Packages delivered by drones..Say Amazon

[1600vw]

I just heard this on the news. Amazon will be delivering any package under 5lbs by drone. I never really thought this would go this far. I myself believed these drones would be used by farmers and law enforcement.
Now this may not be a big deal to someone flying GA. But some of us flying more Ultralight style Experimental aircraft this could be a problem. With all the little air strips around me, I can just see these things buzzing around at 400' right through traffic patterns to a lot of these little private airstrips.
Things could get interesting.

Tony

[martymayes]

Has to be a reg change for that to happen. We all know how long that will take, lol, just look up the definition for "eternity"

[Jeff Boatright]

Has to be a reg change for that to happen. We all know how long that will take, lol, just look up the definition for "eternity"

A regulation change in order to help a massive corporation make a few more dimes so that The American Consumer can be sold more cr@p from China more quickly? It'll happen in a relative nanosecond.

BTW, here's Amazon's video of the magical event: http://www.amazon.com/b?ref_=tsm_1_t...ode=8037720011

Looks like an overgrown clay pigeon, doesn't it? Of course, we all live in a magical place with an acre backyard, no neighbors, and all those pesky powerlines are underground. What could possibly go rwong?

[martymayes]

A regulation change in order to help a massive corporation make a few more dimes so that The American Consumer can be sold more cr@p from China more quickly? It'll happen in a relative nanosecond.

Jeff, I'm sure some LightSquared investors will disagree.


I agree it's mostly hype, and it will not be practical in a rural area Tony, I think you're safe for now.

[1600vw]

Jeff, I'm sure some LightSquared investors will disagree.


I agree it's mostly hype, and it will not be practical in a rural area Tony, I think you're safe for now.

I never thought these would even be used as such things as this. I am starting to wonder just what is coming and how far will this go.

We had a group come out here at my home field and put on a demo of these things. The electrics are kinda limited to battery life. But the Helicopter they demo'ed, could carry a pay load of 30 lbs, fly over 90 mph, and had a flight time of over 4 hrs. It was all programed and flew by no one. I have a small video of this machine in flight doing its thing. These machines are only limited in altitude by the FAA or AMA, for right now these are operating under AMA rules until the FAA decide what to do with them.

Safe for now..How long is that??

Tony

[Mike M]

Looks like an overgrown clay pigeon, doesn't it? Of course, we all live in a magical place with an acre backyard, no neighbors, and all those pesky powerlines are underground. What could possibly go rwong?

sounds like fun to me! we live outside city limits, shooting sports are legal on our own property. 30 minutes or less delivery on the next box of ammo? great! and when it leaves, we holler

PULL!!!!



your mileage may vary

[Bob Dingley]

Lets see. What could possibly go wrong? How about if the weather at a metropolitan area goes below 1,000 & 3 and a flock of these are scud running through the B, C, D & sfc E at a pre-programed 400'. Lets say that the payloads (from L.L.Bean) average 30 lbs. Assume the "airframe" weighs the same. Assume that four Nuns in their Skyhawk (shooting the GPS-36) run one down from behind and they crash into a day care center.


Who do the ambulance chasers sue? Answer: Cessna and Lycoming for sure. Don't forget L.L. Bean has deep pockets too. The "carrier" that subcontracts for UPS and has nothing but a post office box goes bankrupt. The stockholders take a tax write off.


Bob

[1600vw]

This Helicopter just flew a grid over the cornfield mapping it. It flew for about 20 mins and covered about 2 miles. It lands and shuts its self off. No one controlled this from start up to shut down.

Tony

[1600vw]

[Jeff Boatright]

Jeff, I'm sure some LightSquared investors will disagree.


I agree it's mostly hype, and it will not be practical in a rural area Tony, I think you're safe for now.

How big is LightSquared? Congress doesn't write laws for the small fry. It writes laws for the big boys...like Amazon. "Massive corporations" is the important datapoint from my quote.

Also, I think a case can be made that the ONLY place this will be remotely physically practical will be rural areas as there is less to run in to. Maybe some suburban areas with very large backyards will also work. I agree that the economic practicality doesn't exist for rural areas.