The FAA giving one of our P2V+ Pilots a bad time

DBS

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It just proves that there are idiots in every walk of life -- even at the FAA. Personally, I would either ignore the letter or send it to the head of the FAA with a complaint.
 
DBS said:
What you guys think about this?
I don't need a bunch of crap about the money I make on my videos... I didn't charge anybody for the flight or offer my services for a fee... :roll:

It sucks.
Does the letter include a demand for a response? If not, then don't.
Unfortunately the letter of the law (rule, actually, the FAA does not make law) says that if anyone benefits from a flight it may be considered commercial. Profit, or lack of it, is not a consideration of the determination.

I have read where an aviation attorney asked this specific scenario hypothetically and came to the same conclusion as the FAA did in this case. Merely posting a video to YouTube that happens to be on a page with ads makes the flight commercial. It doesn't matter who profits from the ads, the FAA can say it's commercial.

However, the Private pilot has an escape clause that I think might apply here:
FAR 61.113(b)(1) states that a private pilot may act as pilot in command (PIC) of an aircraft in connection with any business or employment if the flight is only incidental to that business or employment.

One could make an argument that the ads posted on the same page as your video are incidental to the flight, beyond your control and unrelated to the flight.
 
4wd said:
The letter they attached doesn't mention anything about commercial gain, and is just as likely to be related to flying too close to people or something?
That's precisely what the letter indicates.
 
I believe he monetized his videos, which means(technically) YouTube and the pilot could receive monies for the videos he posted. So could be why they came down on him.

So much more important issues to be concerned about in this country...tax payers money being wasted...

JUST LET US FLY!
 
America land of the free.

life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. :roll:

uncle sam is pinching pennies everywhere he can... instead of looking in the mirror..

very sad .. just goes to show you how far our internet usage is being monitored ... so frustrating!

all of this is a money grab. i.e. taxable income.
 
Boggles the mind... I can see telling someone to stop flying over public areas and people and following some guidelines on altitude etc...

But what I do with the video from my own flight ... That I paid for with my own money... Is my own **** business :evil:
 
Where are the fines?

Where are the sanctions?

Where are the confiscated drones?

All I see is a lot of fear mongering. The truth is nobody who has ever had an advertisement attached to their drone video
has been fined for "commercial use" of their drone.
 
Even private pilots can receive "compensation".

"Exceptions" that allow pilots to fly for compensation without holding a commercial operator certificate,include certain air tours, flight instruction, aerial survey work, and others listed under Part 119.1. There's also "foreign operations" covered by 14 CFR Part 375 and sharing the pro rata costs of a flight with passengers.

There's also a 1st amendment issue. It's becoming well established that that Internet news outlets - i.e., YouTube - should be treated like print media and be afforded the same rights long-recognized for traditional print, radio, and television journalists. (Check out CFAPA.ORG if you want press credentials.)

I'd like to see the person who wrote that letter (because a video was posted on YouTube) try to enforce it.
 
I'm surprised people have been taken in by the FAA and swallowed their idea that commercial use should be regarded as illegal when the same flying and photographing for personal recreation is 100% legal.
The issue should not be whether by some distorted thinking, putting a video on Youtube is commercial.
The issue is why an aviation safety authority thinks they can say who can and who cannot sell photographs.
You can take the pics - but you can't sell them because that would be illegal!!!!
Get real FAA.
 
Meta4 said:
You can take the pics - but you can't sell them because that would be illegal
Like they say -- they are all about making the sky a safer place (...or making money).
 
It's not really about anything at all.
It's not safety and it's not money.
Their proposed future rules seem to have dropped this stupidity so it seems even the FAA don't really support it.
It's just ridiculous.
 
The form letter can be found on the FAA website here: http://fsims.faa.gov/wdocs/notices/n8900_268.htm

There is some interesting reading here. The big thing that jumps out at me, that I didn't notice in the first read, is the inclusion of the operator being a member of a model aircraft club. But that is for another thread. As far as YouTube videos, this is from the FAA interpretation of 336(a):

Flights conducted incidental to, and within the scope of, a business where no common carriage is involved, generally may operate under FAA’s general operating rules of part 91

Unless someone is pulling in millions of dollars from a YouTube video I believe it would be incidental to Googles business. If the flight was conducted specifically to put on YouTube as a short filmmaking hobby it would be conducted incidental to and within the scope of Google's business?
 
You can lose money doing something and the FAA may still consider it commercial. It is NOT about making money, being paid, etc. If the product of your flight is used by anyone for the furtherance of a commercial interest, then it makes the flight a commercial flight for the FAA.
 
Typical leviathan, out-of-control, government and the need, by some, to control everything & everyone. There are those in government who would control your bowel movements if they could find a way. In a sense, they already do, at least when it comes to how much water you are allowed to wash away the excrement. Hence the low-volume, flush-three-times-per-dump toilets.

This is why I always become disgusted when I hear someone clamoring for the government to regulate. "Please benevolent & all-knowing government, control my internet!" :roll:
 
Well Shepard Smith has jumped on the band wagon on Fox News.

FAA: Stop posting videos you take with your drones
http://video.foxnews.com/v/4110103083001
Federal Aviation Administration sends 'educational letters' to drone owners

Finally, someone in the press who appears, at least on the cover, that he sees the ridiculousness of all this.

I'll refrain from my normal diatribe as I could go on and on with this!
 
Obama was in town today. He was over at the VA hospital then headed north somewhere then by motorcade across to Gilbert. You would think they had declared martial law and closed the entire city. Not sure how you guys in Washington handle having this guy driving around 24/7.

I'm sure even Obama and the democrats would have to agree the FAA is a getting just a tiny bit out of control.

Obama and I sure see eye to eye on one thing - we both love drones. Of course he uses his to blow people up...

Mmm... this might have just turned a tiny bit political and I'm not even American. Sorry about that...
 
Couchie said:
Well Shepard Smith has jumped on the band wagon on Fox News.

FAA: Stop posting videos you take with your drones
http://video.foxnews.com/v/4110103083001
Federal Aviation Administration sends 'educational letters' to drone owners

Finally, someone in the press who appears, at least on the cover, that he sees the ridiculousness of all this.

I'll refrain from my normal diatribe as I could go on and on with this!
UNBELIEVABLE! Someone on Fox "News" actually got something right.
 

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