Seems like we may not have any airspace left if it were up to the Kentucky Drone Slayer and Amazon. Amazon wants us to stay under 200' while the KDS wants us higher and not over property.
Honestly, I am not too mad at KDS. If my granddaughters (especially when they get to be teens) are out in the back yard sunning themselves in a "private area" (meaning privacy fenced) and your drone comes buzzing into my back yard to take pictures of them, well, your drone is gonna catch a severe case of lead poisoning too and good luck getting the parts back. There is no excuse for someone's drone, mine included, to be in or over at low altitudes over private property low enough to see under a patio. Especially with kids involved. Sorry, but there are just too many pervs out there. Not sayin anyone here is nor sayin that the drone pilot(s) in the KDS case were, but just sayin. How would we know whats going to happen to the images it takes in that scenario?
If the girls were down at a public beach, thats a whole other matter. They are in the public space and have no expectation of privacy. None of us do. In our own back yard, behind a privacy fence does constitute an expectation of privacy.
"You know, when you’re in your own property, within a six-foot privacy fence, you have the expectation of privacy," he said. "We don't know if he was looking at the girls. We don’t know if he was looking for something to steal. To me, it was the same as trespassing."
And thats exactly how I feel about it too.
If its up hundred feet or so flying past my back yard, hell I will wave as it goes by, got no issues with that. Its clearly transiting the area going somewhere else. That a different scenario than what appears to have happened in the KDS case. They didn't fly over. They stopped for a peek. Quite a few according to him and the neighbors. Whole different ball 'o twine right there.
I am a gun owner, guess you figured that out. I also have pre-teen and teen granddaughters, younger ones are living with us. And I have a drone(quad copter, whatever you want to call it, P3 CAN fly autonomously so to me that makes it a drone). So I got a pretty good view from all the sides here.
As far as Amazon is concerned. They can stuff it. I can't wait until the first set of yahoos decide to fly balloons or kites with nets strung between them. It will happen. Just watch.
If Amazon wants to make the case they are a commercial enterprise and these flights are commercial, then they ought to have to follow the same rules as other commercial aircraft. >500'. Have to contact control towers. Get clearances. File flight plans. And they must avoid all the same NFZ's WE must avoid. ALL of it should apply. If that happens, then the drone delivery will NEVER get off the ground because, guess what? Most of the areas they wish to serve, that being larger cities, have big airports with big NFZs. Just look what happened to us with DJI's geofencing recently.
