing congress.

Careful there. That's treading on Political talk and that will get a thread shut down in a blink of an eye. You've been warned

 

[BigAl07]

Also it's a slippery slope because once you redefine a "Drone" away from it's current definitions it could open Pandora's box allowing the FAA to create new rules that would not be protected from the "FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012" doesn't protect us from.

Sometimes you have to be careful what you ask for... you might actually get it and not be happy with it.

 

[ems12a]

Careful there. That's treading on Political talk and that will get a thread shut down in a blink of an eye. You've been warned

I hope you don't consider the link "political speech".

It directly effects sUAV operators and operations going forward, especially with the new Congress and new Presidency;

 

[BigAl07]

I hope you don't consider the link "political speech".

It directly effects sUAV operators and operations going forward, especially with the new Congress and new Presidency;

Did I quote your link? Negative. I quoted the part that needed the attention and nothing more

 

[ems12a]

Also it's a slippery slope because once you redefine a "Drone" away from it's current definitions it could open Pandora's box allowing the FAA to create new rules that would not be protected from the "FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012" doesn't protect us from.

Sometimes you have to be careful what you ask for... you might actually get it and not be happy with it.

Yes but you're also subjecting Drone pilots to rules designed for Aircraft pilots. They two are not mutually exclusive, or at least they shouldn't be.

Right now you have a system that has some people who are licensed will follow the rules and can be held responsible should they break the law. You also have a sub community that are not licensed and fly for "hobby". These people are not easily traceable.

If your going to regulate Drones the same as manned aircraft then EVERYONE needs to be licensed. Then you can hold EVERYONE accountable for there actions.

Currently with licensed and hobby pilots you can't hold Hobby pilots to the same regulations and laws as manned aircraft pilots, it's not fair.

In fact Hobby pilots are not even required to follow Part 107 rules in their entirety. I'm not raging on Hobby drone pilots, I am simply saying the current regulatory scheme in place needs to be over hauled. a sub 55 pound drone is not a 747 and the law needs to reflect this reality.

 

[BigAl07]

Yes but you're also subjecting Drone pilots to rules designed for Aircraft pilots. They two are not mutually exclusive, or at least they shouldn't be.

Right now you have a system that has some people who are licensed will follow the rules and can be held responsible should they break the law. You also have a sub community that are not licensed and fly for "hobby". These people are not easily traceable.

If your going to regulate Drones the same as manned aircraft then EVERYONE needs to be licensed. Then you can hold EVERYONE accountable for there actions.

Currently with licensed and hobby pilots you can't hold Hobby pilots to the same regulations and laws as manned aircraft pilots, it's not fair.

In fact Hobby pilots are not even required to follow Part 107 rules in their entirety. I'm not raging on Hobby drone pilots, I am simply saying the current regulatory scheme in place needs to be over hauled. a sub 55 pound drone is not a 747 and the law needs to reflect this reality.

You're preaching to the choir here. I've got 4 decades of experience with thousands of hours flying what is now "Commercial" with zero worries or regulation until GPS guidance, Gyro Stabilization, and Buy-N-Fly technology literally made it so anyone with a credit card is now a drone pilot. We were shooting video, taking pictures, and making $$ doing it ages ago with no problems now all you have to do is think about saying the word drone and 175 people are citing "internet" law at you.

Yes I fully understand why hobbyist have almost no limit to their operations (Congress pushed the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 to help protect existing flying clubs etc) but when you open Pandora's box you never know exactly what you're going to get out of it.

 

[ems12a]

You're preaching to the choir here. I've got 4 decades of experience with thousands of hours flying what is now "Commercial" with zero worries or regulation until GPS guidance, Gyro Stabilization, and Buy-N-Fly technology literally made it so anyone with a credit card is now a drone pilot. We were shooting video, taking pictures, and making $$ doing it ages ago with no problems now all you have to do is think about saying the word drone and 175 people are citing "internet" law at you.

Yes I fully understand why hobbyist have almost no limit to their operations (Congress pushed the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 to help protect existing flying clubs etc) but when you open Pandora's box you never know exactly what you're going to get out of it.

Yeah its a complete regulatory mess at the moment. I agree with you 100%.

I personally think the only way to "fix" the problem is to have everyone who flies a drone or really anything that is FPV, autonomous/Semi autonomous and capable of flying outside of VLOS have a licensed operator at the controls.

Technology is going to (and to some extent already has) progresed to allow these little birds to fly BVLOS via a computer inside someones home via the internet. The regulatory scheme needs to get with the times and realize that these are not "aircraft" in the literal sense of the word when it comes to the law.

=)

 

[BigAl07]

Yeah its a complete regulatory mess at the moment. I agree with you 100%.

I personally think the only way to "fix" the problem is to have everyone who flies a drone or really anything that is FPV, autonomous/Semi autonomous and capable of flying outside of VLOS have a licensed operator at the controls.

I whole heartedly agree.