I'm a new drone owner, having wanted one for years. Now that I have one and have had to wade into the legal/regulation issues, WOW they are complicated!
My observations:
1) Is a drone strike now more likely than a bird strike?
2) Most legislation/regulation is usually fantastic at converting whole swaths of the population into criminals, while the bad actors (and uneducated enthusiasts) are mostly unaffected. The promulgators certainly mean well and earnestly hope to help the situation, but that's rarely the case.
3) There's no way to prevent short-sighted manufacturers from selling to budget-conscious buyers hoping to enjoy an attractive new hobby.
4) Well-made drones are very powerful and amazingly easy to fly for maybe dozens to hundreds of hours trouble free. But they are also very complicated inside- meaning a simple malfunction (failed bearing/bushing, motor controller, etc) has the potential of sending a drone into a crowd, up/over into controlled airspace. I'm assuming the top manufacturers (like DJI) warn when the circuit/mechanism is drifting out of spec.
5) Why exactly is it prohibited to fly a drone beyond visual range in a rural wooded area below 400ft? Even if the drone gets away, it can fly no more than 30 minutes, and is far outnumbered by birds.
6) The regulations include the 250g waiver. What about a waiver for drones under a certain battery capacity/flight time?
Thoughts?
My observations:
1) Is a drone strike now more likely than a bird strike?
2) Most legislation/regulation is usually fantastic at converting whole swaths of the population into criminals, while the bad actors (and uneducated enthusiasts) are mostly unaffected. The promulgators certainly mean well and earnestly hope to help the situation, but that's rarely the case.
3) There's no way to prevent short-sighted manufacturers from selling to budget-conscious buyers hoping to enjoy an attractive new hobby.
4) Well-made drones are very powerful and amazingly easy to fly for maybe dozens to hundreds of hours trouble free. But they are also very complicated inside- meaning a simple malfunction (failed bearing/bushing, motor controller, etc) has the potential of sending a drone into a crowd, up/over into controlled airspace. I'm assuming the top manufacturers (like DJI) warn when the circuit/mechanism is drifting out of spec.
5) Why exactly is it prohibited to fly a drone beyond visual range in a rural wooded area below 400ft? Even if the drone gets away, it can fly no more than 30 minutes, and is far outnumbered by birds.
6) The regulations include the 250g waiver. What about a waiver for drones under a certain battery capacity/flight time?
Thoughts?