OMG!!! The US government is going to fix things!

[OldAirmail]

That drone you want for Christmas will likely need to be registered

"Federal regulators said Monday they would require most recreational drones to be registered in the wake of a growing number of incidents and will rush to get the rules in place before Christmas season in which the small aircraft are expected to be popular gifts."

Who woke up this morning with their panties in a bunch, and decided that NOW was the time to do this, and that it had to be done "Right away".



I don't care which political group is in power, I don't trust my government to rush into effect ANY new laws to protect "the people".

I can already see the ten & twelve year old boys being dragged into federal court.



Imagine eleven year old Timmy trying to get the attention of a girl with whom he has a crush.

He flies his little $50 drone, with a camera built in, after the girl.

Timmy is now not only a terrorist endangering the public, but a sexual predator and stalker.

The girls mother wants him tried as an adult, to teach him, and other bothersome boys, a lesson.

Timmy's new cell mate welcomes him with open arms.

Yeah. Let's enact major federal legislation in two months. Good idea.

[pegger]

Oh come on...it's the government. I have yet to see any democratic government do what they said they would do, on time!

Interesting that the law is focused on drones. Narrow minded view of a drone being anything with four blades or more? There are infact fixed wing "drones" out there being used, and they take photos too. And what if one were to strap a camera on a remote control sport helicopter? Is it the payload or the vehicle that makes the system a drone? Or is it the autonomous functions? So confusing.

Transport Canada has been at it for a half a decade or so and even though "drones" (i hate that term) are permitted under general exemption terms, and under authorization for non exempt flight conditions, any UAV or UAS not used for commercial purposes is just a RC model (size dependant).

Anyhow, back to the original point, governments don't do anything quickly. And even if they did, are they establishing the anti drone police force to go after the idiots using them? Remember, its not the drones that are the problem. Its the idiots who won't follow any rule, no matter how fast it is enacted.

Signed,
Pegger - a responsible commercial drone pilot

[OldAirmail]

I would normally agree about the government being slow to complete anything. But that's for planned projects.

When they feel that action must be taken..... the word stupid gets raised to new heights.



And, to paraphrase you, what the heck is a "drone" anyway..

Five of the people that I work with fly RC aircraft. When the Pope came to Philadelphia, they were told that there was a 20 mile prohibited air space for their RC planes.

The author of that article says:
"For this reason, models are largely flown within visual line of sight and in the presence of an operator who watches and maintains control of the airplane during flight. That alone is enough to place model airplanes cleanly outside the boundaries of “drone.”

But most "drones" sold in hobby stores will also be flown within a visual line of sight.

Heck! Some of the planes that my co-workers fly have a GPS guidance system to return them to the flight area incase of signal loss.

Could that device be reprogramed to send the RC plane to a specific destination? Why not put an Arduino in the aircraft for guidance?




Aside from the form of guidance, what makes an RC airplane different from a "drone".

What is, or isn't, a threat? Does it depend on size, speed?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xNcHKE7TOc[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akoJ2zBwX1o[/youtube]


Governments!

[ViperPilot]

Think I'll just stay with FlightSim, and the occasional paper airplane.

(Sigh)...

Alan

[Fozzer]

Think I'll just stay with FlightSim, and the occasional paper airplane.

(Sigh)...

Alan

Sounds like good advice, Alan...

I am very careful about using my Video Camera on my Motorbike rides now, especially when walking around with it fixed to me, after alighting from my Bike....

Folks don't like being annoyed by such devices, (including Drones).
I remove my camera when in a public area.

Some folks don't mind, but others do, and you can see by their expressions!

Paul.... ...!

[OldAirmail]

Think I'll just stay with FlightSim, and the occasional paper airplane.

(Sigh)...

Alan

Alan, for the most part I think that we have it much better, compared to RC guys.

I'll come in to work and they'll be talking about how it was too windy or rainy to fly. Or how the plane crashed and they had to fix a wing or tail section.

I'll sometimes say something about what a nice flight I had over the Alps from Barcelona to Munich, or around Death Valley.

Like I said, I think that we have it better.

[ftldave]

Don't blame the government. Blame wackos like the corporate doofuses at SkyPan, a business, that flew big drones into Class B airspace in Chicago and New York over 40 times. I'm glad the SkyPan dolts are facing a $1.9 million fine from the FAA for such reckless, stupid actions.

Blame the 18-year-old moron who rigged a handgun to his drone and posted videos of it firing from the sky. I know Delta and Virgin America pilots have reported incidents where they had to maneuver during landing to avoid drones in the approach path.

Despite what the tin-foil hat wearers say, these are dangerous situations where the rule of law needs to be invoked. And I say: Good! The drones in all those scary incidents aren't the tiny mini-copters that Little Johnny will find under his Christmas tree. "Civilian" drones are getting bigger, getting more powerful, and brainless people are doing reckless things with them for mischief and profit.

[ozzy72]

Ever seen a plumber perform neuro-surgery?

[ViperPilot]

You know what the Reply will be from the Masses? The Mantra of the 21st Century!

"I have the Right to do Anything I want, Anytime. And, NO ONE can tell me what to do."

[Jean Loup]

Don't blame the government. Blame wackos like the corporate doofuses at SkyPan, a business, that flew big drones into Class B airspace in Chicago and New York over 40 times. I'm glad the SkyPan dolts are facing a $1.9 million fine from the FAA for such reckless, stupid actions.

Blame the 18-year-old moron who rigged a handgun to his drone and posted videos of it firing from the sky. I know Delta and Virgin America pilots have reported incidents where they had to maneuver during landing to avoid drones in the approach path.

Despite what the tin-foil hat wearers say, these are dangerous situations where the rule of law needs to be invoked. And I say: Good! The drones in all those scary incidents aren't the tiny mini-copters that Little Johnny will find under his Christmas tree. "Civilian" drones are getting bigger, getting more powerful, and brainless people are doing reckless things with them for mischief and profit.

THiS is what makes 'utopia' of those flying car's dreams: non trained idiots at the controls. I have seen this type of incidents with ultralights that ¿require no license? They still require the most absent of human resources: DiSCiPLiNE, DECiSiON & GOOD jUDGMENT!! plus LOTS of training: even a bicicle ride needs that to be safe!

[OldAirmail]

Endangerment, in whatever form, is illegal. Why make more laws?

The idiot, kid or semi-adult twit, who thinks it would be "cool" to get a close up runway video of a jet taking off can be incarcerated under existing laws.

Pick a thousand other scenarios, and you'll have the same thing - crime, conviction, and then punishment.


Methods of stopping/interfering with unmanned aerial vehicles (instead of the word drone) are pouring out of the woodwork. One of a great many - Battelle’s DroneDefender anti-drone beam gun grounds UAVs.



So lets say that all unmanned aerial vehicles require user certification to demonstrate safe handling, and an understanding of the law.

Then what?

Cars have been used to kill people. Drivers education, licensing, registration, inspection, ad infinitum ad nauseum be damned.

Baseball bats, frying pans, cloths line, you name it, someone has been killed with it.

Stupid people leave babies in hot cars. Morons kill each other on the street corner over a perceived slight.

Perhaps stupidity should be a crime punishable by neutering, or even death. No other way to eliminate it.

And it isn't only stupidity. Up in Massachusetts, some eight year old boys thought that it would be funny to hang another little boy up by his clothes on a coat hook. Guess what happened.

Do we need another freakin law!


Back to unmanned aerial vehicles

Little Billy gets certified. He knows where and when he can fly it. Most importantly, he has his tax sticker on it.

Johnny Jihad has learned how to fly one too. He steals, and modifies it.

Wait. Never mind Johnny Jihad stealing it. Johnny Jihad wants to be a martyr. He does everything to legally buy & fly one. Guess what happens then.....


Love or hate unmanned aerial vehicles, my point is that I DO NOT trust my government to come up with good laws in less than two months.

[Hawkeye07]

'nuff said.