Recent content by hank970

This just in: The Army guys assigned to develop a drone program are overweight and have facial hair, so they've been given general discharges and have been drummed out of the corps. The Sec'y of Defense wants our warriors to look lethal.

For your own sake, I hope you don't own a tablesaw. :)

That's probably good advice unless, of course, you have a Part 107 license and have been hired to inspect transmission lines or, like me, are a recreational pilot who's interested in getting photos of powerline support structures from a unique perspective. Can you a cite an authoritative...

I've been a gun owner for 68 years, and I've never feared that any entity would take away my firearms. And thus far, none has. I also did a six-year hitch in the Marines and then was a commissioned federal law enforcement officer for 27 years. I know my way around firearms. That said, I...

I see a pathetic attempt to garner clicks. Get a life. Get help.

I agree that some of the rules are poorly written and leave much to the imagination. Others show inconsistency. For example, the controlled airspace around airports at ground level is defined as encompassing a radius of five nautical miles, whereas strobes on drones flying after dark must be...

The FAA obviously distinguishes between the commercial and recreational uses of UAVs, with enforcement of the distinction based solely on the intent of the pilot. If a pilot's intent is to use a drone for any purpose other than recreational purposes, then Part 107 requires a Remote Pilot...

As I've mentioned before, there are no express FAA and/or NPS regulations which prohibit drone flights in the public airspace above national parklands. Thus, you can legally launch, land, and operate a drone outside park boundaries and fly over such areas. Your only limits in that regard will...

No, the National Park System and National Park Service were created decades before anyone conceived of a drone, so the enjoyment of drone pilots had nothing to do with the purpose of their establishment. National parks, at least, are established for specific reasons and purposes -- to...

Seems like a great idea. Has anybody here removed their car's steering wheel or their bicycle's handlebars to improve control and handling?

"Well, you've done your part in gathering information. You should call your nearest FAA Field office and report it. It's very odd for him to be flying such aircraft and in such manner, being so far from any workable area (those things aren't cheap to operate either). The aircraft owner may also...

Good.

There are a lot of things worse than a ranger, either working and paid or working and unpaid. Consider visitors who try to feed bears or ride bison, folks who drive drunk, idiots who can't resist leaving their graffiti and litter everywhere or stealing archaeological artifacts, self-proclaimed...

Yes, the rules are the same and they're being enforced. Some folks, thinking that the henhouse isn't guarded, might be tempted to ignore the rules, but the NPS's law enforcement rangers haven't been furloughed. They're on the job, obliged to work without pay, and they probably aren't very...

I wouldn't support it because I don't perceive a threat and I don't think there's a need for such a law. My sense is that, though my drone is broadcasting an RID signal, nobody is listening. For sure, the government lacks the resources to listen on any meaningful scale.