Comments

• Developer

  leonardthall February 14, 2013 at 11:36pm

  This is Australia, this has nothing to do with the US drone phobia. But you are asking people to snoop around on some unknown property. If you are that keen, get a ladder, jump the fence and take the chance yourself. Don't ask others to take the risk for you.

  OR you could go to the local lands office or local council and ask like a normal person.
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  Jean February 14, 2013 at 11:33pm

  Jay, I can understand your interest/curiosity.  But as a newcomer to this forum, please respect our rules.  Nobody wants to have a discussion here about using a UAV for this kind of activity.
• Tim Wilkin February 14, 2013 at 11:20pm

  Why does it matter if it's a detention center?
• Tim Wilkin February 14, 2013 at 3:30pm

  Is this not something you can do yourself Jay?

  You're asking for someone to put themselves at risk of persecution and/or prosecution by the federal government. If there *is* a detention centre there and it's not publicised, filming it would be a breach of federal law. Media are excluded from filming or accessing detention centers in Australia. I would expect the federal government to be quite unhappy at anyone illegally obtaining footage of what is going on inside the compound.

  I think you'd also have a very hard time trying to simply claim you were a hobbyist and not obtaining the footage for media purposes. As a hobbyist, you're not allowed to operate your vehicle out of line of sight, nor are you permitted to operate it in such a manner as to breach any law or by-law. Flying it in a populous area, flying it via FPV without a spotter, flying it in breach of federal security regulations, etc., would all be grounds to classify the flight as non-hobby.

  Basically, I think it's inappropriate to ask someone else to take these risks for you. If you have a need for this data and are prepared to take the risks of prosecution to obtain it, then that's your choice. Asking for someone else to do it is morally questionable (IMHO).
• Karl von Muller February 14, 2013 at 2:07am

  Robina detention centre? I call conspiracy theory. That said if you manage to get someone to fly any form of UAV/RC over there and they get detained in said camp then I might believe it. 
• 

  Andrew Helgeson February 6, 2013 at 3:39am

  I think the issue here is just plain ignorance.

  These people have never seen a "toy" aircraft with a 2 metre + wingspan before!

  I was cutting out ribs for another two wings for a total span of 4 metres and suggestion it would be better as a biplane and would be "too big to be practical" was funny/annoying.

  I tried explaining aspect ratio, sideways flow of air along a wing, tip vortex drag and was met with blank stares...

  sigh

  Andrew
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  Duncan Greer February 6, 2013 at 2:52am

  Model aircraft rules apply so long as you are using it for 'sport and recreation' - it is nothing to do with the actual weight of the aircraft.  

  If operating at an MAAA field under MAAA rules, aircraft over 7kg need a heavy model inspection certificate.  Over 25kg is a 'giant model'.  
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  Andrew Helgeson February 6, 2013 at 12:33am

  Thats what I thought.

  Basically common sense and good building practices.

  Seriously, if most model flyers had seen what, where and how the ArParrot was being flown they would have been horrified.

  I know I was.

  These are the <expletive> guys giving me safety advice.

  Andrew
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  Stephen Dade February 5, 2013 at 11:03pm

  Andrew:

  At this point in time, an Operators Licence is only required for commercial operations. Otherwise, it's covered under the model aircraft regulations.

  The model aircraft regulations require inspections by certified personnel for models above 11kg (not sure of the exact weight).

  It should be noted that any drone operator (commercial or not) is still open to being sued if they damage any people/property during their flight.
• 

  Andrew Helgeson February 5, 2013 at 9:58am

  Hi!

  I was discussing my UAV on the local HackerSpace facebook page and got asked,

  "Do I have a drone operators license?"

  This is the doc I got sent

  http://www.casa.gov.au/wcmswr/_assets/main/rules/1998casr/101/101c0...

  How much of this applies to what we are doing?

  My understanding was if the AUW was under 11kg it was still considered a model aircraft.

  What really pisses me is one of these guys was flying an ARParrot, indoors, within centimetres of small children and I'm getting concerns about safety!!!