FAA Looses Once Again!

kymedic121 · Jul 22, 2014

Trying to stop Search and Rescue Organizations from using quads (Drones) ends badly for FAA. Here is the link to the published article and the Judges Official ruling. http://motherboard.vice.com/en_ca/r...us-appeals-court-rules?trk_source=recommended

nhoover · Jul 22, 2014

Yes just saw this yesterday. Good news. If you're interested in the topic, I recommend this documentary: http://www.civiliandronesmovie.com/

Werz · Jul 22, 2014

But see the FAA Response.

They will not be deterred.

SilentAV8R · Jul 22, 2014

They actually won because they had filed a motion to dismiss, which the judge granted. But in a twisted way we won too. They asked for a dismissal by admitting that nobody in the FAA except the Office of the General Counsel has the authority to issue a cease and desist order. So the local guys have zero authority to issue violations, threats, etc.

kymedic121 · Jul 22, 2014

SilentAV8R said:
They actually won because they had filed a motion to dismiss, which the judge granted. But in a twisted way we won too. They asked for a dismissal by admitting that nobody in the FAA except the Office of the General Counsel has the authority to issue a cease and desist order. So the local guys have zero authority to issue violations, threats, etc.

You are absolutely correct. All these cease and desist orders are is an attempt to scare someone into stopping. There is absolutely no teeth in their bark (Yet). If we do not stand firm and stand as a body of one we are going to loose this. No, I am not saying that there doesn't need to be some laws governing the use of the quads. But to say that we can't use FPV, cannot use them for taking photos of real estate, building inspection, residential inspection, agriculture inspection, search and rescue of lost or missing, or the many other practical uses is just ignorant. Basically what they are saying is that I can fly my phantom over my corn field and assess the need for irrigation as long as I don't make a profit from my corn. Or, I can't take a photo of my neighbors home if he is putting it on the market for sale. These proposed rules are completely ignorant and have no merit whatsoever. As long as I stay below 400', stay within LOS (keep in mind I live in a region of extreme far western Ky where I can fly 400 to 500 acre fields all day and never lose sight of my phantom) then there should be no restriction on what I do with my phantom beyond that. Yes I use FPV but mainly for the telemetry aspect and camera positioning. I mainly fly by physically watching the phantom. To place so many restrictions upon someone because they make a dollar from the use is just wrong. What is the difference in flying over an agriculture field for fun (which is legal) or flying over the same field to assess irrigation needs if I sell the corn (Which is being deemed illegal) under the proposed FAA guidelines. This has nothing to do with public safety but has everything to do with the FAA infringing on my rights.

Werz · Jul 23, 2014

kymedic121 said:
This has nothing to do with public safety but has everything to do with the FAA infringing on my rights.

Here is what I predict will happen ...

The FAA will treat us like naive children, claiming that we do not understand the issues. They will go through the mandatory comment periods and hearings, and then they will run roughshod over our personal liberties.

Then we will have one option: civil disobedience. Fortunately, the technological advances in UAVs, and their better affordability, will make that feasible. The more people who own these things, the more that will have a stake in the outcome. Imagine an organized "National UAV Day" where thousands of UAV owners send up their birds in a manner which is calculated to be safe but is somehow contrary to (or at the very edge of) existing regulations. That is how you force government to negotiate with the people it governs.

kymedic121 · Jul 23, 2014

Werz said:
kymedic121 said:

This has nothing to do with public safety but has everything to do with the FAA infringing on my rights.

Click to expand...

Here is what I predict will happen ...

The FAA will treat us like naive children, claiming that we do not understand the issues. They will go through the mandatory comment periods and hearings, and then they will run roughshod over our personal liberties.

Then we will have one option: civil disobedience. Fortunately, the technological advances in UAVs, and their better affordability, will make that feasible. The more people who own these things, the more that will have a stake in the outcome. Imagine an organized "National UAV Day" where thousands of UAV owners send up their birds in a manner which is calculated to be safe but is somehow contrary to (or at the very edge of) existing regulations. That is how you force government to negotiate with the people it governs.

AMEN!!!!! WELL SAID.......

Hovtech · Jul 23, 2014

Remember when cb's were big? When it first started to catch on was when they lowered the speed limit to 55mph. Everyone got a cb to listen for Smokies' location. Well the FCC comes out and says the rules are that everyone with a 5 watt cb (just about every unit was) must be licensed. As you can imagine, no one got a license and eventually they changed the rule to no license. We are going thru the same growing pains here. FAA serves a purpose no doubt. But whenever you tell a government official to give up some power (or part of their kingdom) there is always a hard push-back. It will be interesting to see how hard they push. In addition, do local police enforce FAA rules? Not sure on that one. Need a legal expert.

garrock · Jul 23, 2014

Here is the situation.. it's a matter of statistics and quantity of UAV's.

I know some people are in to the Altitude Thing. Seems that is more of a sport over in the UK.

As the number of these unmanned flying machines controlled by basically untrained or irresponsible humans increases, so increases the chances for an incident with a MAV (Manned Aerial Vehicle).

As for practical utility, other than a big sky pretty view, there is not much utility flying high up in the sky.
The commercial use reasons are inspecting things close to the ground.

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As for your State Level Law Enforcement Entity's using these things:

I am "currently" in favor of ensuring that these entity's are not immune from prosecution and can be held liable for misusing UAV's

Ohio House Bill 207: http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/bills.cfm?ID=130_HB_207

Ohio ACLU Viewpoint: http://www.acluohio.org/legislation/2013-2014-hb-207