The cat may have inadvertently been let out of the satchel about UAS airworthiness and certification on twitter. There are also some indications that the small rule is being redrafted. Again, while these iterations are made the small business guy is sitting on the sideline. I have expressed multiple concerns over the years about any aircraft certification or pilot certification process that was too onerous for small business. I was assured that the small businessperson would be considered. However, there is concern as the “public” and small business stakeholder has not been part of the process for some time. Years have ticked by, and we have nothing to show for representation.
Occurrences like these of hiding information suggest that there is ample cause for concern and only further undermines the public trust in the UAS rulemaking process.
Lets hope this doesn’t mean that we need to start building Raven type aircraft. A petition is in the works to hopefully end the DoD vendor controlled, and apparent FAA sanctioned disenfranchisement of the “public” and small business end-user.
Developing
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Well, airworthiness is going to add a whole new dimension to cost and complexity. :-(
You can't build that school until they publish the requirements. Perhaps they will accept tickets from Canada, Australia or the UK when it starts so worth getting now.
This is going to suck. Somebody should build a UAV pilots school for people who will need the FAA stamp but dont need to fly a full scale plane.
In Europe you do need to be instrument rated for BLOS, most of my chums that do that sort of thing are ATPL's But having said that exceptions are beginning to be made for companies with proven experience. The poster child being the crowd in France that are let out to 100km. I guess that's the benefit of starting with very small stuff in 2007 and building operational knowledge. You let people get bigger and go further as they demonstrate safe operation.
IMHO the FAA start everything at the same time from Global Hawk to a DJI Phantom is a much more sensible approach why waste years and years of scaling. Bigger is best. I look forward to 2020 the current target for the start of ops. Hang on just a minute.........
That means they will own the airspace, and all the business.
But what could those multinationals possibly want with a photoshoot of say, a grand opening of a new Dennies restaurant or photos of a dairy farm??
I pulled that strait out of a letter headed for the Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety. This nonsense has got to come to a stop.
Latest I'm hearing is instrument rating!
Oh, I love Patrick's comment: "...hopefully end the DoD vendor controlled, and apparent FAA sanctioned disenfranchisement of the “public” and small business end-user."
Bullseye!
I've never heard a truer assessment of the mess we are in!
Wow!