*SAFETY FIRST*

[Phantom Flicks]

This is a topic that is dear to my heart. When I first found out about Quad copters (several months ago), I found my nearest hobby shop. I went to Micro RC which was located in Longwood Fl. at the time. It has since relocated to Casselberry, Fl. I went in and spoke to the owner Steve. I asked him, if I could pick his brain on the subject for a bit, because I had read some reviews on him and found out that he was very passionate about flying RC aircraft, of all sorts. He is very knowledgeable, he doesn't try to sell you something, that you do not need and simply one heck of a nice guy. He obliged and we began to discuss a wide variety of topics.
The main thing we discussed, was the importance of "Safety". He recommended that I start out with a Blade 180QX (which I did purchase), as I was not and experienced pilot. Unfortunately, he did not carry DJI products, because he was not satisfied with their customer support. In any event, we talked for over an hour on the subject. Knowing that I was untrained, he kept referring back to safety. He told me to "always" have a line of sight, fly under 400 feet, stay away from people, power lines, trees, certain municipalities (such as power plants, water treatment centers and the like, mainly due to the events of 9/11), airports, etc. I remember him telling me, that if I were to run into him with my lil Blade 180QX, he'd give me a look, but if I were to hit him with a Blade 350QX or something like a Phantom, we'd have a serious problem. I never forgot that.
It has been some time and I now have over a dozen or so flights under my belt (I know it's still not much). I just wish that everybody who purchases a Phantom or any type of RC aircraft, would've been in on the conversation, we had about the importance of SAFETY. I keep seeing reports of people getting hit, flying too close to airports and basically flying irresponsibly.
I love this new found hobby and I don't want a few bad apples to ruin it, for the rest of the people, who are here to enjoy it and act responsible. I think would be a great service, if this site would have a topic that is dedicated to SAFETY. I think it'd be great, if it were to be a requirement, for all to read, before being able to join up. Those are just a few of my thoughts.
Please let me know what you think. Sincerely, Thanks!

 

[ianwood]

It's a nice idea... But there are more than a couple bad apples (naïve apples). Many more bad apples will be born this Christmas. Those apples aren't on this forum. They're going to take it right out of the box and out onto the back lawn and into the flight path of the local airport. If you want to spread the message, those are the people you need to get to. You need to take it beyond this forum as they'll likely never see this site.

And the idea that a few people can ruin an industry is also naïve. The die was cast long before we got here. Ever since they finally woke up to recognize this space, the FAA has intended to mould it in their image -- not with the explicit intention of ruining it but to make it theirs (and likely ruining it for many in the process). No amount of being a good boy is going to change their opinion of "the appropriate regulation and controls". Add to the mix a formidable aerospace industry and its pile of dirty lobbying dollars used to influence the mould towards their ends.

I am not trying to dissuade anyone from spreading an important safety message but it's equally important to understand the reality of situation.

 

[kitari]

Like ianwood was saying, it's not really the people on the forums you have to look out for, it's the people who get them, thinking they're just toys and don't know about all the FAA guidelines, safety recommendations, proper preflight procedures, etc... There's not too much you can do about that as there some people who will just fly it around without any knowledge about it, but the ones that post videos on youtube can be directed to places like these forums to get educated on all those things. Even when I first got into these phantoms, I didn't have a clue about any of the FAA regulations on drones until I joined this forum.