Notify your representatives

[themixguy]

For US Flyers, the Senate is considering a bill to allow local jurisdictions to add rules for drone use. • r/djimavic

Resistbot is a great way to get your voice heard. Text "RESIST" to 50409

Send them something like this:

The Drone Federalism Act of 2017 could stifle creative new business opportunities (real estate photography, videography, aerial photography) as well as recreational use and commerce by creating a blanket no fly zone (200 ft distance in all directions) of private property without prior authorization by the owners. In the example of real estate photography, a situation which currently would require the participation of the photographed party and possibly their direct nextdoor neighbors, would, under this new legislation, require collecting consent from up to 6 times as many parties. This also would mean that home users would not be able to fly within their own property if that property was within 200 feet of their neighbors. This legislation opens the door for local governments as well as states to completely restrict the recreational and commercial use of unmanned aerial vehicles in their areas, resulting in a patchwork of conflicting regulations that would be difficult to navigate, especially for creatives who may travel for their work or vacationers traveling between areas, leading to additional confusion and an increasingly negative public opinion of multi-rotor platforms. Local governments should coordinate with the FAA to add additional no-fly zones on sensitive areas and invest in more comprehensive training and public outreach on the benefits of small UAV systems, not only for entertainment but agricultural, industrial, and real estate uses. As a constituent I urge you to reconsider this legislation and to vote no.

 

[hoggdoc]

This bill is brought by Diane Feinstein of California who I have thought was behind all this crap from the FAA.

If you read this bill it basically allows the FAA. Administrator do what ever the like .

On top of that it looks like the bill will allow local authorities to makes rules that apply only to their area.

In general you can count on a bunch of crap about this from all over. Say goodby to our hobby and all the jobs it creates.

 

[Blades]

For US Flyers, the Senate is considering a bill to allow local jurisdictions to add rules for drone use. • r/djimavic

Resistbot is a great way to get your voice heard. Text "RESIST" to 50409

Send them something like this:

The Drone Federalism Act of 2017 could stifle creative new business opportunities (real estate photography, videography, aerial photography) as well as recreational use and commerce by creating a blanket no fly zone (200 ft distance in all directions) of private property without prior authorization by the owners. In the example of real estate photography, a situation which currently would require the participation of the photographed party and possibly their direct nextdoor neighbors, would, under this new legislation, require collecting consent from up to 6 times as many parties. This also would mean that home users would not be able to fly within their own property if that property was within 200 feet of their neighbors. This legislation opens the door for local governments as well as states to completely restrict the recreational and commercial use of unmanned aerial vehicles in their areas, resulting in a patchwork of conflicting regulations that would be difficult to navigate, especially for creatives who may travel for their work or vacationers traveling between areas, leading to additional confusion and an increasingly negative public opinion of multi-rotor platforms. Local governments should coordinate with the FAA to add additional no-fly zones on sensitive areas and invest in more comprehensive training and public outreach on the benefits of small UAV systems, not only for entertainment but agricultural, industrial, and real estate uses. As a constituent I urge you to reconsider this legislation and to vote no.

Ok I will try it! It looks like it sends it to your Representatives based on information you give it

 

[Blades]

I just used it and it was easy and fast to send how I feel about this new bill.

 

[tkinva]

I think you may be mistaken about this. You may want to read up on it a little more.

What it does is take the authority for regulating drones away from the FAA (who is doing a terrible job) and leaves them to handle real airplanes, while the authority for regulating drones would be given to the states.

It does not mandate what the states must do.

This is the same way it is with cars. There are some federal regulations about safety, emissions, etc, but the actual licensing, registration, and rules of the road are left to the states.

Right now, Virginia has only one drone law. It says that no locality in the State of Virginia can make a drone law.

I can live with that.

--
Will the FAA stop regulating hobby drones? - - Art from the Air - -

 

[Blades]

I think you may be mistaken about this. You may want to read up on it a little more.

What it does is take the authority for regulating drones away from the FAA (who is doing a terrible job) and leaves them to handle real airplanes, while the authority for regulating drones would be given to the states.

It does not mandate what the states must do.

This is the same way it is with cars. There are some federal regulations about safety, emissions, etc, but the actual licensing, registration, and rules of the road are left to the states.

Right now, Virginia has only one drone law. It says that no locality in the State of Virginia can make a drone law.

I can live with that.

--
Will the FAA stop regulating hobby drones? - - Art from the Air - -

Not in my state. You also can not fly in any parks or lands that are maintained by my County. Also you can not film or take pictures of anyones land.
FloridaCriminal Code Section 934.50: Drones may not be used for surveillance in violation of another party's reasonable expectation of privacy; this includes law enforcement. However, police may use drones with a valid search warrant. Violators may be ordered to pay legal fees and compensatory damages; victims may seek injunctive relief.

I do not know how upto date this is

Drone Laws by State - FindLaw

 

[simon_t]

Not in my state. You also can not fly in any parks or lands that are maintained by my County. Also you can not film or take pictures of anyones land.
FloridaCriminal Code Section 934.50: Drones may not be used for surveillance in violation of another party's reasonable expectation of privacy; this includes law enforcement. However, police may use drones with a valid search warrant. Violators may be ordered to pay legal fees and compensatory damages; victims may seek injunctive relief.

I do not know how upto date this is

Drone Laws by State - FindLaw

Well that sucks! I'm heading to Sarasota next month (from Ireland). I haven't registered with the FAA yet, but I was hoping to get some great shots when over there....

 

[Blades]

Well that sucks! I'm heading to Sarasota next month (from Ireland). I haven't registered with the FAA yet, but I was hoping to get some great shots when over there....

Well that means you can not take off or land on that land not fly over Just fly safe and do not hover over someones land and keep moving do they do not think you are spying on them. Get some great videos and share!

 

[Jeff7577]

I was just on Anna Maria Island for a week and flew my Mavic a lot. I saw a Phantom flying around the beach as well.

 

[newnan3]

Good stuff! If we don't voice our opinions to the local lawmakers about what we want the fear mongerers in the 99% of the rest of the population will win out.

We complain that DJI is limiting our drones abilities but it'll 100x worse when the big brother decides we cant responsibly fly anymore.

 

[tkinva]

Not in my state. You also can not fly in any parks or lands that are maintained by my County. Also you can not film or take pictures of anyones land.
FloridaCriminal Code Section 934.50: Drones may not be used for surveillance in violation of another party's reasonable expectation of privacy; this includes law enforcement. However, police may use drones with a valid search warrant. Violators may be ordered to pay legal fees and compensatory damages; victims may seek injunctive relief.

I'm not sure why you posted this, as it has nothing to do with the thread topic which pertains a new law that's meant to remove drone regulation from the the federal government and give it to the states.

The state parks thing is an old, existing law and not specifically about drones:

"(15) Aircraft. No person operating or responsible for any aircraft, glider, balloon, parachute, or other aerial apparatus shall cause any such apparatus to take off from or land in any park except in an emergency when human life is endangered or where a designated landing facility may exist on park property."

The other law is also an existing law that probably won't survive its first legal test when applied to hobbyist drones.

More information on the proposed legislation is here:

Drone Federalism Act of 2017 - Wikipedia

The proposed law is an attempt to let states regulate drones the same way they do with cars. It has nothing to do with existing (and sometimes silly) laws.
--
Will the FAA stop regulating hobby drones? - - Art from the Air - -

 

[AKflyer]

Why do you think the FAA is doing a terrible job? Seems to me they've done a great job- they've created a set of explicit rules governing commercial operations, with the ability to get waivers from any of them, which will accommodate improvements in technology which outpace regulations. They've minimized regulation under hobbyist use, with the only major restrictions being in certain safety sensitive areas. And this minimal federal blanket of regulation serves as a protection against further local restriction.

I get it that the idea of less federal interference is attractive to those who want fewer restrictions. But make no mistake, it's really not going to get much better than it is now. It'll just create a patchwork of places that have much worse.

While you used cars as a comparison for state control, they have been around for over a century, and thus have a relatively stable and uniform regulation environment. A better comparison would be something similarly contentious, like guns. Look at the patchwork of gun laws that each municipality across the country has created. Going to drive to the next city over? Better get out the regulations and see what you can do there, because something you do all the time at home may get you arrested there. Going to the next state, or city is effectively going to be like taking your drone to another country now. If we take away the federal blanket over drones, I can guarantee that's exactly what's going to happen. Good for you that Virginia has addressed it at the state level, but many other states won't be as lucky. And you'll get to deal with the mess as soon as you cross the the state line. It's easy to say screw California if they want to place what I'd consider unreasonable restrictions on my UAV since I don't live there, but the upshot is that it does affect me, because it affects my ability to fly when if I go down to visit.

I think you may be mistaken about this. You may want to read up on it a little more.

What it does is take the authority for regulating drones away from the FAA (who is doing a terrible job) and leaves them to handle real airplanes, while the authority for regulating drones would be given to the states.

It does not mandate what the states must do.

This is the same way it is with cars. There are some federal regulations about safety, emissions, etc, but the actual licensing, registration, and rules of the road are left to the states.

Right now, Virginia has only one drone law. It says that no locality in the State of Virginia can make a drone law.

I can live with that.

--
Will the FAA stop regulating hobby drones? - - Art from the Air - -

 

[mark_t]

... This also would mean that home users would not be able to fly within their own property if that property was within 200 feet of their neighbors.

I'm not entirely sure that this part at least isn't a good idea...

The UK for example already has a 150m limit and a ban on overflying 'congested' areas which includes residential zones.

I do agree that it is a bad idea to remove this from the FAA, but the FAA have been far too slow in putting anything in place so it isn't hard to understand the frustration that local legislatures are feeling...