Is it just me or does it feel like drone regulations were written by people completely out of touch with the technology? The standard regulations are something like, 120m altitude limit, VLOS, no flying over people and private property... or some variation of that. It feels like it was written by people who either think that drones are toy planes.
The problem is that given the capability of consumer drones like the Mavics, it is virtually impossible to adhere to those rules 100%. And if you did, you are missing out on the majority of the capability of something like the Air 2. The silly thing is, when it comes to VLOS for example, flying by VLOS is far more dangerous than looking at your screen and keeping a safe altitude, because it's very hard to fly by sight and it forces you to stay low and at risk of collision with all sorts of obstacles like trees and power lines.
As a result, if we are being brutally honest, the majority of pilots do not strictly adhere to their local regulations and a significant minority downright ignore them. Enforcement is also extremely patchy and inconsistent. For example there's people in the US openly doing range tests flying in cities, whilst a very responsible pilot still got in trouble with the FAA for flying over private property and minimally populated areas. I am currently in China and went on a DJI organised drone travel trip last weekend... let's just say that even DJI employees openly disregarded China's official regulations (which are similar to the US) because there is basically no enforcement outside of big cities.
I wish governments approached drones like cars. I actually don't think you should be able to just take it out of the box and fly at will. Something like a Mavic is fast and heavy enough to potentially cause serious injury or property damage, so pilots should be regulated and take a test to prove their competency before being allowed to fly. There was a moron in my drone club who, as a total beginner, thought it was a good idea to make his maiden flight from the balcony of his apartment, and of course wrecked his drone within seconds, putting people on the ground at risk. There's so many more examples of idiots on the internet doing things like plane spotting with their drone or insisting on their individual freedom to fly in no-fly zones. These people shouldn't be allowed to fly at all, just as we don't let children drive cars and ban reckless drivers.
However, we don't restrict cars to absurd rules like 10 mph just because they could potentially crash and hurt people. By the same token, drone regulations should reflect the technology of the drones on the market. All my Air 2 flights automatically generate flight logs detailing every aspect of each flight. Regulations should be relaxed to a reasonable extent to allow responsible utilization of the available technology, just as we allow cars to drive at 70 mph on the motorway (in the UK) despite the risk.
It is better to have relaxed rules that are respected and adhered to, than overly draconian rules that are completely ignored or regulate the life out of the technology and makes it useless.
The problem is that given the capability of consumer drones like the Mavics, it is virtually impossible to adhere to those rules 100%. And if you did, you are missing out on the majority of the capability of something like the Air 2. The silly thing is, when it comes to VLOS for example, flying by VLOS is far more dangerous than looking at your screen and keeping a safe altitude, because it's very hard to fly by sight and it forces you to stay low and at risk of collision with all sorts of obstacles like trees and power lines.
As a result, if we are being brutally honest, the majority of pilots do not strictly adhere to their local regulations and a significant minority downright ignore them. Enforcement is also extremely patchy and inconsistent. For example there's people in the US openly doing range tests flying in cities, whilst a very responsible pilot still got in trouble with the FAA for flying over private property and minimally populated areas. I am currently in China and went on a DJI organised drone travel trip last weekend... let's just say that even DJI employees openly disregarded China's official regulations (which are similar to the US) because there is basically no enforcement outside of big cities.
I wish governments approached drones like cars. I actually don't think you should be able to just take it out of the box and fly at will. Something like a Mavic is fast and heavy enough to potentially cause serious injury or property damage, so pilots should be regulated and take a test to prove their competency before being allowed to fly. There was a moron in my drone club who, as a total beginner, thought it was a good idea to make his maiden flight from the balcony of his apartment, and of course wrecked his drone within seconds, putting people on the ground at risk. There's so many more examples of idiots on the internet doing things like plane spotting with their drone or insisting on their individual freedom to fly in no-fly zones. These people shouldn't be allowed to fly at all, just as we don't let children drive cars and ban reckless drivers.
However, we don't restrict cars to absurd rules like 10 mph just because they could potentially crash and hurt people. By the same token, drone regulations should reflect the technology of the drones on the market. All my Air 2 flights automatically generate flight logs detailing every aspect of each flight. Regulations should be relaxed to a reasonable extent to allow responsible utilization of the available technology, just as we allow cars to drive at 70 mph on the motorway (in the UK) despite the risk.
It is better to have relaxed rules that are respected and adhered to, than overly draconian rules that are completely ignored or regulate the life out of the technology and makes it useless.
