Something to remember.

[gnirtS]

What you've basically bought is a camera tripod that can be moved in 3 dimensions.
Its nothing to do with aviation.

A website name, amazingly, doesn't actually make things true. I could register "concreteblockpilots" if i wanted to - doesnt mean they fly well.

 

[moleza]

I don't disagree with the term Pilot. It can range from RC mini cars to interplanetary aircrafts.

However, sometimes in a open field far way from any living being I let my 9yo daughter to "Pilot" my Mavic, under my close supervision. She doe's pretty well since she has all the weather, aerodynamics, instruments, norms, conventions and cognitives capabilities needed to Pilot a Mavic.

On the other hand, I would never trust her the Paraglider or Bonanza as I won't trust myself in an Airbus.

 

[Abbo69]

Has anyone watched the Posted video in its entirety? There's an interesting statement towards the end....

 

[danman999]

An aircraft pilot (for this example USA FAA Private Pilot Single-Engine Land Airplane):
1. Obtain a student pilot certificate establishing medical eligibility via physical exam and disclosure of health history.
2. Enroll in flight school.
3. Pass all stage checks (stalls, steep turns, slow flight, night flight, emergency procedures, navigation, weather theory, aircraft systems, airspace system, avionics, soft and short-field operations, LAHSO, RVSM, tower operations just to name a few).
4. Pass the FAA written knowledge exam.
5. Pass an oral exam and practical checkride with an FAA Inspector or DPE for issuance of certificate.
6. Pass a mandatory flight review every two years thereafter with an FAA Inspector or Certified Flight Instructor; mandated as a minimum of one hour of oral examination on the ground and one hour practical exam in the air.
7. Obtain a new medical certificate as required via medical exam (duration of medical certificate depends on applicant age).
Average cost of training for initial Private Pilot certification: $15,000 - $20,000.

A drone operator:
1. Buy a drone.
2. Pretend you are an aircraft pilot.

I guess nowadays you can buy a model rocket and call yourself an astronaut.

 

[FlyGuy8675309]

Mind you, I'm in no way stating flying the Mavic is tantamount to piloting even the simplest manned aircraft.

Well it can't be too tough. Apparently even monkeys can do it.

 

[FlyGuy8675309]

An aircraft pilot (for this example USA FAA Private Pilot Single-Engine Land Airplane):
1. Obtain a student pilot certificate establishing medical eligibility via physical exam and disclosure of health history.
2. Enroll in flight school.
3. Pass all stage checks (stalls, steep turns, slow flight, night flight, emergency procedures, navigation, weather theory, aircraft systems, airspace system, avionics, soft and short-field operations, LAHSO, RVSM, tower operations just to name a few).
4. Pass the FAA written knowledge exam.
5. Pass an oral exam and practical checkride with an FAA Inspector or DPE for issuance of certificate.
6. Pass a mandatory flight review every two years thereafter with an FAA Inspector or Certified Flight Instructor; mandated as a minimum of one hour of oral examination on the ground and one hour practical exam in the air.
7. Obtain a new medical certificate as required via medical exam (duration of medical certificate depends on applicant age).
Average cost of training for initial Private Pilot certification: $15,000 - $20,000.

A drone operator:
1. Buy a drone.
2. Pretend you are an aircraft pilot.

I guess nowadays you can buy a model rocket and call yourself an astronaut.

An aircraft pilot (for this example USA FAA Private Pilot Single-Engine Land Airplane):
1. Obtain a student pilot certificate establishing medical eligibility via physical exam and disclosure of health history.
2. Enroll in flight school.
3. Pass all stage checks (stalls, steep turns, slow flight, night flight, emergency procedures, navigation, weather theory, aircraft systems, airspace system, avionics, soft and short-field operations, LAHSO, RVSM, tower operations just to name a few).
4. Pass the FAA written knowledge exam.
5. Pass an oral exam and practical checkride with an FAA Inspector or DPE for issuance of certificate.
6. Pass a mandatory flight review every two years thereafter with an FAA Inspector or Certified Flight Instructor; mandated as a minimum of one hour of oral examination on the ground and one hour practical exam in the air.
7. Obtain a new medical certificate as required via medical exam (duration of medical certificate depends on applicant age).
Average cost of training for initial Private Pilot certification: $15,000 - $20,000.

A drone operator:
1. Buy a drone.
2. Pretend you are an aircraft pilot.

I guess nowadays you can buy a model rocket and call yourself an astronaut.

Dan the Unman, Ladies and Gentleman. Always providing an answer to a question no on ever asked. We salute you, sir!
<CLAP............CLAP................CLAP...............CLAP>
(and I am NOT clapping slow sarcastically)

 

[maxfaxdude]

Look Dan, you are on a Mavic drone forum. You come here and make inflammatory statements like:

"A drone operator:
1. Buy a drone.
2. Pretend you are an aircraft pilot.

I guess nowadays you can buy a model rocket and call yourself an astronaut."

And:

"Just remember, those controllers are professionals and you are nothing more than a toy operator."

Why are you doing this?
What's the point?
Who are you trying to impress?
And what do you expect to accomplish?

I'm not (and no one else is) arguing that drone operators are as vetted, trained and tested as manned aircraft pilots are. And no one is pretending to be an astronaut or manned aircraft pilot or anything else for that matter. This forum exists so that Mavic operators can talk about the Mavic. If you want to converse with manned aircraft pilots and about manned aircraft then do so on the appropriate website or venue. Otherwise you're in the wrong forum!!!

 

[BigDuke6ixx]

Im a complete moron then.

I can accept that from someone like you.

All you are is some bloke on the internet.

 

[Bazzam]

An aircraft pilot (for this example USA FAA Private Pilot Single-Engine Land Airplane):
1. Obtain a student pilot certificate establishing medical eligibility via physical exam and disclosure of health history.
2. Enroll in flight school.
3. Pass all stage checks (stalls, steep turns, slow flight, night flight, emergency procedures, navigation, weather theory, aircraft systems, airspace system, avionics, soft and short-field operations, LAHSO, RVSM, tower operations just to name a few).
4. Pass the FAA written knowledge exam.
5. Pass an oral exam and practical checkride with an FAA Inspector or DPE for issuance of certificate.
6. Pass a mandatory flight review every two years thereafter with an FAA Inspector or Certified Flight Instructor; mandated as a minimum of one hour of oral examination on the ground and one hour practical exam in the air.
7. Obtain a new medical certificate as required via medical exam (duration of medical certificate depends on applicant age).
Average cost of training for initial Private Pilot certification: $15,000 - $20,000.

A drone operator:
1. Buy a drone.
2. Pretend you are an aircraft pilot.

I guess nowadays you can buy a model rocket and call yourself an astronaut.

Todd, Is there an obligation to self-declare or mandatory reporting if mental health issues or concern exist ?

This would be an obvious oversight in current regulations/safe guards, were a suspicion of irrational thought processes is observed...

 

[Abbo69]

An aircraft pilot (for this example USA FAA Private Pilot Single-Engine Land Airplane):

And therefore not relevant as a post in this forum!

 

[Tatuli]

I could register "concreteblockpilots" if i wanted to - doesnt mean they fly well.

Challenge accepted!!!

 

[reckless]

What is all the fuss about?
There is much distance between aircraft landing that you could get in, take the required footage/photos and get out before the next 747 comes in for a landing. Easy peasy!
Jokes aside....
Has anybody thought it could be a simple flyaway from Jimmy who lives 8 kilometres from Gatwick and received his Phantom4 as a Xmas pressie. He was in his backyard and simply suffered a flyaway through no fault of his own after the last bad FW update?
Now poor little Jimmy is crying his eyes out and nobody cares....

 

[gnirtS]

Little Jimmy is still legally responsible.

 

[ageer]

Thanks, but I don't need "to remember" not to fly near an airport LOL. Stupid people do stupid things and then more stupid things happen.

I appreciated the heads up with this video. Nothing wrong with a reminder and based on what I see everyday of some people's behavior - just driving down the road for example - someone somewhere needs a reminder of the basics

 

[BerndM]

Assuming that that fine video was a true representation of the flight rerouting that happened because of the reported "drone sighting" then that is very disturbing indeed.
However, unless I missed the news somehow, there has never been a single CONFIRMED BY PHYSICAL EVIDENCE sighting of a drone. EVER. If there had, it would have been splashed across the front pages of newspapers everywhere.
All it would take is to outfit every passenger aircraft with 2 GoPro type cameras mounted in the cockpit pointing 45 degrees right and left of center to cover the entire field of view of the pilots. IF a drone was captured on these videos, then that changes everything and the issue becomes much more defined. Up to this point, it has all been questionable visual sightings, most of which have been explained away by finding they were birds.
For the life of me, I cannot believe that a pilot, on approach to a landing (or takeoff) is able to spot a tiny drone while watching all his instruments and maintaining proper flight control while traveling at 150+ mph. IF, I say IF, the drone was higher than the jet, then MAYBE with the sky as a background, he may see it for a split second before it is out of sight. However if the drone is BELOW his altitude, with the entire ground scene as the drone's background, then I have to call BS.
We all know how hard it is to keep visual track of our drones at anything beyond a couple of hundred yards especially if it is below the horizon with ground or terrain in the background, and we are NOT moving at 150+ mph.
Unless there is some sort of physical recorded evidence to prove these "sightings", then I remain very highly sceptical of the whole thing.
It seems this is another sad case of a typical government kneejerk over reaction.
If I am proven wrong, I readily submit to the proven evidence. Otherwise, not.
BTW, I have been flying RC aircraft for 45 years, some up to 16 foot wingspans and I Have NEVER flown anywhere near an airport or other aircraft. I know better, because I have also flown REAL full sized aircraft.

 

[Rick]

It would most likely be an observer on the ground that witnessed the "drone" incursion rather than a pilot, for the reasons already stated.

 

[Hutch]

Thanks, i will remember to avoid Gatwick in case over zealous flight controllers shut down the system and cause so much delay due to possible sightings. *According to this pretty clip*

Are you really serious with this reply? Gatwick did exactly what they had to at great trouble and cost. If it was a drone with some C4 intended to do some damage and they didn't respond, Gatwick's flight controllers would be crucified by all. This is why DJI is so diligent in their NFZ instructions/restrictions. Due to idiots who ignore flight restrictions at airports we all have to deal with other restrictions we feel are intrusive to our flying. This is also why every installation worth its salt, airports too, will have specialized electronic weapons to down drones flying in close proximity to large airports. Many are already deployed in the US, mostly at military installations & private secure locations. Soon they will be everywhere. As gnirtS so aptly points out above, it is inevitable that numb nuts will do these stupid things. Can you imagine the total cost of these evasive actions necessary at Gatwick, not to mention the passenger delays? No wonder some want to outlaw drones without transponders echoing back to the owner.

 

[jcp411]

Todd spent 10,000 $ + on a private airplane single engine pilot licence, Todd had dreams of a wonderful future.

Todd spent many hours berating and belittling UAV pilots on Mavic pilots forum, because they can experience what it is like to fly for a tiny fraction of his costs.

Todd's private airplane single engine pilot licence has expired, and with that, his dreams. Todd can now only fly the “toy” he despises.

Todd should learn to love his “toy” and stop being so bitter about his failed dreams.

We all wish Todd find happiness in the future !!

I am a private pilot and so wished I'd have had a Mavic growing up. I absolutely love it and I'm only 3 months into this.

 

[Av8rshane]

Dan, there are plenty of pilots out there that bust TFRs and other airspace. I've been flying professionally for over 33 years now and hear it on a regular basis. People doing stupid things aren't limited to UAS operators. Check to see how many pilots busted the TFRs in So. Florida when Trump was there.
I was returning from a trip last night and they had a drone warning on the atis for Las Vegas but just giving the pilots a heads up and not closing any airspace. It was reported 2 miles NW of the airport. Not sure what the Gatwick story was but in my dealing with controllers they are highly professional people and if they thought that closing airspace was what they needed to do then I wouldn't have a problem with it.

 

[Lon Denard]

Which one is Dan ?

I personally don't like being compared to a monkey or ape myself. It smacks of racism to me.