"Drone Buzzes President Barack Obama's Motorcade in Hawaii"
Some guy, who received a drone for Christmas happens to be flying when Obama drives by, and the media goes WILD. But they ignore the hundreds of cars on the same highway that are a much higher risk to the president. It's going to be a big uphill struggle to get the society to overcome their fear of drones when the media panics like this.
Imagine what the FAA would do if this toy had crashed into the presidents motorcade?
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A couple of years ago, we moved my wife's mother out of her house, and to our shock and amazement, she still had a rotary-dial phone! And yes the phone company STILL supported it. Furthermore, we also discovered that she RENTED this phone from the phone company! For 30 YEARS! Her logic was simple - this phone worked just fine, and why bother buying a $10 phone that might break, the phone company would just replace it if something went wrong. Never mind that the cost to rent the phone would have paid for a cheap tone-dial phone literally dozens of times! She was raised in the days where he government so over-regulated the communications, ordinary citizens were NOT ALLOWED to actually own the phone! She never changed her thinking, and was content to pay to rent a phone that was worth nothing in real value - and the corporate goons at the local phone company were quite content to rent this worthless phone to an unsuspecting elderly citizen that didn't know better.
The moral of the story? When human beings are 'programmed' to think a certain way, (often times by an oppressive and overbearing government), they cannot break out of this bondage. This is the situation we find ourselves in regarding the FAA and innovation in aviation in general.
Here's a link to a company building flying cars. Henry Ford predicted this in 1940. What do you think the chances are that the FAA and the federal government would lift restrictions enough to make this technology available to the average citizen? I would say its near zero. The rules and regulations that will be applied to this technology will make it so expensive, only the very rich will have access. And as a result, innovation will move at a snails pace. It's been 80 years since Ford made his prediction. The technology indeed exists, but it won't be allowed to flourish under this government.
I see this attitude in so many people. When the FAA announced that we MUST register our drones, my peers at work immediately approached me and told me that I could face a $300,000 dollar fine if I failed to register, knowing that I was a drone enthusiast. They were trying to impose their fear on me. I rejected it, and told them that I am prepared to face the FAA in court over the matter, because congress did not pass any law requiring such a registration, and to force citizens to 'pay to play' (even a small amount like $5), was unconstitutional because it's a tax, and only congress can impose taxes on the people. Congress pass no such law, and no such tax on our hobby, it was a 'bureaucrat' that just created it out of 'thin air'.
What do you think their response to me was? I got strange stares. How could you fight such a powerful government? I told them that I had no plans to register any of my drones because the FAA's actions were illegal and unconstitutional.
I don't think like them. And yes, it could cost to fight for liberty, but if you chose to keep your rotary-dial phone because the 'government' says you must, you will live under the tyranny the bureaucrats dream up for you. Any questions?
+10 Gary McCray Theater and at times Kabuki theater!
Like any organization or culture, the flying hobby has factions. The newcomers always consider the establishment (that BTW set the groundwork for what exists today) out of touch and hostile. The old-school folks are resistant to change and look for definition of how to fit this new thing into the environment they built.
Granted, *some* old-school flyers are out of touch ('If it ain't a war bird, it ain't worth it'). Also grant that *some* newcomers are snotty nosed brats ('Ha ha, dude did you see me fly through that car window?') that think the world is their oyster and that rules and boundaries do not exist. Such is the nature of a culture.
The one thing old and new can agree on is that no one is served well by a government agency that has gotten off the rails. Clearly there is an agenda here that is not being explained by the people that run this government agency. The last decade or so has seen more Executive level decisions, based on what the White House council (read that the President's lawyer) thought they can get away with. The same is true for the FAA. 30 mile ban. Whiskey-Tango-Foxtrot! What do they think they know (remember - there were no WMDs in Iraq) to cause them to over-react in such a way?
It is a pretty day today. I should be flying (take out my APM quad or my old-school Aspire EP -- both!) and not writing a response to a blog post (actually my 2nd on this). The heartbeats I used for this could have been used for something better. Such is life.
-=Doug
I think a possibly equal and just as serious issue is going to rear its ugly head. While the FAA claims divine ownership of all space above the blades of grass, there will be a massive knee jerk move by state and local government to prohibit sUAS from taking to the skies at ground level on "their" property.
"Be thankful I don't take it all"
People are funny.
The media always panics.
The sky is falling is one of their main messages and "drone" is their new favorite word.
Unfortunately, in the US at least, news isn't news, it is theater.
@DG, totally agree with your sentiments. I am wondering if my Skywalker X8 would be considered a 'drone' with the AMA dinosaurs, as it has both fully-automated flight and manual control. Would they take away my GPS before being allowed to fly? There was a time in golf where the 'old school' insisted that hickory shafts and feather balls be kept, as anything else would 'ruin the game', so it appears that there are always a group of old fogies that cannot stand any change, that constantly throw wrenches into the machine of progress because they are dinosaurs and will always be such. The FAA itself is the biggest dinosaur on the planet and is full of bureaucrats that do not have a clue.
I could understand the move to regulate drones if there were some history of violent deaths and destruction associated with them, but there is none. In fact, I can't find one case of a drone-related death, or any incidences of real interference with commercial aircraft. As far as I know, the number is still ZERO.
Ready to push the envelope and stay legal.
Oh ok, I forgot you are in the Forbidden Zone, temporarily of course sarc/off
Take solace in that in the near future if FAA continues down the path, all of us flying these weaponized systems of death and destruction will be effectively banned. I stilll have a $15 14.7g Altitude drone from Walgreen's to terrorize the county with though.
All aircraft are banned within 30 miles of DC. The type of aircraft does not matter. The signage is very confusing because it says "drones" and it has a picture of a multirotor.
Clubs can determine what type of RC craft that flies at their fields. It's pretty clear what is meant by "No Drones Allowed"; Multirotors, like the Solo. It’s the old guard 72 Mhz guys that hate high tech stuff putting up signs like that.
This field recently closed by FAA, calls them “rotorcraft” which I would presume includes multirotors and helicopters; craft that can hover. It may only include helicopters, who knows.
http://www.flyfreestate.com/flying-field/
Read comments by some of the AMA dinosaurs who would love to stop me from flying even on my own property in the middle of nowhere. I believe the AMA will bow to their FAA master if they can protect their members from further regulation and force people to only fly on “approved” fields, pay dues and go through rigorous flight training to learn how to fly in order to be “one of the them”. With today’s technology that is a joke. It is this uppity snobby attitude why I quit the AMA over 20 years ago. But what really gets me is their union-like attitude of only protecting "their members" rather than all Americans who fly responsibly.
http://amablog.modelaircraft.org/amagov/2015/12/17/hold-off-on-regi...
I suspect I'm about the same age as many of the anti-"drone" posters. I flew my first RC plane in 1980, but don't use my Sinclair 1000 today. The new high tech stuff actually makes it fun for me again.
Matthew, There is no difference in a "drone" or any other RC type aircraft. They are all under the same category as UAS. So your club basically is banning themselves from flying any RC aircraft of ALL types.
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