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  • It's important to note that people - and skills - and other qualities lie on a scale - perhaps a bell curve, perhaps not - BUT, it's not one or the other.

    In 3+ years of flying Phantoms I have not crashed...in the real sense (maybe a quickie flip when I started in tall weeds, etc.). Yet I am not a trained pilot of any sort.

    I am older, conservative and a sailor - meaning that I know what wind does, watch the weather, etc. 

    On the other hand, I often crashed or lost my earlier models...like the Dualsky Hornet, etc - because they did not have the intelligence of the newer models.

    While it is true that technology does make up for judgement and experience, it does allow one to learn the technology - which is often easier than learning - for example - how to pilot a machine with only limited stabilization.

    Power steering, power brakes and anti-lock brakes, etc. do allow a driver to make up for their lesser strength and many other things.

    IMHO, you have to be fairly clueless to buy a $1500 machine and no do your homework. As I like to describe it, it's like buying a nice MacBook Pro and then playing disc golf with it. I cringe when I read the typical "this was the worst day of my life" posts...after folks crash a 1K+ bird....because I know exactly how they feel. Very few hobbies or sports involve such a quick loss of funds. 

  • Right on. Well said.

  • Technology is a double edged sword in our case.  It is in the industries interests to see the boundaries of whats possible with drones pushed to the limits.  The industry needs buyers, buyers who increasingly more often than not are completely unaware how to safely fly or operate a UAS without hardware and software enhancements.   I have read the comment on more than one occasion that technology will be our saving grace, and people ignorant on how to properly operate such hardware safely and in accordance with the laws will be of little or no concern in the future. This is simply not true, and likely won't be any time in the foreseeable future. People who are counting on hardware and software to make up for lack of experience and better judgment need a dose of reality.  Multi-million dollar drones are still prone to failure even at the hands of the most experienced operators, so how much more reliable can we expect a $1000 dollar consumer drone to be? I question the judgment and knowledge of anyone who tells me otherwise, and I am sure many of the long time members here will agree.  I read posts on this forum where people are chastising anyone who is perturbed by people like Casey.  They accuse those people of being jealous or contemptuous.  Wrong! We waited six months for our exemption to pass.  We only fly commercial jobs with licensed PICs'.  We are extremely cautious whenever operating, even the smallest of rigs, when the risk of injury to persons, or damage to property is high. However, we are expected to turn a blind eye to those who operate however they want without any regard to law or safety. This is simply wrong! If we turn a blind eye to people like this hoping they go away, they never will, it will only become normalized with time, and the likelihood of death or injury will only increase. Under those auspices what incentive do we then have to follow the rules already established by the FAA if they are not going to be enforced?  I personally feel it is our responsibility to police our own industry.  The lack of it has gotten us to where we are now. I don't see taking a lackadaisical approach to this working well for us.  

    Finally, for anyone thinking their P4 or whatever is going to makeup for lack of experience and better judgement, keep thinking that.  Just please don't forget to post your crash footage on youtube to share with the rest of us if/when it happens. :)

  • Dave Pitman posted the above video at RCG.

    According to one individual, it is not likely DJI unlocked anything in order for Casey to fly where he does.

    http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=34898903&postcoun...

    RC Groups - View Single Post - Official DJI GEO System - News, Public Beta and information
    RC Groups - the most active Radio Control model community: electric and fuel rc airplanes,rc helis,rc boats and rc cars. Features discussion forums,…
  • Excellent Gary!
  • Moderator

    My thoughts in the form of video

  • Dusan, (assuming you're in the USA), To assume any legislator or politician has 'societies' good in mind is completely naive.  They have the interests of their own bank accounts and the corporate lobbyists who pay them in mind, and that is all!  That's why it's so difficult to take ANY new law or regulation seriously.  They're clearly not for societies benefit. 

  • @Dusan, all of that assumes that regulations are a result of logic instead of hysteria.

  • So when New York City post 25mph speed rule you should get upset on few drivers that were speeding and endangering a life of others, but not on safety council that did educated research  on the matter and decided that such speed limit would save lives.  Rules and regulations shouldn't be made  based on an action of individuals but with greater society benefit in mind. So if legislator  decides that all multi rotors are banned for good as much as that would hurt our community and hobby it would serve a greater good of our society.

    I was of the same opinion that carless RC/Drone operators should be prevented so we the rest of the community don't suffer the consequences. But if you think about it in a long run regardless of what they as irresponsible operators  did or did not, we will have strict guidelines on how to operate in civil airspace.  It was a hobby and privilege at one point but it  has evolved to consumer product same way that two-way radio evolved to a cel-phone. Yes you can do more harm with flying lawnmower than cell-phone and that's why we can expect more strict regulations regardless of Casey or Aeroworks. 

    @Jason

    You are not getting any leeway by personally prosecuting irresponsible pilots, the same way your car insurance will never go down regardless of you driving record.

  • Bullshit, the only prerequisite to educating a fool is to first convince him that he is in fact a fool.  Ghandi and MLK weren't aviators, so I can understand their limitations.

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