My first reaction is amazement but shortly after that, I think I understand. I read and hear about "kids" buying a drone and immediately running out to "test the limits". What is the point of flying out 4 miles? What purpose does it fulfill. You only know it went that far by looking at a readout on a screen. Same for those trying to set an altitude record. BD, "before drones", test pilots got to do that by actually risking their lives so a certain amount of brains were required. Now the Walter Mittys can sit in the sand and send out the drone to do it for them. And to what purpose? Many, if not most test pilots eventually lose their lives and this young feller just lost his drone. Too bad, but he had it coming. I have 56 years and 13,000 hours flying everything from gyrocopters sitting on a lawn chair to B727s and I would not fly a small plane out 4 miles from shore. I have flown a single engine plane 500 miles out the Bahamas but I had a life raft and flotation gear on board. And I was ready to accept that I may end up floating around in the Atlantic Ocean for a bit. And if so, it would be my own calculated risk and I would not be asking anyone to protect me from my wife. I fear for the coming generation.
