Thanks for the links! Looks potentially promising. The New Proposed Rules state "The new rules would not apply to model aircraft." Is the Phantom a 'model' aircraft?
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Thanks for the links! Looks potentially promising. The New Proposed Rules state "The new rules would not apply to model aircraft." Is the Phantom a 'model' aircraft?
Meta4
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Would not apply to model aircraft means ... would not apply to recreational flying
There are separate rules for recreational and commercial flying.
The Phantom is a model aircraft if you are flying recreationally.
FYI: Some of it has to do with understanding the National Air Space (NAS) and how far you have to be from a air port, air strip, or hospital landing zone for choppers ( they are also considered
air ports in that regard. Its 5 miles from any air field and 3 miles for a hospital landing zone (LZ)
I was lucky in the fact that I have held a PPL for 30 years and only needed a day to sit for my drone license. I understand what you are saying but if you do the course, you will understand why. Your drone can reach very high altitudes and kill someone. By doing the license you will develop a respect for the so called toy that many think is safe in the hands of a 6 year old kid. Its ok to fly around a field but in the commercial world, you are actually flying around the air being paid to film for clients and its only natural that all is safe and the client is covered by insurance. The 10k it costs in Australia will be earnt back in a month or two so it doesn't matter really. It also makes it difficult for every 10 year old to be able to fly for reward. If you have a house and need a plumber, you have to hire a licensed plumber. Same with a drone.
At least a licensed operator knows the rules. He has to have insurance for 20 million and he has to obey the rules. you also have to have a license to operate a radio. After all, if you are in normal operating areas working, you need to to be able to call and notify other aircraft via radio that you are in the area and intending to fly. There is no difference than what a pilot has to do before they take off in a normal plane. If one didn't need license, there would be many drones at one of your wives weddings and she would be out of a job as well. Those of us that fly commercially have spent the money and the months of study involved to get our licenses. I dont see why anyone off the street should be able to buy a drone and fly with no knowledge of rules or safety issues.
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One of the best responses I've heard! Seriously, there is so much to the U.S. Airspace System that it takes a ground school to get a Private Pilot Certificate. And its not just a weekend crash course either. We're talking Visibility requirements for Class A, B, C, D E, & G airspaces, speed restrictions, cloud clearance requirements, right of way rules, transitioning altitudes, traffic patterns, and not to mention basic radio communication (if you've ever listened to O'Hare's tower on liveatc.net at 10am on a Monday you'll know what I'm talking about). I challenge the fact that most people have a very limited understanding of these topics. However this is the airspace you are sharing, and these are the rules that have been written in blood we must follow. Please do yourself a great service and pick up the the the FAAs Pilot Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge. Its a a great place to start to get a good understanding of what goes on outside the drone environment, and in commercial aviation.
Thanks for the appreciation. Its a real change. Normally I get kicked in the guts for saying anything about the pilots that fly 5 miles out, 5 miles high over houses and city blocks. I saw a video the other day of an Inspire filming a concert over the heads of thousands of people. Most comments thought it was ok.
The fact that it could have killed someone didn't occur to them. It was reachable to most of the people under the drone and not as though it was 30 metres up.
I just made my first post in the intros explaining a little more, but an alternative to the expensive and overkill private pilot license is the light sport pilot license. I'm a sport flight instructor and I charge 1,500 (compared to about 7,000 for private) to get a powered parachute license. It's only 10 hours of dual training and is a TON of fun!
The dumbest part about requiring an actual pilots license for drone operation is that to get the pilots license, you have to pass the medical.
I attempted to get a pilots license about 15 years ago and had to drop out halfway through when I developed migraine headaches. Disappointing - but understandable for piloting a plane. Migraines often come with a visual aura and other symptoms which could make landing a plane difficult/dangerous. But....ummm....not so much with drones. Especially while operating within VLOS, I can land the drone in less than 5 minutes. I always have a half hour warning that a migraine is coming - and while I might not be able to find an airport and land a plane safely in that half hour - I can certainly land a drone safely. Hell - I could go completely blind and still manage to hit the RTH button to get the bird on the ground safely.
So at the very least - the medical requirements need to be seriously revised for drone pilots.
Also - to the pilot that posted his support for requiring a full pilots license to operate a drone: You make a lot of good points but then take it over the top. If drone operation is going to be limited the way it is - with maximum altitudes of 400', no flying over or through clouds, always flying VLOS and away from people and built-up areas - there is no way they need the same level of training that an actual pilot needs. A certification course - sure! A radio license and training - absolutely! If the drone pilot is only allowed to operate in certain airspaces - then they need to know how to find out where those airspaces are. They do not need to know all the rules pertaining to all of the other airspaces. To the drone operator - there are only a few airspaces that are permitted for flight. Everything else is a no-fly-zone. Enough said.
Require full training for drone operators to operate safely and everything that goes along with it. Requiring more than that is just dumb. A regular pilots license can have different ratings - VFR, IFR, etc. So can it be with drones. Perhaps the requirements are lessened for a pilot who is only licensed for flight within 500' and at a max altitude of 150'.
If I have to get a full pilots license to fly my drone - then I certainly am going to want more flexibility as to how high i can fly and how far I can go.
What's next? Forcing the repair guy at my local hobby shop to have an aircraft mechanics license in order to replace a motor on my Phantom? No? Why not? Oh - because it's ridiculous! Gotcha!
But tell me again why it's not ridiculous to require drone pilots to have a full pilots license in order to shoot real estate videos at 50' off the ground for 5 or 6 minutes at a time? I guess I'm just dense if I'm the only one that doesn't understand how flying circuits in a Cessna, being able to perform touch and go landings, demonstrating skill in staying on the line while taxiing out to the active runway and taking instructions from ground control, checking the oil in the engine, checking the fuel level, the proper refuelling processes, etc, etc, etc....
In fact - most of the cockpit experience is of little value when piloting a drone - especially when regulations don't allow FPV systems to be used. Tracking your aircraft visually from the ground, identifying its orientation and making the correct stick movements - all while scanning the area for other traffic is completely unique to drone piloting and nothing in a pilots license helps prepare you for that.
Conclusion - drone operators require training. How much and what type can vary dramatically based on what the pilot intends to do. In a perfect world, there would be specialized training and different ratings - so that a real estate broker can buy a drone and film his houses at 50' up and 60' away from him with only the training require to do that safely. If another pilot wants to fly to the limits - well, that would obviously require additional training/certification and a different rating to ensure safety..
It's not supposed to make sence. Any opportunity for the average Joe will be hammered into submission. The Renaissance is officially over and the de industrialization of this country is in full swing.
I looked into it and it turns out I'm required to get a pilots license, if you didn't know yes an actual license to fly small planes. Why??
I can see having us take a class or get some type of certificate but **** I don't want to fly planes nor do I have the extra 12,000 dollars it takes to get one where I live. Does any one else have issues with this??
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That's OLD information. You are now required to have your Part 107 (Remote Pilot In Command, RPIC) license which is a in-person test and $150. It couldn't be much easier.
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