Discussions

Hi there.  As I was drifting off topic in a recent blog so I now open a new thread.

I noticed that most countries don’t allow the flight out of line of sight. Mainly for simplicity avoiding problems and damages from “bad” UAV pilots. But that is not the main point. I understand that such a regulation make sense.

The point is that in several discussions (in the specific case it was about a high altitude capsule with autopilot) where a RTL mechanism is discussed the restriction of flying out of the line of sight is called in cause.  I’m not agreeing that a useful RTL for vehicles that have lost control can be considered a kind of autonomous.  In my opinion a pre-programmed flight out LOS can be, but a system that will help will to avoid to land in an unsafe area isn’t.  Even if the text in the affected law article describes it as some kind of unauthorized mode of flight. This because the law has a purpose (mainly described by the law issuer in a publication text) and this purpose should let space for some interpretation.

In the specific case if I put a autonomous flight system in a vehicle that was “out of control” from the beginning, I don’t see how I break the law, because it was made for vehicles that can be controlled (by an rc tx/rx  for example).  So the sense to make the RTL system of a capsule coming down from 100’000ft illegal is non-existent.  

The strict interpretation that ”anything that flies  alone” is illegal will make any (complex) fail safe mechanism illegal.  And that cannot be part of the sense of such a law.