Americans dont have a lock on stupid

[derrickduff]

Regulation doesn't prevent a drunk from getting behind the wheel, an elderly person from crashing into a crowd of people or a teenager from texting while driving. I just don't see how regulation will fix stupidity. The only thing I can think of is an outright ban on the sale of drones. Obviously that just isn't plausible.

I don't think you need to fear. We've had more than a few news stories about the careless and their drones. Set up a google alert for "drone." I see on average one negative story a day on drones. However, the sky isn't falling. It's a new technology, it's not a hobby anymore and people don't understand it yet. This tech has real world uses, and will eventually be as common as the automobile.

 

[steveeds]

Murphy's Law mostly says "anything that can happen could happen".

The first two cars in our country had an accident, they were owned at each end of the Island (about 700km apart).

What are the chances of a plane/helicopter hitting a quad, well getting higher and higher these days.

 

[Hughie]

Radar works by responses from the onboard transmitter on the aircraft. The tower would not 'see' a non-communicating object.

I think you may be confusing IFF with radar. They are different technologies. The key one being that radar does not require any active transmissions from aircraft.

 

[SteveMann]

Radar works by responses from the onboard transmitter on the aircraft. The tower would not 'see' a non-communicating object.

I think you may be confusing IFF with radar. They are different technologies. The key one being that radar does not require any active transmissions from aircraft.

It's common that since IFF, or transponder pings are the predominate use of ATC radar that the two can be confused by the general population. All ATC radar stations can see primary returns but the operators routinely filter out everything that is not a transponder return to reduce the screen clutter. A drone would simply look like a small flock of birds.

From the "National Telecommunications and Information Administration":
"The basic resolution angle formula for a radar is 1.22*wavelength/diameter = angular resolution in radians (circular antenna). For long range Air Traffic Control, typical wavelength is 0.15m, diameter of aerial is 14m. So, for example at 60nm this gives a distance resolution of about 3/4 of a mile."

Approach radar operates in a higher frequency band and has more resolution, but without a transponder, a drone still looks like a small flock of birds. (Approach radar typically analyzes primary doppler returns to indicate bird flocks, wind shear and downbursts in a storm.)

 

[Deathcode]

20 feet or 200 feet, whats the difference? Flying close to an airport is dangerous, simple as that.
Radar works by responses from the onboard transmitter on the aircraft. The tower would not 'see' a non-communicating object.
For some time now the FAA in the US has requested reports of all UAV sightings no matter how close or far away. If one is seen it is logged and reviewed. Military operations would of made it known if they were operating in that airspace. This was most likely another case of someone with more money than brains. Regulation is coming and I for one support it if it is applied correctly.

What regulation ever prevents those with more money than brains from doing what they always do? Criminalizing the majority of responsible operators will not prevent stupidity from the few irresponsible operators.

I completely disagree.... regulation WILL prevent this from happening, it's not about money. Drones might not be sold to people without a license to fly them, that's just an example, not necessarily the best idea.
I really can't wait for a certification. Lots of idiots out there doing something they don't understand... the problem is, nobody in their right mind would fly an airplane without knowing how because their own life is at risk. When it comes to flying drones, since the operator is generally safe on the ground, they disregard the safety of others and that's a BIG problem!

All this will go away (or the majority) when regulations are in place and people without licenses get arrested, fine, jailed for flying illegally. Sure, the libertarians out there will hate some of those rules, but the sky will be safer and I'm OK with that.

 

[derrickduff]

You don't disagree with me you just aren't thinking rationally. There's a huge difference between what is possible and what is likely. You could ban gun sales and destroy all existing fire arms tomorrow. The result would be a large decrease in gun related deaths. Will that ever happen in the US? Not anytime soon.

Yes regulation CAN prevent bad things from happening. But you're suggesting regulation more strict than gun buying laws, even more strict than getting a license to drive a vehicle which I'll remind you is much more dangerous than a 2 lb. drone.

 

[Larry L]

20 feet or 200 feet, whats the difference? Flying close to an airport is dangerous, simple as that.
Radar works by responses from the onboard transmitter on the aircraft. The tower would not 'see' a non-communicating object.
For some time now the FAA in the US has requested reports of all UAV sightings no matter how close or far away. If one is seen it is logged and reviewed. Military operations would of made it known if they were operating in that airspace. This was most likely another case of someone with more money than brains. Regulation is coming and I for one support it if it is applied correctly.

What regulation ever prevents those with more money than brains from doing what they always do? Criminalizing the majority of responsible operators will not prevent stupidity from the few irresponsible operators.

I completely disagree.... regulation WILL prevent this from happening, it's not about money. Drones might not be sold to people without a license to fly them, that's just an example, not necessarily the best idea.
I really can't wait for a certification. Lots of idiots out there doing something they don't understand... the problem is, nobody in their right mind would fly an airplane without knowing how because their own life is at risk. When it comes to flying drones, since the operator is generally safe on the ground, they disregard the safety of others and that's a BIG problem!

All this will go away (or the majority) when regulations are in place and people without licenses get arrested, fine, jailed for flying illegally. Sure, the libertarians out there will hate some of those rules, but the sky will be safer and I'm OK with that.

I think something needs to be done, weather it is education and or a class on safety. There are too many people out there that do not know any of the laws or regulations. I think a lot of the people who buy drones, RC helicopters, planes, etc have no idea as to where & where not to fly these things. Like the new drone from Home Lumber. It states it has a altitude of 500 Meters high or the new Adorama Black bird ( just to name 2 ) that states it has a ceiling of 1650 feet. How many of those people that figure they will give it to their teenager or their self for Christmas? How many of them will just try to take their new toy to that Altitude with out even knowing how dangerous it can be? JMO, I think several of the sightings around airports could be people that live in neighborhoods close to airports & do not know any better. If you have to take a class or some formal training it could help to curb some of these so called close calls. If they have not been certified & are caught, once they pay a fine, I think they will get certified. Sure you are still going to have those that do not care. When they are caught & go to jail, they might change their mind. When the day comes that someone either crashes a plane or come close to it, It will be too late.
I was lucky when I got into this hobby. I went to UAV direct, where they have a class every Thursday that is free to anyone. In that class they discuss the latest news & most of the regulations as to where you can fly. If I had not taken that class, I wouldn't of known about this forum & been able to read about this stuff.

 

[bald1eagle]

I see a lot of talk about regulations...regulations....and then more regulations..... Forgive me, but as the title suggests, Americans don't have a lock on stupid (what's that all about? ) As long as stupids walk this earth there will be regulation breakers....like any other over regulated ....pick an activity...soon only the stupid will be out having fun with their rc product breaking the regulation.

 

[HailStorm]

Regulation doesn't prevent a drunk from getting behind the wheel, an elderly person from crashing into a crowd of people or a teenager from texting while driving. I just don't see how regulation will fix stupidity. The only thing I can think of is an outright ban on the sale of drones. Obviously that just isn't plausible.

I don't think you need to fear. We've had more than a few news stories about the careless and their drones. Set up a google alert for "drone." I see on average one negative story a day on drones. However, the sky isn't falling. It's a new technology, it's not a hobby anymore and people don't understand it yet. This tech has real world uses, and will eventually be as common as the automobile.

It is important to remember that regulations are twofold, preventative (though not always effective at prevention) but more importantly, regulations provide consequences for not working within said regulations.

 

[Meta4]

I completely disagree.... regulation WILL prevent this from happening, ...I really can't wait for a certification. Lots of idiots out there doing something they don't understand.

All this will go away (or the majority) when regulations are in place and people without licenses get arrested, fine, jailed for flying illegally. Sure, the libertarians out there will hate some of those rules, but the sky will be safer and I'm OK with that.

Yes .. that tough on crime model has worked just fine for driving, guns, drugs and murder. No reason to expect it would be any different with drones.

btw .. what kind of a user name is Deathcode??

 

[HailStorm]

I completely disagree.... regulation WILL prevent this from happening, ...I really can't wait for a certification. Lots of idiots out there doing something they don't understand.

All this will go away (or the majority) when regulations are in place and people without licenses get arrested, fine, jailed for flying illegally. Sure, the libertarians out there will hate some of those rules, but the sky will be safer and I'm OK with that.

Yes .. that tough on crime model has worked just fine for driving, guns, drugs and murder. No reason to expect it would be any different with drones.

btw .. what kind of a user name is Deathcode??

So you are saying that WITHOUT regulations on driving, guns, drugs, and murder, things would be no different than they are now?

 

[Meta4]

No I was pointing out how ridiculous this statement was ...

All this will go away (or the majority) when regulations are in place and people without licenses get arrested, fine, jailed for flying illegally.

I'm saying the blind hope that regulation would have any influence on the kind of people that would fly irresponsibly, is misplaced. 50 years of a war on drugs should have taught this. How many Americans have been arrested, fined or jailed for drug offences and what impact has that had? How many MILLIONS of Americans are in jail in 2014 for drug offences?

You can expect idiots will do idiot things regardless of regulations.
There are already regulations and guidelines regarding multirotor flying.
More regulation will have no additional impact on the behaviour of idiots.

 

[HailStorm]

No I was pointing out how ridiculous this statement was ...

All this will go away (or the majority) when regulations are in place and people without licenses get arrested, fine, jailed for flying illegally.

I'm saying the blind hope that regulation would have any influence on the kind of people that would fly irresponsibly, is misplaced. 50 years of a war on drugs should have taught this. How many Americans have been arrested, fined or jailed for drug offences and what impact has that had? How many MILLIONS of Americans are in jail in 2014 for drug offences?

You can expect idiots will do idiot things regardless of regulations.
There are already regulations and guidelines regarding multirotor flying.
More regulation will have no additional impact on the behaviour of idiots.

So your point is that despite regulations on Driving, we still have drunks behind the wheel, etc., and that despite regulating drugs, we still have drug abusers, etc., etc., that we should not regulate drones at all because people (idiots) will ignore the regulations?

 

[Meta4]

No my point is that thinking increasing regulation will make problems go away is naive.

All this will go away (or the majority) when regulations are in place and people without licenses get arrested, fine, jailed for flying illegally.

.. and that's just wrong.

 

[HailStorm]

No my point is that thinking increasing regulation will make problems go away is naive.

All this will go away (or the majority) when regulations are in place and people without licenses get arrested, fine, jailed for flying illegally.

.. and that's just wrong.

I got it; Your point is that despite regulations on Driving, we still have drunks behind the wheel, etc., and that despite regulating drugs, we still have drug abusers, etc., etc., so we should not regulate drones because people (idiots) will ignore the regulations and bad behavior won't stop due to new regulations.

 

[Meta4]

No - you haven't got it. It's not complicated.
There already are regulations and guidelines.
MORE regulation isn't going to achieve anything more.

 

[HailStorm]

MORE regulation isn't going to achieve anything more

because people ignore regulations.

What am I not getting?

 

[devveldogg]

I see some are trying to get the word out about safety. I hope this catches on

http://roswellflighttestcrew.typepad.co ... eholidays/

 

[750r]

I see some are trying to get the word out about safety. I hope this catches on

http://roswellflighttestcrew.typepad.co ... eholidays/

Spot on
People are buying and just flying not willing to see if their are rules and regulation I would say half of the people doing wrong do not know they are and the other half just don't care .

 

[bald1eagle]

I see some are trying to get the word out about safety. I hope this catches on

http://roswellflighttestcrew.typepad.co ... eholidays/

I hope this works out