FAA Drone Registration Rule Suffers Major Setback

6 Likes

He wasn’t right often, but …

1 Like

I am kinda meh about this, registration isn’t near as bad as the bad rules. Considering I’d be expected to call 6 helo-pads/airports before I could fly at fence level in my backyard. Let’s be honest a drone in my backyard zipping around at 6- 15ft is no danger to aircraft. Most aircraft are significantly above the stupid 400ft limit within seconds of takeoff and I don’t know of a standard approach flown at near 400ft (considering the lowest MDH I can think of is 250ft) anywhere. I have always dreamed of logical regulation, but I am assuming the chances of that happening are statistically negative, as most regulation is illogical AF.

2 Likes

This is an interesting decision in that it speaks “Hobbists” not “Commercial”.

So Wedding photographer would be commercial, since they charge as part of their package. Or an Real Estate agent doing a house.

1 Like

Your drone in your backyard, sure. However, drone operators seem to always want to know what’s going on in someone else’s back yard. That’s the part that I have a problem with.

2 Likes

If you believe you have ‘privacy’ anywhere you are going to be sadly disappointed. The neighborhood peeping toms and their drones don’t have anything on Google…



If the drone is within the lateral boundary of my property lines and at a lower altitude than my trees (which are “using” the airspace), then I’ll gleefully remove the drone from existence. The resulting fragments may be returned to the owner.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2016/01/13/you-may-be-powerless-to-stop-a-drone-from-hovering-over-your-own-yard/?utm_term=.1ef8f727df14

2 Likes

Use the downed drone as bait and get rid of the owner as well. Good luck with google and their satellites though.

1 Like

I always saw it as proactive. Drones might not affect flight patterns now but it’s hardly a stretch to say that won’t be well within the tech very soon for an average user.

2 Likes

Agreed. But our back yards, i.e. private property, should be off limits up to a certain vertical limit without explicit permission of property owner or a search warrant. Right?

3 Likes

One concern of mine, is that there are folks that feel that
the gobermint or someone is spraying us with chemicals,
Theise foks want to take down an airplane, they mention
using lasers to point at them, they wish of missiles so they
can stop then when they are spraying, but it would be easy
for them to try to use a drone to take one down,

I always felt that the drone registration was partially aimed at them

Part of the motivation for this law was drone operators getting in the way of emergency operations, such as fighting a wildfire. All to gain clicks on YouTube.

2 Likes

Too bad drone hunting permits did not catch on…

Typical ILS is 200 Ft DA. I just sat through a briefing about Falcon Eye (an advanced HUD on the new Falcon 900LX and 8X aircraft) that will allow for 0 vis to the rollout off the runway!

3 Likes

Farmers are wanting to use drones to check theri fields for pests or
weeds,. They use satellite image now, but drones can be quicker
and can show problems earlier, so they can reduce the area they need
to treat, that will save them money

2 Likes

You need a noise source, sharp cut off filters, and a 2.4GHz amplifier with a very directional antenna.

Just overload the whole band and let the thing either auto return home or land where it is at which time you have possession.

1 Like

Fair, my point being that unless I am flying my quad on one of the approaches (not sure this would even matter below 100ft and outside the airport fence), calling the airports within 5 miles seems unreasonable to fly at below tree-top level in my backyard. I assume they will be irritated when I start calling them every day.

There was a time when flying model rockets between 1 and 3.3 pounds required notifying all airports in a 5 mile radius. They must have gotten tired of us because the rules changed so that no notification is currently needed for 3.3 pounds or less.

The FAA used to issue a NOTAM (NOtice To AirMen) warning of unmanned rocket activity whenever we did that. Pilots would sometimes read that and fly out to get a look. Little did they know, we cannot launch while we see aircraft, so they wasted fuel circling our field until they got bored and moved on.

2 Likes

Somewhat related to privacy and drones: http://www.businessinsider.com/wifi-camera-sees-through-walls-2017-5

Big win for the hobbyist community. We all owe Taylor a HUGE round of applause!