PhilosopherPilot
Well-Known Member
Ah, primacy at work. Since it will take a lot to convince you that your instructors were wrong, I'm bowing out of the conversation.
Maybe someone on here knows where to find the actual legal interpretation?
Busting the GoPro Drone Cowboys
- Thread starter tomokc
- Start date
Ah, primacy at work. Since it will take a lot to convince you that your instructors were wrong, I'm bowing out of the conversation.
Maybe someone on here knows where to find the actual legal interpretation?
Minuteman
I HAVE STRONG OPINIONS ABOUT AUTOMOTIVE LIGHTING!
FAA Form 7711-2 "Application for Certificate of Waiver of Authorization"
Barack Hussein Obama gets a TFR, why can't I have one?!
Barack Hussein Obama gets a TFR, why can't I have one?!
FAA Form 7711-2 "Application for Certificate of Waiver of Authorization"
Barack Hussein Obama gets a TFR, why can't I have one?!
Because I said so. EAT YOUR CONEY ISLAND.
Bernoulli Fan
Controller
I have no problem agreeing with what you've said here. There are plenty of places, however, where there is nothing, and you can fly as low as you want, without hazard if you lose an engine of course. Another detail is it doesn't say 500' ABOVE any structure, etc. You could fly parallel to a fence 500' away and 10' off the ground.
wheelsup
Well-Known Member
If someone is flying <400' above the ground they have a lot more to worry about than hitting than a random rc aircraft. I'd be much more worried about the 10-20 billion birds in the US at that altitude.
14 years flying below 400' -> one bird hit. Not bad!
thevideographer
Well-Known Member
It's amazing any crop dusters make it past their first flight!
lightspeed
Well-Known Member
How about these guys be pro-active and install anti-collision lights on their planes if they're going to go far/high... may help fend off the regulatory hammer for a little while. Also staying out of obviously congested airspace would be nice.
(I know, the guys that are responsible and courteous aren't the problem.)
(I know, the guys that are responsible and courteous aren't the problem.)
RDoug
Well-Known Member
Tram
Well-Known Member
All of that, when you could have simply shot the guy an email and attempted to meet with him. Teach him, etc.
No, we'd rather sic the government on them.
'Merica!
Tram
Well-Known Member
I have a good friend who works with the DEN FSDO.
They violated a guy for trying to land in a frozen runway that had 2 snowmobiles on it.
Itchy
Well-Known Member
I dunno. Sometimes I am told there is a heavy less than three miles away, and I can't see them. Eye appointment next week however...
The guy's an idiot - 1,200' AGL two miles from an airport on the extended centerline, posting an image with an email address soliciting aerial photography business. And he posted a YouTube video flying past the windows of multi-million dollar resort homes. (Image and video have since disappeared - I'm guessing that one of the residents had a chat with him.) And you want me to invite this complete stranger over for coffee to discuss the responsible use of airspace?
Even though FAA thoroughly screwed the pooch in writing regs for these things, it IS the government's job to regulate them.
Tram
Well-Known Member
Let's travel down the rabbit hole for a minute..
First of all, I'm not defending the guy. What he is doing near an airport is wrong. We are in agreement here.
Is he an idiot? Beats me. The guy is piloting something you most likely aren't able to fly. Does that make him smarter than you? Awful judgmental to call someone an idiot when he's made some mistakes, but perhaps, you are perfect?
So, all the idiot talk aside, let's assume that this guy doesn't understand that being two miles from the airport is a big deal. Perhaps a discussion (via phone call, e-mail, or sure, coffee) could point him in the right direction. You, yourself, even allude to this possibility solving the issue with the owners of multi-million dollar resort homes reference..
Can you link to his YT page? I'd love to check out his highly destructive machine. I'd be willing to bet the thing's AUW is less than 10lbs, and that's on the large end of things..
I guess you're right, it's totally out of the realm of possibilities that you could take a minute or 10 out of your day (lets pretend this thread doesn't exist, because you're already expending the time) and attempt to educate someone, rather than immediately run to the feds, but hey, that's just me I guess..
I hope you never get to deal with the feds in any negative manner.
I hate that our society is more and more dependent on legal action against every single perceived wrongdoing. Run to the government at every little thing that offends you, and let the police handle it. Is there a safety issue here? I don't know, as I haven't seen the video. But your first response was to spend time figuring out exactly where this guy was flying, assume from an email address what his intentions were, and then spend time chatting to the FSDO and airport about this "safety hazard?" Why not shoot the guy an email and tell him your concerns. He may not even know there's an airport nearby, and you could point him towards some online resources to help him out in the future. When people ask me where I fly, they often respond with, "Really? I didn't even know ________ had an airport!" Instead of educating the guy, he may now be facing legal action (I doubt anyone will pursue this, but still.)
We have so many laws on the books that you can't go a day without inadvertently violating one, and it's partly because of busy-bodies like the OP. It's also partly caused by people like the OP describes who do stupid, possibly dangerous, things either knowingly or unknowingly. It's all fun and games 'til someone gets hurt. After that, we get more and more laws.
Most people in my community store worthless crap in their garage, and leave their $30K vehicles parked in the driveway. The driveways are kind of small, so most people end up partially or completely blocking the sidewalk. Besides being annoying to have to walk around cars every other driveway, it could be unsafe as it forces people to walk into the street. Oh, it's also illegal. I've never called the cops on any of these folks, but I have mentioned it to them when I see the owners out when I'm on a walk. Virtually every single person has responded with a genuine, "Thanks, I had no idea!" and after that friendly chat, they keep their cars pulled up out of the sidewalk. See how that works? No cops needed. Sure there will be people who just don't care, and the cops may need to eventually address the issue with a few folks, but for the most part problems can be resolved without getting law enforcement involved.
We have so many laws on the books that you can't go a day without inadvertently violating one, and it's partly because of busy-bodies like the OP. It's also partly caused by people like the OP describes who do stupid, possibly dangerous, things either knowingly or unknowingly. It's all fun and games 'til someone gets hurt. After that, we get more and more laws.
Most people in my community store worthless crap in their garage, and leave their $30K vehicles parked in the driveway. The driveways are kind of small, so most people end up partially or completely blocking the sidewalk. Besides being annoying to have to walk around cars every other driveway, it could be unsafe as it forces people to walk into the street. Oh, it's also illegal. I've never called the cops on any of these folks, but I have mentioned it to them when I see the owners out when I'm on a walk. Virtually every single person has responded with a genuine, "Thanks, I had no idea!" and after that friendly chat, they keep their cars pulled up out of the sidewalk. See how that works? No cops needed. Sure there will be people who just don't care, and the cops may need to eventually address the issue with a few folks, but for the most part problems can be resolved without getting law enforcement involved.
desertdog71
Girthy Member
Eff that. Bring the pain. Bwahahaha.
I had no problem with the video although I heard that others did from a privacy standpoint, and it's been pulled from YouTube. My concern is with the still image, and where the drone was when it captured it.
Maybe it’s acceptable to you for drones to operate unpredictably, incommunicado and without notice 1,200’ AGL two miles from the threshold – and on the extended centerline – of a runway you’re about to use. To me it isn’t, nor is it with the other pilots I’ve spoken with about this, who are familiar with this town and airport. Hitting a drone would probably be similar to a bird strike which can be minor (I hit a seagull with a C-421 wing root and it was only a bang with some blood), but can be catastrophic (a friend and his four passengers were killed six years ago following a bird strike in a Citation immediately after takeoff). Since this guy thought it was OK to fly his drone at 1,200 & two from the airport a couple of weeks ago, it’s reasonable to assume that he’d continue doing that, and eventually be joined by others who similarly didn’t understand the threat they posed.
I live 1,000 miles away. I don’t know this guy or have his phone number. I doubt that an email from a total stranger characterizing his drone's operation as unsafe would go over very well, especially since there are no laws or regs to back that up. But if it was someone I DID know, I'd gladly sit down over a beer or coffee and show them. That option didn’t exist with this guy.
Maybe it’s acceptable to you for drones to operate unpredictably, incommunicado and without notice 1,200’ AGL two miles from the threshold – and on the extended centerline – of a runway you’re about to use. To me it isn’t, nor is it with the other pilots I’ve spoken with about this, who are familiar with this town and airport. Hitting a drone would probably be similar to a bird strike which can be minor (I hit a seagull with a C-421 wing root and it was only a bang with some blood), but can be catastrophic (a friend and his four passengers were killed six years ago following a bird strike in a Citation immediately after takeoff). Since this guy thought it was OK to fly his drone at 1,200 & two from the airport a couple of weeks ago, it’s reasonable to assume that he’d continue doing that, and eventually be joined by others who similarly didn’t understand the threat they posed.
I live 1,000 miles away. I don’t know this guy or have his phone number. I doubt that an email from a total stranger characterizing his drone's operation as unsafe would go over very well, especially since there are no laws or regs to back that up. But if it was someone I DID know, I'd gladly sit down over a beer or coffee and show them. That option didn’t exist with this guy.
Tram
Well-Known Member
Can you link me to his YouTube account?
BobDDuck
Island Bus Driver
That's because what you are flying is so ugly that it just scares the birds away.
Sol Rosenburg
Well-Known Member
Texas passed a law saying you can't photograph private property from the above airspace without permission. As far as I know its not been court challenged yet. Its not an outright ban on drone photo flying but it sort of negates it legally.