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How young is too young to fly a drone?

Myetkt

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My neighborhood has a Facebook page in which people post various things happening in the neighborhood. About a week ago one of the neighbors I’ve never met, posted saying his son got a new drone for Christmas and on the first flight had it fly away. He said his son was heart broken and was hoping someone had found it. I learned it was a cheap (relatively) off brand drone so it didn’t have any of the bells and whistles of the more expensive ones. I decided to give him one of mine, a mini 2 that has been rarely used, along with the controller and battery. I got thinking about it a little and realized I don’t know the child’s age or how much the mother or father are willing to help him. Hopefully the parents would take a interest and help him out, but even with their supervision, how young is too young?
 
Honestly I think it really depends on the maturity level. I know some adults that should not have a drone ;)
What he said ^^^^^^^^

I know when I was 8, I was responsible enough to fly a drone. I'm 60 now and less responsible.

Joking aside.
I know some 25 year olds that I wouldn't trust and a lot of 12 year old kids I would.
And, as for me, I had a paper route at 9 years old. I was responsible enough, then, to go around and collect a couple hundred dollars from people, pay my monthly paper bill and deliver papers 7 days a week. I was also responsible enough to be allowed to ride my minibike very far away from our campsite near the shore of the Salton Sea.
I don't know any kids, today, that have enough responsibility at that age.

So, yeah, depends on the kid.
 
Tough call. Maybe meet the father and son and suggest a good spot to learn to fly since you're donating the drone and is the neighborhood a good place for that, if not maybe a large field nearby? How good will he be with following rules and getting a Trust Certificate. Will he be responsible about the way he approaches each flight as well as being respectful of others and their right to space. But then you could say the same thing about any pilot or future pilot. Information is important for anyone wanting to fly a drone safely. I think 16 would be a good age to start flying and to trust it would be done responsibly. I began flying RC at 20 or 21 which seems to be a kid to me now, lol.
 
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The government as well as the AMA says 13 is the number. you must be 13 to fly unsupervised at AMA Airfields unless you take a flight test first. I think thats a good starting point for unsupervised flight. Until then have someone close. Drones provide alot of temptation for doing dangerous things without really understanding the Danger.
 
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Honestly I think it really depends on the maturity level. I know some adults that should not have a drone ;)
So true!
 
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The government as well as the AMA says 13 is the number. you must be 13 to fly unsupervised at AMA Airfields unless you take a flight test first. I think thats a good starting point for unsupervised flight. Until then have someone close. Drones provide alot of temptation for doing dangerous things without really understanding the Danger.
Where does the gov't say 13 is the magic number?
 
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To me the AMA is the Government. lol
Honestly I know the AMA reg is 13. I would think the FAA feels the same.
 
To me the AMA is the Government. lol
Honestly I know the AMA reg is 13. I would think the FAA feels the same.
The FAA doesn't care. There is no age requirement for the TRUST test. That's the age barometer for the FAA. The only age limit they have is 16 YO for the 107.
 
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how young is too young?
The real question seems to be how responsible is the drone owner?

There are no doubt many adults (well above the ages mentioned above) who probably shouldn’t be flying drones. This shows that age alone cannot be the sole factor in determining whether someone can safely operate a drone.
 
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I would like to add that just because a drone is small it doesn't mean that it should approached as a toy. There's responsibility that goes along with using a drone and if it's a young person then it's important that the parents as well as the pic understand what that means. Something as simple as waiting for the satellites to connect for the RTH feature as an example. Patience is important as well, and how to setup and deal with any issues that come up during the flight. There are many things to keep track of during a flight such as battery levels, height, distance, ect. Myself, I'd make sure who ever received my drone would be a responsible pilot first, In my humble opinion.
 
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Once they can pass a license, the age criteria should be drone based.
A sheltered propeller drone such as a Neo could warrant a younger pilot.
A Mini for a bit older, a Mavic for older still with tougher licensing for both of these.
Boats are somewhat of a good example once they demonstrate proof of competency:
  • Youth under the age of 12 with no direct supervision may only operate a boat with a motor of up to 10 hp/7.5 kW
  • Youth aged 12–15 with no direct supervision may only operate a boat with a motor of up to 40 hp/30 kW
  • Youth under the age of 16, regardless of supervision, may not operate a personal watercraft (PWC)
 
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