Why I'm a Party-Pooper

[Ed Beck]

So I know that whenever someone posts a great thing that they're doing I frequently pop up and site regulations. This throws a damper on the thread and also ticks some people off. I have a few good reasons why I do this.

1. Loons take out my plane
   I was a B-52 Radar Navigator in the USAF. We typically flew low-level training missions in the US at an altitude of 400' AGL. We flew these on military training routes at speeds of around 350 knots true.
   
   One day we were over Minnesota and flew into a flock of loons. The B-52 has 8 engines, we lost 3 of them. We lost one hydraulic system and two electrical generators. We were lucky in that our home base was just a few hundred miles away and it was severe clear. We pulled out and limped home.
   
   Upon landing I had the shock of my life. There was a hole in the right wing root about a meter long taking out the entire leading edge of the wing for that meter. There were dents all over the aircraft including one on the nose cone in front of my station. The co was the luckiest person in the world that day because there was a red smear right where the canopy and his wind screen met. A little lower (higher?) and there's a good chance the loon would have taken his head off. (I'm sure many are thinking of chicken cannon data that tests wind screens. I'd like to note that loons have solid bones, making them more dense than other birds. In addition those chickens are shot out at speeds aircraft usually fly while on takeoff and approach, which is much slower than we were flying. While I can't say for sure that the loon would have come through the wind screen, I think that was a distinct possibility.)
   
   
2. Friend is killed when rules are broken
   Around the same time there was a pilot on our base who sucked but he was allowed to fly. Rules about allowing him to fly were broken. A friend of mine died when the pilot crashed on a totally f-up landing. 'Nuff said.
   
   
3. Moron tries to kill me
   Fast forward several years. I was flying a Cessna 172 single engine land and was cleared to land on a long straight in. Being cleared to land meant that the runway was mine. I was the next person with permission to land. Out of the blue another plane rolled out from base to final at what looked like 100 feet in front of me at the same altitude. Tower saw this and told the other plane to abort, but I had already turned left, climbed, informed the tower that I was aborting my approach, was going to fly right over the tower and was requesting a pattern entry.
   
4. So this one is selfish.
   I'm a commercial photographer. When the drone business started to take off and I read about the rules I realized that I had a significant market advantage in that I already possessed a private pilot license. I bought a Solo and basically played with it for six months while waiting for my 333 and n-number.
   
   I have an investment in this and am now seeing income from my drone. I'm still in the red but I have a good chance of making a profit before part 107 removes my market advantage. The last thing I want to see happen is for a huge boot to impose even more regulations on us. Flying drones in a manner which is not legal can contribute to the public insisting on more regulations and cities barring drones from flying in their jurisdictions.
   
   I advertise and I have gotten phone calls from people complaining about drones flying over them. My approach is to say that I agree with them, it's not right to invade their privacy, and I then go on to explain my business and my credentials. Most of the time they're happy to know that there are operators who are thinking about their privacy and doing things right.

I'm posting this to let people know that bad stuff happens. When it happens in the air really bad things can result. To mitigate the probability of bad things happening there are rules. When people break these rules the probability of bad things happening increases.

I agree with everyone on this board that a pilot license is too high a bar for commercial drone operation.I think that what happened is when the market took off the FAA was in the position of having to regulate it. They looked around for existing tools and picked up the pilot license stick. I'm just happy that they said sport pilot license and not commercial pilot license. I think when they picked the sport pilot license as the bar they were showing restraint that reflected a need to restrict commercial operations to people who knew about airspace. In the mean time the FAA is making new rules. The process takes time.

Accidents happen, bad things result. I've experienced a few.

That's why I'm a party pooper.

 

[PdxSteve]

Nothing wrong with that and I always appreciate reading your well-formed thoughts. Thank you for your service, as well. My dad was a USAF Capt stationed at Minot, MN, and fired off one of the " brand spankin new" Minute Man missiles back in the late 60s. I have his plaque with one of the 2 keys used to fire the first test as well as a large framed pic of the bird leaving the silo that was presented to him. He didn't know it was a test though. You never knew. For all he knew he and his partner were firing a nuclear ICBM at Russia lol.

 

[Griffin Umbrella Co]

So I know that whenever someone posts a great thing that they're doing I frequently pop up and site regulations. This throws a damper on the thread and also ticks some people off. I have a few good reasons why I do this.

Accidents happen, bad things result. I've experienced a few.

That's why I'm a party pooper.

Well said! We are glad to hear you are starting to see profits from your hard work!
Our team has discussed your post and we have all agreed with you!
Thank you for taking aviation seriously and for promoting safe and good mannered flying!

And as PdxSteve mentioned, thank you for your service!

PS: You are not a party pooper!

 

[pyrate]

I am the party pooper on some diving trips
As much as I love the deep blue sea, there aint nothing down there worth my life.
I will call a dive at the first hint of an issue, and people can live to call me a party pooper over a rum punch at the bar

 

[Burkeam]

So I know that whenever someone posts a great thing that they're doing I frequently pop up and site regulations. This throws a damper on the thread and also ticks some people off. I have a few good reasons why I do this.

1. Loons take out my plane
   I was a B-52 Radar Navigator in the USAF. We typically flew low-level training missions in the US at an altitude of 400' AGL. We flew these on military training routes at speeds of around 350 knots true.
   
   One day we were over Minnesota and flew into a flock of loons. The B-52 has 8 engines, we lost 3 of them. We lost one hydraulic system and two electrical generators. We were lucky in that our home base was just a few hundred miles away and it was severe clear. We pulled out and limped home.
   
   Upon landing I had the shock of my life. There was a hole in the right wing root about a meter long taking out the entire leading edge of the wing for that meter. There were dents all over the aircraft including one on the nose cone in front of my station. The co was the luckiest person in the world that day because there was a red smear right where the canopy and his wind screen met. A little lower (higher?) and there's a good chance the loon would have taken his head off. (I'm sure many are thinking of chicken cannon data that tests wind screens. I'd like to note that loons have solid bones, making them more dense than other birds. In addition those chickens are shot out at speeds aircraft usually fly while on takeoff and approach, which is much slower than we were flying. While I can't say for sure that the loon would have come through the wind screen, I think that was a distinct possibility.)
   
   
2. Friend is killed when rules are broken
   Around the same time there was a pilot on our base who sucked but he was allowed to fly. Rules about allowing him to fly were broken. A friend of mine died when the pilot crashed on a totally f-up landing. 'Nuff said.
   
   
3. Moron tries to kill me
   Fast forward several years. I was flying a Cessna 172 single engine land and was cleared to land on a long straight in. Being cleared to land meant that the runway was mine. I was the next person with permission to land. Out of the blue another plane rolled out from base to final at what looked like 100 feet in front of me at the same altitude. Tower saw this and told the other plane to abort, but I had already turned left, climbed, informed the tower that I was aborting my approach, was going to fly right over the tower and was requesting a pattern entry.
   
4. So this one is selfish.
   I'm a commercial photographer. When the drone business started to take off and I read about the rules I realized that I had a significant market advantage in that I already possessed a private pilot license. I bought a Solo and basically played with it for six months while waiting for my 333 and n-number.
   
   I have an investment in this and am now seeing income from my drone. I'm still in the red but I have a good chance of making a profit before part 107 removes my market advantage. The last thing I want to see happen is for a huge boot to impose even more regulations on us. Flying drones in a manner which is not legal can contribute to the public insisting on more regulations and cities barring drones from flying in their jurisdictions.
   
   I advertise and I have gotten phone calls from people complaining about drones flying over them. My approach is to say that I agree with them, it's not right to invade their privacy, and I then go on to explain my business and my credentials. Most of the time they're happy to know that there are operators who are thinking about their privacy and doing things right.

I'm posting this to let people know that bad stuff happens. When it happens in the air really bad things can result. To mitigate the probability of bad things happening there are rules. When people break these rules the probability of bad things happening increases.

I agree with everyone on this board that a pilot license is too high a bar for commercial drone operation.I think that what happened is when the market took off the FAA was in the position of having to regulate it. They looked around for existing tools and picked up the pilot license stick. I'm just happy that they said sport pilot license and not commercial pilot license. I think when they picked the sport pilot license as the bar they were showing restraint that reflected a need to restrict commercial operations to people who knew about airspace. In the mean time the FAA is making new rules. The process takes time.

Accidents happen, bad things result. I've experienced a few.

That's why I'm a party pooper.

Your not pooping and hopefully the party won't be over for a while, or at least until Automated Intelligence takes it.
I believe we all can agree, When flying No Drama Allowed (WFNDA) - not published by the FAA, yet.. To be a good pilot we would never entry the cockpit of our adventures unless we could shake off all drama. Yet, America drives many cars with drama and now America is now flying many aircraft -personally. This is my only position of segregation and I'm one whom is committed to love every human being I encounter. Earlier someone posted really cool video while flying through a construction tunnel, it was great. However, I do think every commercial sUAV should be able to fully control the aircraft manually without GPS. This is being safe beyond the obvious. I'm sorry but the masses will never get it so thus to I callith myself a party pooper.

Damn it Jim, I'm a pilot not a poet.......

 

[Ed Beck]

Nothing wrong with that and I always appreciate reading your well-formed thoughts. Thank you for your service, as well. My dad was a USAF Capt stationed at Minot, MN, and fired off one of the " brand spankin new" Minute Man missiles back in the late 60s. I have his plaque with one of the 2 keys used to fire the first test as well as a large framed pic of the bird leaving the silo that was presented to him. He didn't know it was a test though. You never knew. For all he knew he and his partner were firing a nuclear ICBM at Russia lol.

That's a cool suveneir. The best thing I have is a safety pin I pulled from a MK-82 rack.

 

[Ed Beck]

However, I do think every commercial sUAV should be able to fully control the aircraft manually without GPS.

Would this require some sort of internal dampening? The few times my Solo has lost GPS in flight it staggers around like it's drunk

 

[Burkeam]

Would this require some sort of internal dampening? The few times my Solo has lost GPS in flight it staggers around like it's drunk

Thus making you a better pilot. Fly straight is easy

 

[Ed Beck]

Thus making you a better pilot. Fly straight is easy

By flying straight do you mean flying while sober?

 

[Dash Hewes]

That's what I like about this forum, mostly. Pilots who take the time to write what they are thinking and why. Opinions...maybe, I take it as experience and always get something out of to add to my toolbox. Good job guys, keep on posting.

What I don't understand is postings from distraught pilot saying I'm done with this forum and why.

 

[Burkeam]

Flying straight today. Total joking that I imply elsewise. Eight hours from bottle to throttle.

Something more for popping on parties. I just started another post (Who can log hours as PIC) as not to stack too much on yours.

Interesting. Who can log hours as a Pilot

 

[EyeWingsuit]

So I know that whenever someone posts a great thing that they're doing I frequently pop up and site regulations. This throws a damper on the thread and also ticks some people off. I have a few good reasons why I do this.

1. Loons take out my plane
   I was a B-52 Radar Navigator in the USAF. We typically flew low-level training missions in the US at an altitude of 400' AGL. We flew these on military training routes at speeds of around 350 knots true.
   
   One day we were over Minnesota and flew into a flock of loons. The B-52 has 8 engines, we lost 3 of them. We lost one hydraulic system and two electrical generators. We were lucky in that our home base was just a few hundred miles away and it was severe clear. We pulled out and limped home.
   
   Upon landing I had the shock of my life. There was a hole in the right wing root about a meter long taking out the entire leading edge of the wing for that meter. There were dents all over the aircraft including one on the nose cone in front of my station. The co was the luckiest person in the world that day because there was a red smear right where the canopy and his wind screen met. A little lower (higher?) and there's a good chance the loon would have taken his head off. (I'm sure many are thinking of chicken cannon data that tests wind screens. I'd like to note that loons have solid bones, making them more dense than other birds. In addition those chickens are shot out at speeds aircraft usually fly while on takeoff and approach, which is much slower than we were flying. While I can't say for sure that the loon would have come through the wind screen, I think that was a distinct possibility.)
   
   
2. Friend is killed when rules are broken
   Around the same time there was a pilot on our base who sucked but he was allowed to fly. Rules about allowing him to fly were broken. A friend of mine died when the pilot crashed on a totally f-up landing. 'Nuff said.
   
   
3. Moron tries to kill me
   Fast forward several years. I was flying a Cessna 172 single engine land and was cleared to land on a long straight in. Being cleared to land meant that the runway was mine. I was the next person with permission to land. Out of the blue another plane rolled out from base to final at what looked like 100 feet in front of me at the same altitude. Tower saw this and told the other plane to abort, but I had already turned left, climbed, informed the tower that I was aborting my approach, was going to fly right over the tower and was requesting a pattern entry.
   
4. So this one is selfish.
   I'm a commercial photographer. When the drone business started to take off and I read about the rules I realized that I had a significant market advantage in that I already possessed a private pilot license. I bought a Solo and basically played with it for six months while waiting for my 333 and n-number.
   
   I have an investment in this and am now seeing income from my drone. I'm still in the red but I have a good chance of making a profit before part 107 removes my market advantage. The last thing I want to see happen is for a huge boot to impose even more regulations on us. Flying drones in a manner which is not legal can contribute to the public insisting on more regulations and cities barring drones from flying in their jurisdictions.
   
   I advertise and I have gotten phone calls from people complaining about drones flying over them. My approach is to say that I agree with them, it's not right to invade their privacy, and I then go on to explain my business and my credentials. Most of the time they're happy to know that there are operators who are thinking about their privacy and doing things right.

I'm posting this to let people know that bad stuff happens. When it happens in the air really bad things can result. To mitigate the probability of bad things happening there are rules. When people break these rules the probability of bad things happening increases.

I agree with everyone on this board that a pilot license is too high a bar for commercial drone operation.I think that what happened is when the market took off the FAA was in the position of having to regulate it. They looked around for existing tools and picked up the pilot license stick. I'm just happy that they said sport pilot license and not commercial pilot license. I think when they picked the sport pilot license as the bar they were showing restraint that reflected a need to restrict commercial operations to people who knew about airspace. In the mean time the FAA is making new rules. The process takes time.

Accidents happen, bad things result. I've experienced a few.

That's why I'm a party pooper.

Excellent post; we're on the exact same page.
As a pilot, USPA Examiner, and wingsuit instructor, death from the Dunning Kruger affect is common. My dead friends list on Facebook is now over 100 people.
Seeing these stupidities, virtually always foreseeable, and virtually always preventable (not one so far has been equipment failure) is difficult to swallow.

The UAV/drone community is much the same, with a fairly significant group not understanding the gravity of potential incidents. The sky seems big, until more than one of us are in it.

EVERYONE in the sky is looking to take you out. Understanding how to not be a victim perpetuates the ability to not be the perpetrator.

 

[Jubalr]

Excellent post; we're on the exact same page.
As a pilot, USPA Examiner, and wingsuit instructor, death from the Dunning Kruger affect is common. My dead friends list on Facebook is now over 100 people.
Seeing these stupidities, virtually always foreseeable, and virtually always preventable (not one so far has been equipment failure) is difficult to swallow.

The UAV/drone community is much the same, with a fairly significant group not understanding the gravity of potential incidents. The sky seems big, until more than one of us are in it.

EVERYONE in the sky is looking to take you out. Understanding how to not be a victim perpetuates the ability to not be the perpetrator.

When we bought our first airplane, I thought my wife would be a nervous flyer. But she did well, except when she saw other planes in the sky with us. That was the one thing that always made her a little nervous. Like you said, the sky seem big until you start sharing it.

 

[Pedals2Paddles]

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[Cosber]

I think it's simple. Just like everything else in the world, rules being heaped upon us are the results of idiots who think they are the center of the universe and are immune from common sense.

 

[EyeWingsuit]

some of it is because of the idiots, yet a great deal of it is merely appropriate management coming to the table far too late.

 

[Burkeam]

I think it's simple. Just like everything else in the world, rules being heaped upon us are the results of idiots who think they are the center of the universe and are immune from common sense.

They don't know what they don't know- ignorance is bliss. Better social progress when we know we don't know.

 

[Cosber]

They don't know what they don't know- ignorance is bliss. Better social progress when we know we don't know.

I think you give them more credit than they deserve. I've seen to many examples of "I don't give a crap, I'll do what I want". But then, I'm a cynical sob.