It seems the drone world is full of hypocrites

[GhostRider]

Ok, I understand your point but it does not mention anything of that on the FAA UAS website about fines or jail time.
It does however mention that you can get fined and you might be jailed depending on the offense.. Stated below is from the UAS frequently asked question area.

"Accident and Incident Reporting"
"If someone's UAS crashes in my yard, hurts someone, or damages my property, what do I do?
Call local law enforcement. Law enforcement personnel will contact the FAA if the crash investigation requires FAA participation."

I guess all i am trying to state is if you are flying within the guidelines set forth by the FAA then whats the worry. If I am flying over airports or over schools, hospitals ,and etc. then what are you to expect but to get a fine. But it also states on the FAA UAS website that they are hoping for people to be so called "DRONE POLICE" and call in every time they see a drone doing something..

"Accident and Incident Reporting"
"What should I do if I see someone flying a drone in a reckless or irresponsible manner?
Flying a drone in a reckless manner is a violation of Federal law and FAA regulations and could result in civil fines or criminal action. If you see something that could endanger other aircraft or people on the ground, call local law enforcement."

The word 'COULD' leaves a lot to the imagination if you ask me.

I think that's a bit uncalled for just my thought...

 

[joet]

Well, when you think about it, it's no different than calling the police on a drunk driver who COULD endanger others, or a suspicious package that COULD be a bomb, or a person lurking around a house who COULD be casing it for a burglary...

 

[Dr.Duct_Mossburg]

FAA REGULATIONS are codified in law (14 CFR), with legal penalties like fines and jail for violating them.

https://www.faa.gov/about/office_or...rts/civil_penalties/media/civil_penalties.pdf

For violations of certain aviation laws and regulations occurring before December 12, 2003, the
FAA has authority to issue orders assessing a civil penalty of up to $50,000. For violations of
certain laws and regulations occurring after such date, the FAA has authority to issue orders
assessing a civil penalty of up to $400,000 against persons other than individuals and small
business concerns and against individuals and small business concerns the authority to issue
orders assessing a civil penalty of up to $50,000.​

Lol you all are something else. You all really think they're wasting their time with Johnny lunch bucket in the middle of Utah? Don't be reckless and ignorant and you have nothing to worry about. I was talking to my brother the other day who is a cop and he doesnt have the slightest clue of the rules nor does he care "he has better things to waste time on".

 

[m0j0]

You do realize that there are lots of documented cases of crashes that have caused property damage or injury, right? Heck, one toddler that I read about lost an EYE.

If they do nothing, then what?

Who said do nothing? What I said was they shouldn't waste their efforts looking at YouTube. There are much larger issues they should actually be investigating. I'm an investigator myself. There is no way I would be ok with my guys coming YouTube for this type of activity.. and to give you more background my agency actually has interest in security of the nation.. I would fire my guys if they told me they were going to waste money on trivial BS.

My profession aside a modicum of common sense is in order...
Comparatively speaking UAVs are not dangerous. I like your analogy... 1 toddler.. more toddlers have been killed on Tricycles, scooters, cribs, running with pencils than by UAVs. So yes I think they should stop wasting their time looking for guys flying at 401 feet.


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[m0j0]

So I am American and am living for a few years in Japan. I have only flown the drone in Japan; it has similar but not exactly identical laws to USA. I used to fly large electric helis in private fly clubs in USA. When I was considering getting a drone, I looked at all the nasty growth of regulation in USA, and all the nasty growth of regulation in Japan, and decided as follows.

• I can remain compliant and feel safe flying in Japan. It restricts me a bit, but not so much I would not bother to buy and fly a drone.

• I would have difficulty remaining compliant and feeling safe flying in USA. The extra scrutiny at all levels of government, the in-your-face "drones are evil" mindset some people have, the first-to-sue knee-jerk culture in USA just makes my stomach churn.

The laws, as I said, are almost the same between the countries. The culture is not.

When I was a kid in the 60s, 70s, I remember a whole lot more of "well, it's a free country, I guess." Now it's a lot more "there should be a law against that." I feel like a lot of Americans have forgotten what freedom means, and those who do venture to do their own thing have forgotten what personal responsibility and accountability means: they enjoy freedom in the most reckless way possible.

I decided Japan will be a good spot for my Mavic. I don't know if I will want to fly anywhere near as often when I move back to USA.

To be honest i rarely have had negative experiences while flying. I have experienced more negativity on this board than I have in person. Truly only once have I really had an issue., funny story. guy says I flew over him. He was wrong by the way. He starts yelling I'll shoot it down.. I fly farther away but kept flying. He hops out of his chair and walks toward me. Starts yammering......

I don't even acknowledge him .

He approaches and sees the badge and gun. Stops talking mid sentence.. turns around and goes back to his chair. Priceless!! Not another word uttered.


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[Anthony Viscomi]

Ugh...here we go again with the FAA bull crap.

 

[GhostRider]

Well, when you think about it, it's no different than calling the police on a drunk driver who COULD endanger others, or a suspicious package that COULD be a bomb, or a person lurking around a house who COULD be casing it for a burglary...

What I am saying is if you're doing something dumb then sure call the cops.

The other point is if you put this notion of all drones are bad in peoples head. Then when I am out flying around I always need to look over my shoulder for cops showing up?

The word COULD is always murky water.. You are from Florida should I bring up Trayvon Martin?
COULD of been a bad guy... COULD have just been a kid out for a walk.. We all know how that ended up...

Heres an Idea call if you really think something bad is going on but dont meddle. The the cops show up handle there business and move on.. Don't bother a group of guys or a single guy or girl out playing with a Toy...

To many people are worried about what everyone else is doing and loose sight of themselves...

 

[MilesTHD]

I keep my investment safe. 'Nough said.

 

[Cimriver]

I guess that I'm not quite clear on the "remain in the visual line-of-sight" rule. It seems that if they meant that the aircraft was to remain within sight, then they would have simply said "the aircraft must remain within sight". But, no, the wording is that the aircraft must "remain within the visual line-of-sight", which I have been interpreting as meaning that there must be no obstructions (e.g., fences, trees, houses, hills, etc.) in the direct path (or "line-of-sight") between you and the drone which would interfere with RF communications.

You can interpret it any way you want, but really matters is how the FAA interprets it should they come calling.


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[m0j0]

Well, when you think about it, it's no different than calling the police on a drunk driver who COULD endanger others, or a suspicious package that COULD be a bomb, or a person lurking around a house who COULD be casing it for a burglary...

There is a huge difference.... drunk drivers are PROVEN danger.. they kill people every day. Suspicious packages have been found to contain real bombs, poison etc and have resulted in death. Burglars kill people during robberies, they are a huge danger.

You can't compare these proven dangers with the dangers of UAV flight. Ask yourself this question. Would you rather the police respond to a drunk driver or a guy flying at 420 feet. Would you rather resources were sent to examine a suspicious package or the guy flying in the park. When you think someone is breaking into your house would you be ok with the police pulling off responding to your house to talk to the guy who is flying beyond VLOS.




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[Kestrel]

The regulations are different, but the fact that penalties can be levied is FAA-wide - which is the point I was making. Doesn't matter if you violate a drone regulation or a civil/commercial aviation regulation, the FAA can still fine you and you can still go to jail depending (obviously) on the offense.

They can find you but they dont do the policing.. Law enforcement does. The FAA doesnt have agents looking for drone pilots..

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[HeavensAbove]

Just checked with my bookmaker and his odds are reasonable for this thread making it more than another couple of pages before it descends from heated debate, to insult and eventually gets locked. I'd have been better putting my money on roly poly goalie eating a meaty pastrie snack during a live game.

Interpretation is a problem here, and there are assumptions being made about what VLOS means. You see a full moon, is it in VLOS? What distance is it away?

Who's going to howl?




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[kennedye]

The best way to solve this is to add something like a STROBON to your UAS so that it is visible for up to 3 miles; that way it will also be ready to go if you want to fly it at night under a 107 waiver.

 

[djorgen]

Rules and regulations are there to keep people safe. Without it we'd be back to being cavemen killing each other randomly. (I.e. more so than today). I for one prefer to fly safely, and within local laws and regulations, as I know by doing so limits the potential damage my drone can do to others. I just couldnt live with myself if I flew over people, over buildings, etc - I just dont want to risk the drone erring out and falling on someone's head and hurting/killing them. And for that reason I also have insurance that cover damage done to 3rd parties - in case of the unlikely event that I (still) end up hurting someone.

I just dont understand the unwillingness by some people to refuse to follow rules/regulations; whats up with that? Dont they know the rules/regulations are there for a reason, and by flying over cities/people/buildings/far away/high up in the clouds (pick which one you like), risk hurting/killing other people and thus, by proxy, our beloved hobby?

I guess its a matter of people enjoying this hobby needing to mature into it, and slowly understand what it means, not just for them, but for nearby people, what potential risk the drone actual is. To go from the mental notion of "this isnt a problem/theres no risk in this/I can do whatever I want" to actually start flying responsibly - just as responsibly as you drive a car - not driving recklessly.

Lastly, and this is interesting; in general people doesnt see danger in something that they, themselves, have not experienced danger. I.e. it feels safe to drive a car, as you have driven a car hundreds of times without anything dangerous happening, but once you experience a serious crash, either by being in it yourself or seeing one, you are a different person after that experience than before. You are, due to the recent exodrience, more likely to think about safety and driving carefully.

This can be taken directly to the drone scene; most of us have probably never experienced a person getting hurt by a drone, and as such we feel its safe (for everyone) to fly a drone around. Its also few reported global drone inflicted injuries, thus we probably havent read about it either. Again; this leads to drone flying feeling super safe.

But... its not. And so the question is: do you fly safe, and not risk hurting others, because you know there is a risk involved (even though you havent experienced it yourself), or do you fly over others, not worrying, feeling it is safe... Until the day that you experience something that tells you its not safe?

 

[SteelFlyer]

When I was a kid in the 60s, 70s, I remember a whole lot more of "well, it's a free country, I guess." Now it's a lot more "there should be a law against that." I feel like a lot of Americans have forgotten what freedom means, and those who do venture to do their own thing have forgotten what personal responsibility and accountability means: they enjoy freedom in the most reckless way possible.

.

Boy, is this dead on. We have given up so much freedom and you have perfectly identified the opposite side of this problem. Many people have indeed forgotten what responsibility and accountability mean. So, we end up with two predominant camps - those who want everything regulated and those who want no rules or responsibility applied to them. I was always taught that with great freedom came great responsibility. To me the key here as it applies to drones is to (1) do your best to fly responsibly and follow the rules we have and (2) work to change the rules we don't like into something more workable.

 

[BerndM]

Somebody on this forum posted an article about a tiny lightweight SUPER bright strobe that had its own battery that could be attached to the belly of the "drone" which would allow you see its position (but not attitude) a looonnng way out.

 

[joet]

They can find you but they dont do the policing.. Law enforcement does. The FAA doesnt have agents looking for drone pilots..

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I could give you lots more examples, but here's a few to ponder.

FAA just called me

​

The FAA Gave Us a List of Every Drone Pilot Who Has Ever Been Fined - Motherboard

Minnesota Man Faces $55K in Fines After Flying Drone

 

[GhostRider]

I could give you lots more examples, but here's a few to ponder.

FAA just called me

​

The FAA Gave Us a List of Every Drone Pilot Who Has Ever Been Fined - Motherboard

Minnesota Man Faces $55K in Fines After Flying Drone

Those articles seem out of date to me and what are the results?
Also the FAA does have a list of drone pilots cause everyone needs to register there equipment.
Most of the the ones who get fine are those flying NOT following the rules/guidelines. Also some of those people who did get fines happened before all the guidelines and rules were instated..

 

[dirkclod]

Guys we are not going to start with any political statements.
Please stay on topic.
Comments were deleted .

 

[John Shaw]

It seems to me that the FAA should include a limitation that their rules don't apply below the tree or building tops. There aren't going to be any aircraft down there as long as your about a half a mile from an airport.