Drone Pilots need to be concerned!

[Psywarrior]

I get approached practically EVERYTHING time I fly. I always use it as an opportunity to teach the public. Since I went FPV I can show what we see and this is a great help against privacy fears. I show that they are nothing more than tools. I explain the laws (ceiling and operational restrictions) and emphasize that I strictly adhere to those laws/regulations.

I love that ATX will include education with his services. It is dependant upon us serious pilots to educate not only the public and law enforcement about these aircraft but also educate NOOBs and those interested about safe and legal flying.

I wish 3DR would include a safety video in the app which will prevent it from being used until that video is watched. The same for all manufacturer .

We must do what we can to promote safety and increase education as well as reducing fear of these, regardless of manufacture.

 

[Del]

I'm gonna put a couple of Police stickers on my solo and fly over peoples pot farms..lol

But really..if only people would OBEY by the rules with there quad copters ..and just mabe ..will could enjoy this hobby for a while...!!
Eventually they're going to put up sing of quad copters (Drone ) everywhere you go ..saying if your allowed to fly there or not.. Especially in tourist areas and landmarks !!
And eventually there will be only designated areas to fly ..And you'll be lucky if there's one in your town... You're probably have to travel for miles just to be able to fly !!!
. It will get more and more restricted as time goes by ... Then one day.. You won't be able to fly them at all !!! I hope that never happens...!
So It all depends on the idiots that have quad copters (Drone) and what there doing with them to piss people off ...and totally ruin it for the people that respect the hobby and flying by the rules !!

So right now ..what I read and what I see on the news...it dosing look to good for us Boys and Girls!! So enjoy the freedom for now..it might just be short lived..!!


Just my opinion ..

Fly smart
Fly safe
or don't fly

 

[Flying Squirrel]

Here's my take on the future of drone pilots - from someone who has petitioned for a Section 333 Exemption: I think the FAA has clearly stated what they expect from us ... Pilots should "Know before they fly."

Here is a link to specific guidelines for recreational uses ... http://knowbeforeyoufly.org/for-recreational-users/

The FAA has turned to the public - private and commercial pilots, aviation enthusiasts, The AMA, RC hobbyists, drone enthusiasts, commercial aerial photographers ... the list is extensive - for guidance in the development of a system that will allow private owners of UAS to operate in The National Airspace System. Rest assured in knowing public opinion and feedback from the aviation community will weigh heavily on the FAA's decision.

I believe there is a large body of individuals who believe drones are a threat to public safety and they should be regulated by the government. I also believe the FAA will weight these concerns heavily. Those opposed to private ownership and operation of UAS need only prove to the government that drones are a threat to public safety, and to other aircraft that utilize the NAS. That proof exists ... Video and self certifications posted on forums just like this one describing UAS flights above the FAA required altitude, and beyond VLOS - visual line of site.

I think a drone will inevitably bring down an aircraft carrying passengers and this event will end private ownership of UAS without appropriate education, training and licensing. As of August 24th a total of 1300 exemptions have been granted to private individuals and companies - https://www.faa.gov/uas/legislative_programs/section_333/ - The exemption permits individuals to fly there UAS in NAS for the purpose of offering various aerial photography services to the general public. Worth noting is people - private drone owners - are offering services illegally, without approval from The FAA. As the body of individuals licensed to operate UAS legally grows, opposition to private ownership will grow exponentially. If the FAA does not suppress private ownership, small business will.

I encourage you to look at the public docket - http://www.regulations.gov/#!searchResults;rpp=25;po=0;s=%22section%2B333%22%2BFAA;fp=true;ns=true - and read up on the requirements the FAA has set forth for private individuals to fly drones (like the P3 and Solo). I can tell you the applicants are all at a bare minimum trained to the level of a private pilot. I am willing to bet the FAA will come up with a UAS license that will require private individuals to attend a formal ground school, accumulate flight time in a real aircraft; and take a check ride before being permitted to operate a their drone in The NAS. The cost for this license will be somewhere between $3500 and $5000. For reference the FAA requires a minimum of 40 hours of flight training before being eligible for licensing. In my area a trainer aircraft costs anywhere from $150 to $250 per hour. Instructors range from $45 to $80 per hour.

So ... let's keep posting videos at 1000 feet AGL and 6000 feet out... We will post threads about how "we will believe a drone can damage aircraft when one crashes" ... we will all keep boasting and exercising our freedom. Hell! Let's go ahead and fly a Confederate flag on the back of our pickup because no one can tell us what to do.

In case you think none of THIS can happen - read this: http://politics.blog.ajc.com/2015/06/29/georgia-keep-drones-away-from-the-gold-dome/

The big dot represents the "No Fly Zone" in The City of Atlanta for all drones. This decision was made UNANIMOUSLY by one man.

 

[Adimuzio513]

The problem is, for every one of you, there are 100 guys that fly around just to annoy and aggravate...

I get there's a lot of idiots but you still have to try or those idiots are all the public sees. I know most of the folks doing the really dumb stuff probably aren't here on the forums but, there's a larger percentage of good folks in this hobby when compared to other hobbies or groups I'v seen. Look how easy it is to get answers or opinions here and how at least on this site even the disagreements don't usually turn into more than that.

The ticket price and just the type of people who are interested helps a lot of young or just plain stupid folks from flying UAVs much or these stories would be even worse. Bet if all of us made an effort we could at least stand a chance, it's better than just saying there's too many idiots and waiting to get banned if nothing else.

If this forum is any indication at all of the type of folks flying with us in the hobby we stand a good chance to outweigh those trying to ruin things for all of us. Even say there's been 20 of these stories latley there's well more than 20 responsible pilots on here every night. So I believe we outweigh them by quite a bit it's just harder to get noticed doing the right thing than it is doing things wrong.

 

[Winston]

'The horse is out of the barn'. If any of you experienced or watched closely how the FAA got their nose into the RC aircraft activities, you know what is going to happen to drones. At one point they were going to require all RC aircraft have registration numbers! I got pretty heavily involved in that whole thing and I am sure others on this forum did as well. The restrictions will be applied based on the weight of the drone. Likely voluntary (at first) compliance with mfg's standards for hardware and software will be planned. Can you spell LICENSING? Policing the flyers is too difficult through any means other than intimidation. I am sure everyone is aware that with an update, the distance and height you can fly can be controlled without our ability to modify. I would not be surprised to see hobbyist drone flyers required to comply with AMA safety standards ("or other community recognized stds"). The NPRM for RC molders has already been released and the FAA will seek to bring everyone together under one set of rules. Comm'l operators of drones will not have to worry. They are already restricted. They will be viewed as more responsible (have a business at stake) however more highly regulated initially. Their lobbying is what got the FAA into the RC tent in the first place. All of the airline and other safety issues are just playing into the FAA's plans. To get Congressional support for the regulations as well as higher budgets, these media reports just help them. They have the ALPA, GAMA (Gen. Aviation Mfgs Assoc), DHLS, AAAE (American Assoc of Airpot Exec), to name only a few, banging on their doors for regulations. The best we can do is organize and respond to the NPRM when it comes out. If you have a community flying site, cozy-up to the landowner. Don't make enemies with the R/C clubs. Some view FPV drone flyers as "outlaws" that are going to bring the house down on them as well. Sorry guys for being so pessimistic but to pretend otherwise is contrary to the pattern of government's encroachment into everything. Enjoy while you can. OK, I put my flack jacket on...fire at me if you like.

 

[JonW]

I think there's a happy medium somewhere in all this. As much as we all hate to see things that we like to do get regulated, the sad truth is that without regulation there are always idiots to ruin it for everyone. Can you imagine what everyday driving would be like with no traffic laws? My intended use of my drone is commercial, so I would actually expect that the rules and regulations for me should be more strict than for those of you flying only as a hobby. I'm fine with licensing fees and even registration numbers. I see it as another way to differentiate myself from the amateur competition by identifying my business as a professional operation. Of course it's always unsettling to see a government agency stepping in to impose rules when we don't know for sure what will be in the final law. But if it is done in a reasonable way I think it will be for the better. At least then the pilots of UAVs can be identified as the rule followers and the outliers.

 

[Del]

'The horse is out of the barn'. If any of you experienced or watched closely how the FAA got their nose into the RC aircraft activities, you know what is going to happen to drones. At one point they were going to require all RC aircraft have registration numbers! I got pretty heavily involved in that whole thing and I am sure others on this forum did as well. The restrictions will be applied based on the weight of the drone. Likely voluntary (at first) compliance with mfg's standards for hardware and software will be planned. Can you spell LICENSING? Policing the flyers is too difficult through any means other than intimidation. I am sure everyone is aware that with an update, the distance and height you can fly can be controlled without our ability to modify. I would not be surprised to see hobbyist drone flyers required to comply with AMA safety standards ("or other community recognized stds"). The NPRM for RC molders has already been released and the FAA will seek to bring everyone together under one set of rules. Comm'l operators of drones will not have to worry. They are already restricted. They will be viewed as more responsible (have a business at stake) however more highly regulated initially. Their lobbying is what got the FAA into the RC tent in the first place. All of the airline and other safety issues are just playing into the FAA's plans. To get Congressional support for the regulations as well as higher budgets, these media reports just help them. They have the ALPA, GAMA (Gen. Aviation Mfgs Assoc), DHLS, AAAE (American Assoc of Airpot Exec), to name only a few, banging on their doors for regulations. The best we can do is organize and respond to the NPRM when it comes out. If you have a community flying site, cozy-up to the landowner. Don't make enemies with the R/C clubs. Some view FPV drone flyers as "outlaws" that are going to bring the house down on them as well. Sorry guys for being so pessimistic but to pretend otherwise is contrary to the pattern of government's encroachment into everything. Enjoy while you can. OK, I put my flack jacket on...fire at me if you like.

I totally agree with you Winston..!!! Enjoy your freedom now...it's all gonna change in one way or another...and it will be pretty fast to!!
Now thinking ahead ..I can just imagine just in the next 6 to 12 months how much restriction will be applied to the recreational Flyer of Drones...

 

[z3r01]

This is a heavy thread wow , I agree tho.

 

[Del]

I don't think it's gonna be totally all doom and gloom ...But We're gonna be doing a lot of adjusting with new guide lines and restriction that will be coming are way in the very near future..

 

[Adimuzio513]

No doubt it is getting heavy here but what we do or don't do about this topics going to decide if we even continue having a hobby here. If we just sit back who knows Atlanta and California could set a precedent and we could see rc flight banned all together, or at least restricted to a point to where you can't enjoy it.

If the argument made about hospital helipads or private ones like Atlanta being considered in the 5 mile no fly zone that's huge. News choppers, police choppers, Medivacs, firefighters, they're everywhere and I'm sure will continue to become more popular, likley using some technology from our very own drones. Then Amazons proposal takes up an even larger chunk of airspace with its drones at our useable altitudes and what's left?

I realize a complete ban is extreme but I wouldn't say impossible, that's what plenty of folks want at this point and when the regulations are put in place there's very little we can do afterwards. It's great to have the freedom now but we can still have fun with much less of it and help to idiot proof the hobby. This way we don't all suffer from stupid decisions by a small number of careless people. I have to at least believe that trying to do something, even just taking time to educate or explain my hobby to those around me and show them why I do it is better than nothing. Squeaky wheel gets the grease and those trying to ban or restrict our flight are the loudest right now.

Just some thoughts while waiting for my gimbal lol, Fly safe

 

[Rodney Johnson]

Just recently a older friend of mine purchased a Solo because he loves photography and he told me that he has a wedding to film soon. I asked him if he had ever owned or flown anything RC.
Well the answer was NO.
So before I go on I have to back up a few years.

My problem with him,, My Friend and everyone like him is this. I have said this before and I will say it again, I personally have been flying and building my own equipment for exactly 42 years now. Am I bragging,, NO,,, its not bragging if you can do it or have done it. When has Experience been considered bragging,

Does anyone want to guess how many hours of flight time I have logged over the years and or others like myself have.. We will all tell you,,,, it doesn't matter because mechanical issues and failure doesn't care. You just have to be ready if and when it happends..

I will help anyone with anything to make sure they do it the right way and the safe way so no one gets hurt. It's stupidity if you haven't done it and think you can...

If I'm in a jet and the engines quit and we're at 20000 Ft,, I tell you what ,, I would rather have a 70 year old pilot at the yoke then a 30 year old operator.

Back in the day myself and others like me and probably many of you reading this have had the same past experiences. We had to build and learn everything about Everything..
Many of us built our own HeathKit radios and recievers before purchasing the known brand name equipment.
Let's just say We pioneers payed our dues as did the ones before us,, so before anyone starts blowing up this thread because of something I wrote,,, show some respect as I do every time I see my old RC buddies and remember we are here because of them.. and most of them are long sense dead and gone.

We had to learn how to build and with that you understood how the dynamics of things working together make things fly, float and roll.

With that you learned to respect the equipment and take pride in what you had built and accomplished. With all of the unbox and fly on the market do you think there is any of that today?

Next question I had for him,, Have you joined AMA... he asked,, what's that?
And you want to fly???,,, If you don't know who or what AMA is you should not fly or have anything to do with it at all... sell your equipment and walk away.

AMA is the organization that fights for the rights for all of us to do what we are doing now since 1936.
How many reading this forum are members,,, if your not,, maybe you should be,, There is power in numbers and the stupid people are out numbering all of us and Lawyers cost money so we can all keep what we have...

I sat my friend down for hours and opened his eyes to what he was getting himself into.
With today's companies trying to make quads (stupid proof) it can't be done because you can't fix stupid,, stupid. Remember Forest Gump,, stupid is,, as stupid does... well there you have it.

A few days later I set it up with a old TX and mini quad I had laying around..
I had my friend stop over and I told him I have something for him.
I gave him the quad and he asked what this is for...
Flight training,,,

When you can fly this in your basement without hitting the wall and can land on the arm of the sofa and fly in the wake of the central air blowing around the room and can fly it at any orientation from your body your almost ready to fly your solo or others for that matter safely..

You have to learn the basic flight skills to get yourself out of trouble.. what do you do when you have GPS , barometer issues or just plane mechanical problems because the copter won't fly itself.. so you switch to manual and take over and hope you can get back to safty ,,,

If you can't fly manual (( Nose in)) or flying around yourself or around obstacles in manual mode and get disoriented your not ready to fly and you sure as hell are not even close to being ready to take video of people at a wedding..,

With great power comes great responsibility,, yup,, It's a movie line that you all know but it's the truth right down to driving your car.

Still to this day I get into arguments about DRONES,,, we don't fly drones,, we fly multi rotors, helicopters, fixed wing, we drive RC cars, boats and trucks.
The military flys Drones..

But when these manufactures paste and package DRONE on the side of the box it doesn't help matters any.
Why,, because it sells and they themselves are killing the industry.

Years ago it was a multi rotor or quad rotor.
Now IT'S A Big Bad Drone thanks to manufacturers and the misinformation from the news media.

I'm sorry but I have seen this comming for years and the more manufacturers promote Drones and throw them in the big box stores for ignorant people to purchase the worse it's going to get ,, it's not good for any of us.

Also on a personal note,,, 30 some odd years ago I did a few things with helicopters that to this day I don't talk about. So if your going to do some stuff that you shouldn't ,, DONT put it on YouTube and make this situation worse for all of us. Just because you can,, ask yourself if you should...30 years ago you didn't go to jail.. these days you will...

I hope we are not all seeing the rise before the fall..

 

[Adimuzio513]

Very well put thanks couldn't agree more.

Just recently a older friend of mine purchased a Solo because he loves photography and he told me that he has a wedding to film soon. I asked him if he had ever owned or flown anything RC.
Well the answer was NO.
So before I go on I have to back up a few years.

My problem with him,, My Friend and everyone like him is this. I have said this before and I will say it again, I personally have been flying and building my own equipment for exactly 42 years now. Am I bragging,, NO,,, its not bragging if you can do it or have done it. When has Experience been considered bragging,

Does anyone want to guess how many hours of flight time I have logged over the years and or others like myself have.. We will all tell you,,,, it doesn't matter because mechanical issues and failure doesn't care. You just have to be ready if and when it happends..

I will help anyone with anything to make sure they do it the right way and the safe way so no one gets hurt. It's stupidity if you haven't done it and think you can...

If I'm in a jet and the engines quit and we're at 20000 Ft,, I tell you what ,, I would rather have a 70 year old pilot at the yoke then a 30 year old operator.

Back in the day myself and others like me and probably many of you reading this have had the same past experiences. We had to build and learn everything about Everything..
Many of us built our own HeathKit radios and recievers before purchasing the known brand name equipment.
Let's just say We pioneers payed our dues as did the ones before us,, so before anyone starts blowing up this thread because of something I wrote,,, show some respect as I do every time I see my old RC buddies and remember we are here because of them.. and most of them are long sense dead and gone.

We had to learn how to build and with that you understood how the dynamics of things working together make things fly, float and roll.

With that you learned to respect the equipment and take pride in what you had built and accomplished. With all of the unbox and fly on the market do you think there is any of that today?

Next question I had for him,, Have you joined AMA... he asked,, what's that?
And you want to fly???,,, If you don't know who or what AMA is you should not fly or have anything to do with it at all... sell your equipment and walk away.

AMA is the organization that fights for the rights for all of us to do what we are doing now since 1936.
How many reading this forum are members,,, if your not,, maybe you should be,, There is power in numbers and the stupid people are out numbering all of us and Lawyers cost money so we can all keep what we have...

I sat my friend down for hours and opened his eyes to what he was getting himself into.
With today's companies trying to make quads (stupid proof) it can't be done because you can't fix stupid,, stupid. Remember Forest Gump,, stupid is,, as stupid does... well there you have it.

A few days later I set it up with a old TX and mini quad I had laying around..
I had my friend stop over and I told him I have something for him.
I gave him the quad and he asked what this is for...
Flight training,,,

When you can fly this in your basement without hitting the wall and can land on the arm of the sofa and fly in the wake of the central air blowing around the room and can fly it at any orientation from your body your almost ready to fly your solo or others for that matter safely..

You have to learn the basic flight skills to get yourself out of trouble.. what do you do when you have GPS , barometer issues or just plane mechanical problems because the copter won't fly itself.. so you switch to manual and take over and hope you can get back to safty ,,,

If you can't fly manual (( Nose in)) or flying around yourself or around obstacles in manual mode and get disoriented your not ready to fly and you sure as hell are not even close to being ready to take video of people at a wedding..,

With great power comes great responsibility,, yup,, It's a movie line that you all know but it's the truth right down to driving your car.

Still to this day I get into arguments about DRONES,,, we don't fly drones,, we fly multi rotors, helicopters, fixed wing, we drive RC cars, boats and trucks.
The military flys Drones..

But when these manufactures paste and package DRONE on the side of the box it doesn't help matters any.
Why,, because it sells and they themselves are killing the industry.

Years ago it was a multi rotor or quad rotor.
Now IT'S A Big Bad Drone thanks to manufacturers and the misinformation from the news media.

I'm sorry but I have seen this comming for years and the more manufacturers promote Drones and throw them in the big box stores for ignorant people to purchase the worse it's going to get ,, it's not good for any of us.

Also on a personal note,,, 30 some odd years ago I did a few things with helicopters that to this day I don't talk about. So if your going to do some stuff that you shouldn't ,, DONT put it on YouTube and make this situation worse for all of us. Just because you can,, ask yourself if you should...30 years ago you didn't go to jail.. these days you will...

I hope we are not all seeing the rise before the fall..

 

[JonW]

Just recently a older friend of mine purchased a Solo because he loves photography and he told me that he has a wedding to film soon. I asked him if he had ever owned or flown anything RC.
Well the answer was NO.
So before I go on I have to back up a few years.

My problem with him,, My Friend and everyone like him is this. I have said this before and I will say it again, I personally have been flying and building my own equipment for exactly 42 years now. Am I bragging,, NO,,, its not bragging if you can do it or have done it. When has Experience been considered bragging,

Does anyone want to guess how many hours of flight time I have logged over the years and or others like myself have.. We will all tell you,,,, it doesn't matter because mechanical issues and failure doesn't care. You just have to be ready if and when it happends..

I will help anyone with anything to make sure they do it the right way and the safe way so no one gets hurt. It's stupidity if you haven't done it and think you can...

If I'm in a jet and the engines quit and we're at 20000 Ft,, I tell you what ,, I would rather have a 70 year old pilot at the yoke then a 30 year old operator.

Back in the day myself and others like me and probably many of you reading this have had the same past experiences. We had to build and learn everything about Everything..
Many of us built our own HeathKit radios and recievers before purchasing the known brand name equipment.
Let's just say We pioneers payed our dues as did the ones before us,, so before anyone starts blowing up this thread because of something I wrote,,, show some respect as I do every time I see my old RC buddies and remember we are here because of them.. and most of them are long sense dead and gone.

We had to learn how to build and with that you understood how the dynamics of things working together make things fly, float and roll.

With that you learned to respect the equipment and take pride in what you had built and accomplished. With all of the unbox and fly on the market do you think there is any of that today?

Next question I had for him,, Have you joined AMA... he asked,, what's that?
And you want to fly???,,, If you don't know who or what AMA is you should not fly or have anything to do with it at all... sell your equipment and walk away.

AMA is the organization that fights for the rights for all of us to do what we are doing now since 1936.
How many reading this forum are members,,, if your not,, maybe you should be,, There is power in numbers and the stupid people are out numbering all of us and Lawyers cost money so we can all keep what we have...

I sat my friend down for hours and opened his eyes to what he was getting himself into.
With today's companies trying to make quads (stupid proof) it can't be done because you can't fix stupid,, stupid. Remember Forest Gump,, stupid is,, as stupid does... well there you have it.

A few days later I set it up with a old TX and mini quad I had laying around..
I had my friend stop over and I told him I have something for him.
I gave him the quad and he asked what this is for...
Flight training,,,

When you can fly this in your basement without hitting the wall and can land on the arm of the sofa and fly in the wake of the central air blowing around the room and can fly it at any orientation from your body your almost ready to fly your solo or others for that matter safely..

You have to learn the basic flight skills to get yourself out of trouble.. what do you do when you have GPS , barometer issues or just plane mechanical problems because the copter won't fly itself.. so you switch to manual and take over and hope you can get back to safty ,,,

If you can't fly manual (( Nose in)) or flying around yourself or around obstacles in manual mode and get disoriented your not ready to fly and you sure as hell are not even close to being ready to take video of people at a wedding..,

With great power comes great responsibility,, yup,, It's a movie line that you all know but it's the truth right down to driving your car.

Still to this day I get into arguments about DRONES,,, we don't fly drones,, we fly multi rotors, helicopters, fixed wing, we drive RC cars, boats and trucks.
The military flys Drones..

But when these manufactures paste and package DRONE on the side of the box it doesn't help matters any.
Why,, because it sells and they themselves are killing the industry.

Years ago it was a multi rotor or quad rotor.
Now IT'S A Big Bad Drone thanks to manufacturers and the misinformation from the news media.

I'm sorry but I have seen this comming for years and the more manufacturers promote Drones and throw them in the big box stores for ignorant people to purchase the worse it's going to get ,, it's not good for any of us.

Also on a personal note,,, 30 some odd years ago I did a few things with helicopters that to this day I don't talk about. So if your going to do some stuff that you shouldn't ,, DONT put it on YouTube and make this situation worse for all of us. Just because you can,, ask yourself if you should...30 years ago you didn't go to jail.. these days you will...

I hope we are not all seeing the rise before the fall..

I dunno. Doesn't look that hard...

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[JonW]

Yeah. Probably actually better to fly AWAY from the couple.

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[Adimuzio513]

Not too often I laugh aloud sitting on the iPad or computer but that's was fn hilarious. Think how pissed the wife was cause you know she didn't want it there in the first place. Looked like it got two for one and nailed em both now they have rings and matching head wounds.

May want to keep it under wraps though more ammo for the other side.

 

[Adimuzio513]

Yeah. Probably actually better to fly AWAY from the couple.

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Ended like most marriages these days in disaster.lol

 

[Rodney Johnson]

Yup,, I'm sure red looks great on a wedding dress,, and it was not the wine...

What ever happen to the good old days when stupid people would feed hotdogs to alligators and got there hands ripped off,,, it would keep them from flying...
See a cure for everything...

 

[JonW]

Yup,, I'm sure red looks great on a wedding dress,, and it was not the wine...

What ever happen to the good old days when stupid people would feed hotdogs to alligators and got there hands ripped off,,, it would keep them from flying...
See a cure for everything...

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something, errr... black and blue

 

[Raybro]

Yeah. Probably actually better to fly AWAY from the couple.

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Phantoms don't do selfies very well..

 

[DirtCreature]

I really don't want to sound like Chicken Little, with that whole "Sky is Falling Thing", but a day does not go by without several articles about the "Threat of Drones". It's way past the point of BS now. There are really powerful individuals and groups out there working right now to eliminate us. They're focus is the "Danger of Drones". The concerns are privacy, human deaths and property damage. Some of the hysteria is being driven by the Insurance Industry and the Airline Pilots Associations. They are saying those who fly out of the pilots sight and higher than 500 ft. are being irresponsible with lives and property and should be shut down immediately. In USA Today, TODAY!! there is an article titled "5 Factors that could ground the drone economy". READ IT. It's just one of many. UAV pilots are becoming outlaws fast. If you even mention drones to the average citizen you get a bad look. I have no answers only caution. I'm just one pilot. One piece of advice is I would no longer post evidence on this forum that as a pilot you are going beyond FAA recommendations or 3DR recommendations or modifying anything. All of our posts, I believe, will soon be evidence in a law suite of some kind. I think caution should be high on every pilots priority list. I'm just saying.

What you said is precisely why we have problems. You should not be flying over 400FT. You should not be flying over people's houses or over roadyways or, ffs, near airports! Just because you think it is Ok does not mean it is.

It is a fun hobby, but that does not make it acceptable to many people and we have to abide by what the majority wants. That is why we generally only fly at model airplane fields and not in public parks. At least, we did until quadcopters allowed us to break out of the flying field model. That is the biggest problem we face: we can go anywhere and do just about anything with our drones, but because you can does not mean you should.

Personally, if you fly within a 2 mile radius of an airport you should be arrested. If you fly over 400FT AGL within 5 miles of an airport you should be arrested. Why? Because flyaways happen. A 250mm quad going into a turbine or through a windshield = dead people.

There is no real solution to this problem. As mentioned elsewhere in this thread, local ordinances are going to continue to restrict flight and there is no stopping it. We will soon only be able to fly outside cities and on large, privately owned land.

However, the more jackasses like you fly out of bounds and do stupid things the faster it will happen. The FAA is trying to save lives, not make it inconvenient for you, not matter how unfair you think this is.