The commercial drone forums were all ablaze this week with the announcement of proposed bill H.R. 4433 Commercial UAS Modernization Act – and just what that means for the industry, and those who have already been jumping through hoops to get accepted in the FAA’s current Section 333 Exemption process. Today, I asked drone law expert […]
Regulation
Keep Your Eyes to the Skies as Drones Fly Out of Stores
Seemingly out of nowhere, drones or UAVs flew off the shelves for recreational flying. They have already caused their share of problems for the general public and firms that want to use them for a wide range of commercial applications. Proposed regulation of the free-flying aircraft is still a work in progress. It’s estimated that […]
New FAA Drone Registration Made Easy
With all the confusion and rampant discussions from the hobbyist drone industry these past few weeks, on the announcement of the FAA’s recent drone registry requirements, I’d like to try to provide some information and walk you through the typical process that takes only about 5 minutes to complete online. Starting today, December 21, 2015, the […]
The FAA wants YOU to be registered!
As expected, the FAA and NTSB have pushed through a rather sloppy “solution” for what they think is controlling the national airspace with a generic UAS Registration program that starts taking applications on December 21, 2015. Other than a fairly benign attempt at drone education and responsible flying program through the “Know Before You Fly” campaign, […]
FAA Registration Task Force Recommendations Published
On October 19th, in response to media and analyst reports that close to 1 million drones would be sold over the holidays, the Department of Transportation (DOT) announced the creation of a registration task force (RTF) that would create recommendations for the FAA to implement a registration program for small UAS or drones in order […]
Why I’m a fan of DJI’s latest move on geofencing
DJI this week announced new plans to expand the list of its restricted flight locations to include places like prisons and power plants. The software update is an expansion of its geofencing program, a virtual barrier which literally prohibits the drone from taking off or flying into areas in its geofence. DJI already uses geofencing in “no-fly-zones,” which […]
UAS community reacts to DOT press conference regarding National Drone Registry
There’s a lot of buzz going on about Monday’s press conference with U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and F.A.A. Administrator Michael Huerta and their proposed plan to require all drone owners/operators to register their UAS (all sizes and classes) with a National Registry. And if you didn’t happen to catch the event, you can watch the […]
FPV Drone Racing Industry is Rapidly Growing but at Risk in Los Angeles
Want to fly FPV in Los Angeles? There is a new proposed ruling by the LA city council that would completely ban all FPV flights including those done with a VLOS spotter and even in AMA sanctioned flying fields. If you are found flying FPV in Los Angeles you risk a $1,000 fine and/or 6 months in jail.
Drone Coalition writers presenting at InterDrone 2015
On the week of the official launch of Drone Coalition, InterDrone 2015 (Sept 9-11, Las Vegas) will be featuring several of our staff writers, including Lisa Ellman, Mike Fortin, Sally French, Kerry Garrison, Gretchen West and myself.
Breaking News: New Drone Chiefs Appointed at FAA
I mentioned in my earlier post how so often, technology moves quicker than policymaking – and this has certainly been the case for drones. One of the hold-ups on the policymaking side over the last few months has been staffing of the federal government. In the spring Jim Williams, former head of the FAA UAS […]
