Here's Why You Shouldn't Parachute Toy Army Men From Your Drone.

[planedr]

Not to be a spoil sport, but I do believe it is illegal to drop anything from a drone as per the FAA. Now I know this wasn't explosives like ISIS, but to the FAA anything being dropped is a no-no. And the risk of having a parachute foul a prop should have been immediately obvious.

Well, at least someone had fun...


Brian

Here is a website to get all the FAA info you could ever want.

eCFR — Code of Federal Regulations

You'll want
Title 14
Aeronautics and Space

It is not illegal to drop stuff from any type of aircraft, manned or unmanned.
As per CFR Title 14, vol. 2 ch. 1, part 107.23:
§107.23 Hazardous operation.
No person may:

(a) Operate a small unmanned aircraft system in a careless or reckless manner so as to endanger the life or property of another; or

(b) Allow an object to be dropped from a small unmanned aircraft in a manner that creates an undue hazard to persons or property.
I'm pretty sure that 2oz. Army man wasn't a hazard to anyone.

For manned aircraft you'll want to peruse part 91.15, which says basically the same thing.
§91.15 Dropping objects.
No pilot in command of a civil aircraft may allow any object to be dropped from that aircraft in flight that creates a hazard to persons or property. However, this section does not prohibit the dropping of any object if reasonable precautions are taken to avoid injury or damage to persons or property.

 

[N017RW]

Yes. This was pointed out already.

 

[Raptorman0909]

Asked and answered!


Brian

 

[allz28]

Wow, I didn't realize this thread had taken off like it did.

As the OP, I felt like I should hop in here with a few thoughts and clarifications.

First, let me say thank you so much for the supportive comments I've received. I'm proud to be making memories like these with my children and I do believe they learn best through play. Plus, my oldest boy got to help me fix my drone, so that was a whole another learning opportunity. I also appreciate the link to the release mechanisms. Very cool! Wish I had known about them before this.

To those people who didn't like what they saw in my video, I think I understand where you are coming from. More than likely, drones are your livelihood or, at the very least, your favorite hobby in the world, so I get that you hate seeing anyone flying in a manner that isn't as they were intended to be flown. You're afraid someone is going to screw it up for everyone. That's certainly understandable.

So let me clarify a few things. It's difficult to tell in the video, but the drone was not flying over my children when we were attempting to release the parachute. I was well aware that the parachute might cause the drone to crash (and honestly, I didn't really care if it did as this was just an old P3 of mine anyway), so we didn't allow the kids underneath it in case it was to fall from the sky. Furthermore, I agree that the kids and my face look extremely close to the drone while I was loading the parachute, but the camera lies to a certain degree. I'd still say we were all too close, but it wasn't as bad as it looks. I doubt there will be a next time, but if there was, I'm sure I'd handle that with more distance.

And lastly, for those people who came to this thread to insult my intelligence and fatherhood ability, I'll leave you with these questions: How intelligent is it to think you can judge the entirety of a person based on a 6-minute YouTube video? Can you honestly say what you said without any hint of hypocrisy? Have you never done something slightly dumb for the sake of having fun?

 

[PJC5301]

Wow, I didn't realize this thread had taken off like it did.

As the OP, I felt like I should hop in here with a few thoughts and clarifications.

First, let me say thank you so much for the supportive comments I've received. I'm proud to be making memories like these with my children and I do believe they learn best through play. Plus, my oldest boy got to help me fix my drone, so that was a whole another learning opportunity. I also appreciate the link to the release mechanisms. Very cool! Wish I had known about them before this.

To those people who didn't like what they saw in my video, I think I understand where you are coming from. More than likely, drones are your livelihood or, at the very least, your favorite hobby in the world, so I get that you hate seeing anyone flying in a manner that isn't as they were intended to be flown. You're afraid someone is going to screw it up for everyone. That's certainly understandable.

So let me clarify a few things. It's difficult to tell in the video, but the drone was not flying over my children when we were attempting to release the parachute. I was well aware that the parachute might cause the drone to crash (and honestly, I didn't really care if it did as this was just an old P3 of mine anyway), so we didn't allow the kids underneath it in case it was to fall from the sky. Furthermore, I agree that the kids and my face look extremely close to the drone while I was loading the parachute, but the camera lies to a certain degree. I'd still say we were all too close, but it wasn't as bad as it looks. I doubt there will be a next time, but if there was, I'm sure I'd handle that with more distance.

And lastly, for those people who came to this thread to insult my intelligence and fatherhood ability, I'll leave you with these questions: How intelligent is it to think you can judge the entirety of a person based on a 6-minute YouTube video? Can you honestly say what you said without any hint of hypocrisy? Have you never done something slightly dumb for the sake of having fun?

Well said!! As I said before, many folks on here are WAY too serious and need to lighten up. I will enflame them even more---I have a P4P--and IT IS JUST FOR FUN. IT IS A TOY THAT I BEGGED MY WIFE FOR PERMISSION TO BUY!

 

[allz28]

Well said!! As I said before, many folks on here are WAY too serious and need to lighten up. I will enflame them even more---I have a P4P--and IT IS JUST FOR FUN. IT IS A TOY THAT I BEGGED MY WIFE FOR PERMISSION TO BUY!

I found the Is-A-Drone-A-Toy discussion very interesting. My take is this: if you're handing the controls over to a youth, it is absolutely not a toy. It's like shooting a gun or driving a car and they need to understand the responsibility that comes with flying. But for all of us adults, come on, if you're not using your drone professionally, it is nothing but a toy we bought to play with. Go out and have fun.