I know I have upset some people on this board about breaking suggested flying rules but after my conversation with the FAA ,they are getting serious .http://www.chicagotribune.com/bu ... 20151006-story.html .They told me they are checking boards like ours and looking at the videos .I saw a great video yesterday on steam trains but he was way to close .I think when we get to use a zoom lens we can get those great shots from a safe distance . I just do not want them closeing us down or make it hard to fly .We as a group should make sure we all fly safe and keep them happy .We can all stop Piolts in our group from not flying safe by telling them and removeing there videos .No matter how nice the video is .I still rember the guy who flew down Market st in San Francisco or how about the guy flying from his apartment window to see if he could fly near an Airport and bust DJI code .I could go on and on .Please let us stick to safe flying and keep our hobby.

Why are they checking boards like this? Do other government departments check drug forums? What about weapons forums? Car forums? People do illegal things all over the place and in every industry, are they going to check all the forums where illegal activity might occur and the users post pictures of it? They could spend 10,000 work hours a day on Facebook and not even find 1/10th of 1% of the illegal things on there.

I think people need to get some perspective and prioritise what is most important before this all becomes a paranoid network of informants reporting to governments and busy bodies telling everyone what they can and can't do.

I mean, it sounds like job justification at the FAA anyway. They're probably going to say, "Oh, we need a bigger budget now because we're checking forums and require more work hours to make sure there are no photos or videos of potentially illegal things."

I want to say I'm glad I don't have to suffer under the FAA but I know whatever they decide will probably be what other countries end up doing.

Hterag Posted at 2015-10-8 05:35
Why are they checking boards like this? Do other government departments check drug forums? What abou ...

I think they are checking us out as it is a new technology and it needs rules ,just as car drivers do .I did not know there are drug forums . Bad enough there are illegal drugs out there ,let alone write about them .Guns are a whole different topic unless they are shooting drones down !!!!!

Well, drugs and guns were just examples. Whatever the law says, there are always people who will break it or push the boundaries. If the law permits semi-automatic weapons, someone will have full-auto. If certain engine parts don't comply with whatever regulation/safety standards are in place, you know someone is going to import it and put it in illegally anyway. Not to mention file sharing/copyright infringement etc. through forums...

It doesn't really matter where you stand on those issues but I think most people in this forum either own or are curious about/want to own the Inspire 1 and as such we don't want it to be made illegal. Of course, most people fly safely and have no issues and some people will be stupid with it but when I say we need perspective, people with high-end drones are a tiny fraction of the general populace and a small percent of that tiny fraction will cause problems. Surely there are more important things to be getting on with in the world of government?

I think drones are in the news a lot right now because the media hate the fact we can now do what they used to pay loads to do with helicopters... It's not enough that they can have the same tools but that we must not have them. This is why, I think, a lot of the media is quite hostile towards drone use. Using terms like,  "dronalism" which conjures up images of vandalism, defacing things, ruining things, etc.

With all that media negativity, of course governments want to be seen to be doing something about it...

@ mtnred -

Why are you phoning up the FAA? What is your point? And are you reporting unethical flights? The FAA does not have the man power or funding to police drones. We should however be responsible and fly ethically. Safe! After all this is not a toy we are flying. But ringing them up doesn't help either. Did you give them DJI's web site? Trust me when I tell you that you aren't
earning browny points with FAA. The FAA will handle drone incidents case by case from people reporting. They are not hunting down forum boards and looking at videos.

ibdronin Posted at 2015-10-10 02:05
@ mtnred -

Why are you phoning up the FAA? What is your point? And are you reporting unethical fli ...

You did not read my post .I own a winery in Napa and one of my guests worked for the FAA and all I did was give you his feedback and what was going on . It appears a new law was passed in CA and we can no longer fly over private property without permission unless we are at 350 feet . Just getting details hope it is not the case .I would never turn anyone in ,I can do enough on this board for hopefully safe flying .

@ mtnred no hard feelings. I did read your post but I assumed you phoned them which I apologize for assuming.

ibdronin Posted at 2015-10-10 08:31
@ mtnred no hard feelings. I did read your post but I assumed you phoned them which I apologize for  ...

Thank you, but I can now see how you thought that .I should of been clearer .I have been posting for a while and wrote about my winery . www.juslynvineyards.com .No offense taken ,I was not clear .

If you are referring to Machomans videos, then he is in Europe and not the US and so is not subject to FAA.
As some people have commented before, contrary to popular opinion, the US does not rule the world.

Here in the UK we have strict regulations on where we can fly and how close.

Looking at Machomans videos I would guess he is no closer than 50m and so if he were in the UK would be legal.

Anyway this is an international forum and not subject to US regulations.

Paul

Paul@AAM Posted at 2015-10-10 23:40
If you are referring to Machomans videos, then he is in Europe and not the US and so is not subject  ...

I hope that made you feel better .Not very useful to the topic .

mtnred@gmail.co Posted at 2015-10-10 21:00
I hope that made you feel better .Not very useful to the topic .

I would say it is very useful to the topic if not to your argument. The FAA have no jurisdiction over the videos to which you refer in your post nor over many of the videos posted here. So it is entirely on topic and relevant.
However I agree - fly safe and legal in your area of jurisdiction.

Paul@AAM Posted at 2015-10-11 08:29
I would say it is very useful to the topic if not to your argument. The FAA have no jurisdiction ov ...

Though mtnred's post was about the FAA, I believe his intention was to have a discussion about safe flying practices.   
He wasn't suggesting the FAA rules were applicable around the world and the whole "US rules the world" rhetoric.

The rules are different where I am in Australia as well but many are common across most countries.

My guess is the I1 in the train video EASILY got within 10m for some of those shots, just looking at the preview screen makes that clear.      I personally do not believe he put anyone in danger, no open cars, no competition to a steam train, but the laws may say differently.

There doesn't have to be a witch hunt starting today but I'm convinced that clearer and stricter guidelines and enforcement around the world are on the way.   

I for one am fine with it, but the rules need to be consistent, clearly articulated and not segmented and buried like they are today.   It's impossible to get straight answers and even the most informed on this forum do not remotely agree on their interpretation.   That's what we should be talking about.

PaulKerry Posted at 2015-10-10 23:19
Jim...

I am in absolute agreement with this statement..

I agree with all that is said in both Paul and Jim's posts. I do however side with the idea of pursuing those that break the existing rules and levying severe penalties rather than blanket rules.
For example - we fine speeding drivers rather than ban driving altogether. Now we might argue that fining speeding has not deterred speeding but then neither has the death penalty prevented murder.
I think we all agree we need sensible regulation, clear articulation of those regulations and reasonable enforcement.
I too want to protect my investments in my company, equipment and training to provide a useful service to my clients and our community.

Paul

mtnred@gmail.co Posted at 2015-10-8 14:12
I think they are checking us out as it is a new technology and it needs rules ,just as car drivers ...

I have been told by local police (friends of mine) that the FAA has issued bulletins to my local department about the "drone rules"  Apparently they vary by state, which is strange, because to my knowledge I am not restricted to the 350' rule over private property.

Here is how my local police will handle this:
1. They will not go hunting for drones, but rather answer complaints from the public only.
2. They will not be issuing citations unless the action is repeated in the same place and the same day.
3. They will not be reporting anything to the FAA.

I did have my neighbor complain about me and the police responded.  They have limited me to flying over my property and no higher than my tallest tree (appx 80')  Because almost all of the police are friends of mine, I will honor the request even though I don't think they can enforce it.

Bottom line is I think that our hobby could potentially generate a significant amount of revenue from violations.  I think it will take some time to write the rules and figure out who will enforce them, but I'm confident it will happen.

jimhare Posted at 2015-10-11 05:44
Though mtnred's post was about the FAA, I believe his intention was to have a discussion about safe ...

Thanks Jim ,that was my intent .It seems even here in California no one can make up there minds on what is safe .Our Governor  vetoed a bill that would have made us fly at 350 feet over private land but passed a bill that the press can not fly over celebrity's  homes .There are still bills out there that would restrict how we fly .I just hope that they do not go through .I really want the FAA to put something together fast, that may stop local governments passing laws that would be around for a long time .

PaulKerry Posted at 2015-10-11 10:18
During my training, the instructor told us that the CAA have handed the powers of prosecution for  ...

Paul,
That is what I have been told about UAVs in the US.  The FAA is passing enforcement to local jurisdictions.  My local police department will not be honoring the FAA request, I don't know about other departments.

PaulKerry Posted at 2015-10-11 10:36
It must be really tricky for you guys having to deal with both Federal and State laws.

In the UK  ...

I don't know that there are Federal and State laws here in the US.  I think the feds are handing their laws to state and local agencies and those agencies haven't a clue what to do with this directive.  Perhaps the closer one gets to "tall buildings" (ie cities) the more the local agencies will get involved.  

I was reading another post above and I realize that I contradicted myself.  According to another forum member, there are 7 states that have enacted their own drone laws.  California recently passed a law that one must be above 350' when flying over private property and the taking of images even at that altitide is forbidden without the owner's consent.  To my knowledge, my state has no such laws and the federal laws are being enforced by the local police (they won't enforce anything without a complaint).

Make no mistake, these drone laws are simply another revenue generating measure.  Sure they are disguised as a public safety law or a privacy law, but who among us (serious UAV advocates) will intentionally put the public at risk or invade another's privacy?  I for one could care less what my neighbor is doing, but he feels that I should not have the right to fly my drone in the airspace above my property because I can see his property.  So when he called the police, they asked me to limit my flights to 80' (coincidently the height of a tree that would block my camera's view into his yard) and not to fly outside of my airspace.  I will oblidge because there are plenty of other places to fly.

naildrivingman@ Posted at 2015-10-12 03:08
I don't know that there are Federal and State laws here in the US.  I think the feds are handing th ...

That law did not go through ,for now .They did stop the Press from flying over celebrities homes .