Please see this warning from the Los Angeles Police Department, sent to the California Association of Realtors. Discussion on helifreak here. More background and discussion here. I'll be talking to the NYT about this tomorrow.
Short form: Amateur UAV use within the usual FAA guidelines (under 400ft, within visual line-of-sight, away from built-up-areas) is allowed, as always. But commercial use requires a COA, which you're not going to get. So there's nothing new here, but it's a reminder that the guidelines will be enforced.
LAPD Warning Against Hiring Unmanned Aircraft Operators for Aerial Photos
Los Angeles authorities have asked C.A.R. to communicate this warning to REALTORS® who hire unmanned aircraft operators to take aerial photographs for marketing high-end properties. Using these devices (also known as drones) for flight in the air with no onboard pilot may violate, among other things, the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) policy on unmanned aircrafts, and Los Angeles's local ordinance requiring permits for filming commercial motion pictures and still photographs.
The Los Angeles Police Department's (LAPD) investigation has apparently revealed that aerial photos where unmanned aircraft were observed have appeared on certain real estate sales websites. According to FilmL.A., the LAPD Air Division has issued this warning as it intends to prosecute violators in the near future. FilmL.A. is a public benefit company created by the City and County of Los Angeles to manage film permit activity and related issues.
Under the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)'s current policy, no one can operate an unmanned aircraft in the National Airspace System without specific authority. Operators who wish to fly an unmanned aircraft for civil use must obtain an FAA experimental airworthiness certificate, which will not be issued to an unmanned aircraft used for compensation or hire. Although the FAA allows hobbyists to fly model airplanes for recreational purposes under specific guidelines, that authority does not extend to operators flying unmanned aircraft for business purposes. More information is available from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Notice on Unmanned Aircraft Operations and the FAA's policy.
Comments
This reminds me of Tower regulations regarding Amateur radio in a concentrated population with CCR's.
I am not too sure how a picture or a video is a crime.
However a camera showing a crime taking place on a neighbor is a good thing.
Unless law enforcement does not want the see or hear such.
there probably just worried that the paparazzi are going to use suas to photograph celebrities .
If the car dealership baloon is under size/weight limit then it is not required to have a flight termination device or follow other requirements listed in the regulations. There is a limit for all baloons, kites and rockets.
Sorry about the double post above. <-- removed for you -->
What blows my mind is that people are still surprised by this. Ignorance of the law is no defence.
The pilot on board a balloon is the cut down device that is required just like should be fitted to that car dealers blimp should there be a flyaway.
For me the biggest issue with a lack of regs is that it has held back small business and ground has been lost. Oh and look January is over almost and no word from the FAA. All that pre Christmas hype.
Oh look that rumour was around in 2010 http://www.suasnews.com/2010/09/1331/euphemisms-for-progress%E2%80%A6/ Then raised its head again last September, I wonder if nothing happens soon it will rise from the ashes this September.
I do think around April/May there will be some sort of movement. AV and the others are desperate to sell to 18k police stations. What might then happen is that the Police will find its not as simple as the brochure said it would be.
I will say it again, RCAPA is free to join but judging by the way the FB page is not filling apathy still rules the day over there. http://www.facebook.com/groups/317984811558233/
Once rules come in, and they will one day, the FAA will have scores of small business people willing to shop people operating in an unlicensed manner as its in their interest to make sure they do. Its how these things work.
I don't buy the story of the tethered manned helicopter not being considered as flying. A hot air baloon designed to carry passengers/pilot still requires a rated and current pilot onboard when tethered.
I have been researching and discussing this issue with a local FAA representative and its not an easy avenue to go down. I reccomend you research the existing regulations before complaining about your interpretation of them. The regulations exist and they are going to chang. All we can do is lobby, vote, obey, (wash, rinse) and repeat. It's our right and obligation.
It may be the Real Estate industry the forces the laws to change to accommodate the used of UAVs commercially. They have a lot of clout, and the savings they get from using UAVs instead of expensive airplanes and helicopters goes right into their bottom lines.
"According to FilmL.A., the LAPD Air Division has issued this warning as it intends to prosecute violators in the near future. "
That does absolutely SCREAM sour grapes. The FAA made us stop, so now were on some sort of mission to make everyone else stop too. C'mon......LAPD, I would expect more then that kind of pettiness out of an accredited law enforcment agency. Don't you have better things to do?
Whether the FAA or LAPD likes it, I don't forsee realtors shunning use of Aerial photography and video companies just because the FAA has labeled it as some sort of airspace violation. A small remote control helicopter flying at around 100 feet taking snapshots of someones home or video of someones property being declared a threat to airspace: so absurd it's intellectually insulting.
I think the trouble has been stirred up by lame Cessna operators who have lost business to UAV start-ups. In the UK the CAA make a lot of money farting about with paperwork. They have a form for everything and a fee to go with it. The AOC used to cost me about 20 K per year just to take photography yet I could tow banners with just a ops. manual. Simply because they were not enough banner towers around for them to make money out of it.
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