Hey all, I am normally more of a reader on here than a writer but I can see that we Have a Problem here with drone (hate that word) safety and reckless pilots.
I had an idea to create a website purely informational on drone safety, the do's and dont's. No spam, no blog posts, just the info that people need to know.
- Don't fly over people
- Don't fly over 400ft.
- ......
You get the idea.
Fact is there are too many people buying ready to fly quads that have no idea on the risks, or are just reckless pilots. Just look at some of the recent stories on here, the FAA ban on FPV........
In my opinion there is enough man power on here to build a website where people can go and check the general rules and Laws in there country and get flying responsibly.
We could get in contact with some of the big manufacturers and ask them to put a link on their purchase page to get the info where it needs to be.
This needs to be a group effort, we need to get the ball back in our court. I have built basic websites before but im not the best, at the moment it is just an idea.
Who's interested and how can you help?
So there it is, my idea. let see if we can get the ball rolling.
____Edit: 14.07.2014
Main Rules to be On webite:
1. Dont fly over Crowded or urban areas
2. Allways fly within visual line of sight (VLOS)
3. Dont Fly above 400ft. or 120Meters, normal air traffic starts at 500ft.
4. Dont fly near airports, flying withing 8km or 5 miles of an airport is extremely dangerous.
Comments
@ gary, That is great. Exactly what i had in mind!!! I like the way You expaind each point, that helps understand more. Ithink it would be a good idea to Make a page for Preflight and maybe another for maintenace and what to check on the UAV after a crash. That being said I think it is important as Quadzimodo says that it stays on one page.
Had a look through your website too which is very good lots of valubale info!
I think it would be good as you said to make a PDF also, with illustrations. Im busy at work for a few days but when i get back I will try and put something together, Im not that good with corel but ill give it a go. :)
I might also send out some emails and see if People will link to it so as many people have EASY access to it.
All the best,
Luke
Lookin' good Gary!
Keeping these things simple and concise enough to fit on a single page, even if it ends up being double sided, is definitely the way to go.
Hi All,
I have put together basic HTML stand alone safety pages for UAV Airplanes, Quadcopters and Multicopters which are on my Drones, Quadcopters and Multicopters Are Fun web sites here:
http://dronesarefun.com/DronesAreFunSafetyPage.html
http://quadcoptersarefun.com/QuadcoptersAreFunSafetyPage.html
http://multicoptersarefun.com/MulticoptersAreFunSafetyPage.html
These are each stand alone HTML pages which will print to a single page and which can be copied to any web site simply by selecting HTML mode because they are entirely on that one page including embedded CSS and nothing external.
On my sites they are linked from the home page for each site as well as from the table of contents and the drop down link menu at the top of each page.
http://dronesarefun.com/index.html
I am thinking of adding a very short (4 or 5 lines) pre-flight check section at the end but want to keep this page short and to the (most important) points.
Each of my sites also has a larger more expansive safety page, but it is not as easy to read or "pointed" as this one.
I think we may also want a separate checklist oriented preflight page for each UAV type also.
Just wanted you to all go and take a look at the pages above and offer your thoughts and concerns.
A longer one can be useful too, but for this first one I don't want to make it much bigger.
Also I know an illustrated one might be worthwhile, and I am happy to do that as an alternative also, but that will not be an easily portable standalone HTML page as images really require links to external files.
I could easily make a PDF illustrated page though.
I have also produced this page designed to be printed and handed out to people who might be present when you are flying to introduce them to our hobby in a favorable light (and possibly to prevent the odd Psycho from knocking you to the ground and sitting on you while claiming to be assaulted).
http://dronesarefun.com/DronesAreOK.html
Hope this helps.
Best Regards,
Gary
However making a List of "Unofficial rules" is going to be quite simple to implement, just look at what they are doing in Australia with the "E-brochure".
In my opinion it should be just a few rules then linking to more information if people want to read it, which most probably wont. Im going to see what I can come up with with some of the other members help and will make a new post when we've got something ready.
I expect that not being able to deploy UAVs for humanitarian purposes in areas of conflict is a great impediment to your work, so hopefully this will change sooner rather than later.
I guess a lot of that comes down to how we behave as a community, so we really have to start getting proactive with formalising some of the things we are discussing here such as distribution of basic model aircraft guidelines to all UAV pilots (such as at point of sale, under the direction of some form of voluntary or mandated system) as well as formulation of official codes of practice and codes of conduct.
I think you may be biting off more than you can chew.
So compiling a list of actual laws and rules is literally impossible if you ask me. Even if someone managed to compile every relevant law from every state plus federal regualtions, someone would then need to keep it up to date on an ongoing basis. And it would always have to have the *check local laws before flying disclaimer since we can't know that. And then there is the little detail about having something published incorrectly and being sued for giving someone the wrong advice.
Personally I would stick to the common sense stuff and the things that people just don't think about because they don't know any better. 90% of these people are not out there trying to be unsafe. They just don't know any better. They see a new toy they're playing with and don't even realize the implications.
Thanks for reading and for your feedback, Q. The principle of Do No Harm is a foundational element of humanitarian response. The use of civilian / humanitarian UAVs in conflict zones may potentially backfire and put more people in harm's way. For now, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN/OCHA) is advising that humanitarian UAVs only be used following natural disasters. This may change in time when best practices are formulated around the use of UAVs in contested areas & airspaces.
Of course, the UN's Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) has been using UAVs since 2006 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) for surveillance purposes vis-a-vis armed militias. I'm in touch with another UN agency to start a discussion on how humanitarians should deal with military or PKOs who want to let them use UAV capacities (in both conflict and natural disaster settings).
I had a good look over your code of conduct when you posted about the UAViators website originally. Overall they are pretty well thought out and I understand the intent behind each line, however some aspects seem somewhat onerous and limiting for your members.
For example - "Do not operate humanitarian UAVs in conflict zones or in countries under repressive, authoritarian rule; particularly if military drones have recently been used in these countries". Have you considered just how much of the globe that one line puts off limits to UAViator members?
Hi All,
The Humanitarian UAV Network has developed a Code of Conduct and Operational Check-List for the purpose of increasing safety. More here:
http://uaviators.org/docs
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