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Thread: Drones..not more talk about Drones......

  1. #1

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    Drones..not more talk about Drones......

    I was told by the airpark owner that he was contacted and asked if the people using these drones can come onto his property and show my area what these drones are all about. If you would like info on this I will post it. I am going to take video of this and post that for those whom can not attained. My question was under what rules do these drones fly....AMA or FAA....? No one could answer this.

  2. #2

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    Above 400' AGL the FAA has something to say about it. Suggest that you look at a sectional chart and see whether you are under any Class E, D, C, etc airspace.

    Best of luck,

    Wes
    N78PS

  3. #3

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    Quote Originally Posted by WLIU View Post
    Above 400' AGL the FAA has something to say about it. Suggest that you look at a sectional chart and see whether you are under any Class E, D, C, etc airspace.

    Best of luck,

    Wes
    N78PS
    Wes, do these things fly over 400'? I know nothing about these drones. We boarder the 10 mile mark to a class c airspace. Capital Airport. So as long as these drones fly under 400' the AMA covers them? The AMA does not allow FPV flying not without a spotter and must never leave line of site. From my understanding these drones go outside line of site so I would think the AMA has nothing to do with these things.

  4. #4

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    1600vw,

    Yes, post the video and whatever information you can obtain along with the source of that information. Perhaps we can prevent yet another "rant" on this thread based on speculation. At this point it isn't clear if your dealing with a serious drone like a armed Predator/Hawk or just the basic RC type of airplane or helio. There is a big business opportunity in the small/short range observation drones that are coming soon to much of the country. This will be something like the internet, with cool benefits and some serious downsides.


    Joe

  5. #5

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    Quote Originally Posted by Joe LaMantia View Post
    1600vw,

    Yes, post the video and whatever information you can obtain along with the source of that information. Perhaps we can prevent yet another "rant" on this thread based on speculation. At this point it isn't clear if your dealing with a serious drone like a armed Predator/Hawk or just the basic RC type of airplane or helio. There is a big business opportunity in the small/short range observation drones that are coming soon to much of the country. This will be something like the internet, with cool benefits and some serious downsides.


    Joe
    Joe I am on it. I asked about the size of these things and no one knows anything. I guess we will see just what shows up. They asked for a 2 1/2 hour time slot. I believe this is next month, I will keep everyone posted.

  6. #6

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    First, the FAA is a regulatory agency. If by "AMA" you mean Academy of Model Aeronautics, they have no regulatory weight or force of law. I will hazard a guess that the model's folks operating guidelines are intended to keep the RC flyers from running into one another, losing their ships due to radio interference, and doing something that gets the FAA excited about their use of the airspace.

    Now that said, "drones" is a pejorative term these days. The few folks that I know in the UAV/UAS business call them exactly that - Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. There is an official restricted area near me that recently had its operating hours expanded by Notice To Airmen for the purpose of testing some autonomous (pre-programmed navigation) UAV operations.

    Now based on the little info in the first post, we can only guess that someone with an RC aircraft outfitted with a camera or something wants to show it off. I understand that some folks are using these commercially for various purposes. If that guess, and it is only a guess, is correct, then they have to stay under an altitude that will get the attention of the FAA and they need to avoid making your neighbors unhappy.

    Now if you are just under the edge of a Class C airspace, I will suggest that you look at the sectional chart and see what the floor of the Class C airspace above you is. And the folks who fly out of your field should have an idea as to whether any of the arrival or departure routes pass overhead. But the FAA position appears to be that you get 400' AGL although the R/C folks have been arguing this for a while.

    If you really want to go out on a limb and poke the bear, a telephone call to your local FSDO might result in an interesting conversation.

    Best of luck,

    Wes
    Last edited by WLIU; 05-24-2013 at 09:03 AM.

  7. #7

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    Wes this is not some guys with a FPV wanting to show it off. These folks said they will be flying these things to check crops and such, like the pipe line the put in a few years ago. Maybe they did state this is a UAV operation but it was stated to me the drones are coming and will be doing a demo flight for us. I will post the video when this happens and you can see for yourself. RC guys wanting to show off equipment...give me a break. You really think I would post about that....come on.....

  8. #8

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    1600vw,

    Based on your last post, it seems like the military UAV's are not the subject, but the commercial applications are the focus. This is going to be a big business and as usual there is a big race to get into it on the "ground floor". Here in SW Ohio we have a technical school with a large aviation program that is setting up two degree courses to supply this new business. The "Geekie" side deals with all the technical stuff both hardware and software for the "sensors" and the vehicles' power and control systems. The flying side is still a bit unclear, but the minimum requirement to operate one of these is a Private Pilot license, most will require a Commercial license with an Instrument Rating. The business applications can be a huge game changer for some segments of aviation. Things like crop dusting, mapping, pipe/power line inspections could be handled by UAV's and will probably require the Commercial license to operate. As of today, Georgia is probably the nations leader in providing trained manpower for this economic sector but other aviation centers like Dayton are gearing up...the forecast is for 100,000 jobs in this industry within a few years. I'm guessing what your going to see is a traveling "dog and pony" show on the wonderful "opportunities" this new technology will bring to all America. As usual there is little if any mention of possible negative outcomes, so we'll end up at the back of the parade with shovels cleaning up behind the elephants.

    If you get a chance to ask questions see if you can get some straight answers on impacts to the flying public, my guess is that they are not well prepared to deal with hard questions at this time.


    Joe

  9. #9

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    Joe you hit the nail on the head. I told the owner of this airpark a lot of people would like to know a little more about these things. My first question was just how do they fly these things? We all know the typical RC pilot whom stands on the field with a radio in his hands. Or will this PIC be in a small shed type building and flying from that? At what altitude do these fly at and just how do they plan on avoiding airplanes that do not carry a transponder, for I am sure they use some sort of TAS system. I look forward to learning more about these and will keep everyone posted with a video.

  10. #10

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    By definition, a drone is capable of being flown beyond line of site and/or weighs more than 55 lbs and/or used for commerical purposes. The FAA will regulate drones but the rules have yet to be written so I think it's a bit premature to worry about specifics.

    While there is potential for a lot of drone business, that works both ways. Countermeasures will become readily available and it might be fun to watch a UVS go down in flames. I can see drone operators spoofing each other's equipment for competitive purposes, lol.

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