I feel the need to jump in on this discussion regarding registering drones. This might ramble so bear with me.

I’ll state right off that I am not 100% in favor of registration either, however I do recognize it is probably necessary. More on my opinion of that follows.

From what I understand you are not registering your drone but are registering yourself. From what I have heard, the only information you provide during registration is your name, address and email. Not any make, model or serial numbers of aircraft (I believe they have access to that information anyway if they really wanted it). The registration number you are given does not need to be visible on the aircraft and can be inside the battery compartment if desired. The number would be used to identify the owner in the event of an incident were it to be investigated and the drone, or pieces of it, were recovered by the authorities. One would use the same number on their entire fleet of “aircraft”.

There is a lot of controversy over drones these days and the public, legal and political environment is fluid. The FAA wants and needs to able to communicate with drone owners directly, not through the media.

I have a private pilot certificate, although it’s been a few years since I have flown, and I am aware of how our airspace is becoming more and more congested. Add in thousands of drones and the potential for conflict, or worse, significantly increases. The minimum certificate a pilot can obtain in the US is a Sport Pilot certificate (the FAA calls everything a “certificate” because they can’t spell “license”.) A person wishing to get their sport pilot license needs to have a minimum of 20 hours of flight time; 15 hours instruction and 5 hour solo. There is no certificate, or license, one can get to be able to fly in US airspace without a minimum amount of training. In other words, no one flies in regulated airspace without some training. Just like no 16 year old can get their driver’s license without behind-the-wheel training, written and driving exams. They need to demonstrate competency before they are turned loose. Now we have thousands of “pilots” flying these little tiny drones, some smaller than a bird, that do not show up on Air Traffic Control radar, in airspace occupied by much larger, less maneuverable aircraft without any comprehension of the rules and in some instances disregard for safety.

Every aircraft has an altimeter (altitude meter). It is a pressure instrument (barometer) that indicates your height (elevation) above Mean (average) Sea Level (MSL).  Standard pressure is defined as 29.92 inches of mercury (inHg) at sea level at 15-deg C, or 59-deg F. The difference between the altimeter in aircraft and the barometer in your drone is that the altimeter is adjustable. Let’s say I fly out of an airport with an elevation of 1000 feet MSL. During my preflight and run up, while I’m still on the ground, I would calibrate (adjust) the altimeter so it reads 1000 feet. There is a little window on the side of the altimeter that displays a number as the “altimeter setting”. Pressure decreases approximately 1 inHg for every 1000 feet of altitude. So if it happened to be a “standard” day the number in the little window on my altimeter should now display 28.92, or close. If I were to stay local I would leave it set at that. That is my ONLY reference to how high I am above ground level (AGL).

Uncontrolled airspace extends up to 1200 feet AGL (note I said uncontrolled and not unregulated). That means anyone can fly at any altitude in any direction without having to notify any authority or ask permission. A pilot must maintain a minimum altitude of 1000’ AGL above congested areas (cities, stadiums, ball fields, etc.) Over uncongested areas the minimum altitude is 500’ AGL. Remember though that my only reference is the airport elevation. Let’s say you live on a hill a few miles west of town that is 150 feet higher than the airport. If I didn’t recognize the hill and climb a bit I could be flying over your house at 350 feet AGL (other than military aircraft I don’t know of too many that have terrain following radar). However you are permitted to fly your drone up to 400 feet AGL. Potential conflict? You bet. It’s not that either one of us were in violation, yet there remains the potential for disaster. It’s all about awareness. Training.

Another scenario… atmospheric pressure is constantly changing. It probably wouldn’t change too much in the 20 minutes of flying time from one battery. But I could fly my Cessna for four hours on a tank of fuel (assuming I didn’t have too much coffee). Pilots have a saying of “High to Low, look out below. Low to High, clear blue sky”. What they are referring to is that as you fly from an air mass of high pressure into an air mass of low pressure, your altimeter will indicate an increase in altitude. Vice-versa for flying from a low pressure into high pressure. Even if I stayed local, the barometric pressure associated with an approaching front could change within a few hours. Let’s say it was clear and sunny when I took off with an altimeter setting of 28.92. I’m flying around at 1000’ AGL. A warm front is approaching from the west, the pressure drops to 27.42 and I don’t notice. My altimeter will now indicate I am at 2500’ MSL (1500’ AGL). I think “how the hell did I get this high” and I descend 500’. Now I am really at 500’ AGL and again we’re close to each other. Could I be off 50’? Could you be off 50’ with your drone? Could we have a conflict? You bet. Awareness. Training. We all need some.

Over the years I have gotten many emails from the FAA and I truly believe they are about safety first. It’s when the idiots keep doing stupid shit that they need to enact regulations that apply to everyone. I believe their intent with registration is to able to pass along directly to the owners, in a timely manner, information regarding safety concerns, news worthy bulletins, issues they may be hearing with particular aircraft, TFRs, and yes, proposed regulations on occasion.

Fly safe and be aware.

Skooter

I feel the need to jump in on this discussion regarding registering drones. This might ramble so bear with me.

I’ll state right off that I am not 100% in favor of registration either, however I do recognize it is probably necessary. More on my opinion of that follows.

From what I understand you are not registering your drone but are registering yourself. From what I have heard, the only information you provide during registration is your name, address and email. Not any make, model or serial numbers of aircraft (I believe they have access to that information anyway if they really wanted it). The registration number you are given does not need to be visible on the aircraft and can be inside the battery compartment if desired. The number would be used to identify the owner in the event of an incident were it to be investigated and the drone, or pieces of it, were recovered by the authorities. One would use the same number on their entire fleet of “aircraft”.

There is a lot of controversy over drones these days and the public, legal and political environment is fluid. The FAA wants and needs to able to communicate with drone owners directly, not through the media.

I have a private pilot certificate, although it’s been a few years since I have flown, and I am aware of how our airspace is becoming more and more congested. Add in thousands of drones and the potential for conflict, or worse, significantly increases. The minimum certificate a pilot can obtain in the US is a Sport Pilot certificate (the FAA calls everything a “certificate” because they can’t spell “license”.) A person wishing to get their sport pilot license needs to have a minimum of 20 hours of flight time; 15 hours instruction and 5 hour solo. There is no certificate, or license, one can get to be able to fly in US airspace without a minimum amount of training. In other words, no one flies in regulated airspace without some training. Just like no 16 year old can get their driver’s license without behind-the-wheel training, written and driving exams. They need to demonstrate competency before they are turned loose. Now we have thousands of “pilots” flying these little tiny drones, some smaller than a bird, that do not show up on Air Traffic Control radar, in airspace occupied by much larger, less maneuverable aircraft without any comprehension of the rules and in some instances disregard for safety.

Every aircraft has an altimeter (altitude meter). It is a pressure instrument (barometer) that indicates your height (elevation) above Mean (average) Sea Level (MSL).  Standard pressure is defined as 29.92 inches of mercury (inHg) at sea level at 15-deg C, or 59-deg F. The difference between the altimeter in aircraft and the barometer in your drone is that the altimeter is adjustable. Let’s say I fly out of an airport with an elevation of 1000 feet MSL. During my preflight and run up, while I’m still on the ground, I would calibrate (adjust) the altimeter so it reads 1000 feet. There is a little window on the side of the altimeter that displays a number as the “altimeter setting”. Pressure decreases approximately 1 inHg for every 1000 feet of altitude. So if it happened to be a “standard” day the number in the little window on my altimeter should now display 28.92, or close. If I were to stay local I would leave it set at that. That is my ONLY reference to how high I am above ground level (AGL).

Uncontrolled airspace extends up to 1200 feet AGL (note I said uncontrolled and not unregulated). That means anyone can fly at any altitude in any direction without having to notify any authority or ask permission. A pilot must maintain a minimum altitude of 1000’ AGL above congested areas (cities, stadiums, ball fields, etc.) Over uncongested areas the minimum altitude is 500’ AGL. Remember though that my only reference is the airport elevation. Let’s say you live on a hill a few miles west of town that is 150 feet higher than the airport. If I didn’t recognize the hill and climb a bit I could be flying over your house at 350 feet AGL (other than military aircraft I don’t know of too many that have terrain following radar). However you are permitted to fly your drone up to 400 feet AGL. Potential conflict? You bet. It’s not that either one of us were in violation, yet there remains the potential for disaster. It’s all about awareness. Training.

Another scenario… atmospheric pressure is constantly changing. It probably wouldn’t change too much in the 20 minutes of flying time from one battery. But I could fly my Cessna for four hours on a tank of fuel (assuming I didn’t have too much coffee). Pilots have a saying of “High to Low, look out below. Low to High, clear blue sky”. What they are referring to is that as you fly from an air mass of high pressure into an air mass of low pressure, your altimeter will indicate an increase in altitude. Vice-versa for flying from a low pressure into high pressure. Even if I stayed local, the barometric pressure associated with an approaching front could change within a few hours. Let’s say it was clear and sunny when I took off with an altimeter setting of 28.92. I’m flying around at 1000’ AGL. A warm front is approaching from the west, the pressure drops to 27.42 and I don’t notice. My altimeter will now indicate I am at 2500’ MSL (1500’ AGL). I think “how the hell did I get this high” and I descend 500’. Now I am really at 500’ AGL and again we’re close to each other. Could I be off 50’? Could you be off 50’ with your drone? Could we have a conflict? You bet. Awareness. Training. We all need some.

Over the years I have gotten many emails from the FAA and I truly believe they are about safety first. It’s when the idiots keep doing stupid shit that they need to enact regulations that apply to everyone. I believe their intent with registration is to able to pass along directly to the owners, in a timely manner, information regarding safety concerns, news worthy bulletins, issues they may be hearing with particular aircraft, TFRs, and yes, proposed regulations on occasion.

Fly safe and be aware.

Skooter