Here, in Canada, I operate a drone business that does special events, real estate, land development, and personal projects.
Here, I feel the Transport Canada Unmanned Aerial Vehicle(UAV) regulations have been good for those of us who fly our drones legally.
Those individuals who went to Best Buy and purchased a quadcopter and wanted to just go fly it have been scared off with threats of $3,000 fines.
So, the recreational aspect of our hobby has taken a hit. However, for people who purchased a drone and took the Basic Drone Operations course and wrote and passed the exam, these people are able to fly their drones within guidelines.
Those people wanting to do more with their drones, like having a business, are able to do so provided they take Transport Canada's 'Advanced Drone Pilot' certification.
This involves taking a course, writing a 1 hour exam with 50 multiple choice questions spanning across 9 subject areas.
You must achieve a mark of 80% to pass.
Successfully passing this exam is only Part A of the process.
Part B involves you doing a flight test supervised by a Transport Canada examiner who will evaluate your flight performance.
Areas considered: Flight Planning, Weather, Safety Procedures, Communications, Drone Flight Dynamics, Navigation, Post Flight Evaluation.
A successful flight examination then will allow you to apply for an ' Advanced Drone Pilot's ' certificate.
In the end, those of us who have gone through the process have been rewarded and are legally able to operate our drones and do more with our aircraft than those with a Basic certification.
The reality is that those people who were not willing to 'be professional about it' have dropped out of the hobby.
So be it.
You need a license to operate a vehicle or a watercraft, snow mobile, or ATV, so why should drones be any different?
Drones flying near people, vehicles, buildings, ships, and animals present a safety risk and drone operators need to be properly certified.
Just like anything else.
If the numbers of those involved with drones have decreased because of official guidelines, that's OK.