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Amazon warns FAA it could move more drone research abroad
Amazon wants permission for outdoor drone testing in the U.S., or it will focus on development efforts in other countries, according to a letter from Amazon to the FAA. (in.reuters.com) Más...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
Read my reply to preacher as it was in the paper from Portland Or this month in an interview with one of the top execs.
The FAA needs to go ahead and write the regs for commercial drones. I spoke with a local FSDO person (who wishes to remain nameless). He said the regs most likely will require drone pilots to have a Commercial pilots license for either fixed wing or rotor and be under the same requirements as all other fixed wing and rotor pilots. Then there is the issue of ADS-B In and Out. With that being said, by the time the bureaucrats and the lawyers finish with the rules and insurance regs, dronecraft equipment requirements, the costs will far exceed FedEx, UPS, or even a courier service. Just write the regs for commercial use, tighten up the rules if needed for hobbyists so all the Yahoos who think because they have a computer they can get into commercial drone service will SHUT UP. I fly in VERY congested airspace. The thoughts of having to deal with drones as well is a frightening prospect.
Well written Sharon Stewart; I concur and agree.
I think there will have to be hobbyist rules, search/rescue/Private land like farmers, and such type exemptions but the commercial use has to be tightened down.
Let's forget Amazon for a minute. "Commercial" farmer's can't even fly drones *ON THEIR OWN LAND* to observe crops, vs having to go out in the field and take samples manually. In Japan, they've been using unmanned helos *for decades* to do spraying, etc.
Ie, we're not even talking about flying around in a metropolitan area, or near airports, etc., but even on someone's own private property, and officially, anyone wanting to do so is strictly forbidden. *That's* the problem.
So just like pollies and lawn-forcers trying to push unpopular laws, you find an even *more* unpopular scapegoat like a baby-raper or something, prosecute him under some new odious law, and then you can go and, say, (mis)apply RICO laws against the BSA (Boy Scouts of America).
And then people wonder why granma and grampa are getting prosecuted under some federal law for "diverting water resources" by collecting rainwater in a barrel or something.
Amazon and its antics have become a popular punching-bag if not laughingstock, but the issue about "drones" is way deeper than this nonsense indicates.
Ie, we're not even talking about flying around in a metropolitan area, or near airports, etc., but even on someone's own private property, and officially, anyone wanting to do so is strictly forbidden. *That's* the problem.
So just like pollies and lawn-forcers trying to push unpopular laws, you find an even *more* unpopular scapegoat like a baby-raper or something, prosecute him under some new odious law, and then you can go and, say, (mis)apply RICO laws against the BSA (Boy Scouts of America).
And then people wonder why granma and grampa are getting prosecuted under some federal law for "diverting water resources" by collecting rainwater in a barrel or something.
Amazon and its antics have become a popular punching-bag if not laughingstock, but the issue about "drones" is way deeper than this nonsense indicates.
Why do you assume that farms are only located out in the boondocks? I have no less than a dozen airports within 40 miles of me, including IAD and six different military fields, and I have a farm less than a 1/4 mile down the road. I regularly have air traffic passing overhead at low altitude going into KEZF, just a couple miles south of me. Not exactly an area where drone operation by farmers would be a good idea.
It's not even determined on a case-by-case basis, just a blanket "Nein!".
Limit farm drones to, say, a 50'-100' ceiling, which should be more than enough to check what they have to, or to spray, or do whatever.
If I could fly a RC plane or helo and that's fine, why not something more sophisticated that *can* determine via GPS whether/not it strayed into forbidden airspace, or better yet, prevent it from even happening? Or something that can be preprogrammed with its own to-the-letter flightpath that only snakes back'n'forth over the fields at treetop height and then comes back home without deviation? With a RC plane, I can lose control of it and have it fly "unmanned" purely at random into someone else's flightpath.
Point is, even out in the desert with no one around, no APs within miles, middle of nowhere, you can't even fly a drone to to take pix of cacti and lizards, not if you're doing it "commercially".
Limit farm drones to, say, a 50'-100' ceiling, which should be more than enough to check what they have to, or to spray, or do whatever.
If I could fly a RC plane or helo and that's fine, why not something more sophisticated that *can* determine via GPS whether/not it strayed into forbidden airspace, or better yet, prevent it from even happening? Or something that can be preprogrammed with its own to-the-letter flightpath that only snakes back'n'forth over the fields at treetop height and then comes back home without deviation? With a RC plane, I can lose control of it and have it fly "unmanned" purely at random into someone else's flightpath.
Point is, even out in the desert with no one around, no APs within miles, middle of nowhere, you can't even fly a drone to to take pix of cacti and lizards, not if you're doing it "commercially".
Think this would make them reconsider?