I thought this up a few minutes ago - while I was reading a news story about the FAA and their concerns with drones. Of course, they have to address ALL drones such as those which are larger (mapping, rescue, etc.), so they have a harder job. However, it would seem fairly easy - with current technology - to allow some expansion in the use of hobby and semi-pro (mainly photography) drones in this way. Toy drones and those without the proper electronic would still be limited to a ceiling of 400 feet or slightly higher based on certain may overlays (a known map, available on numerous web sites, overlaid on google maps). Higher tech drones, such as the new 3DR Pixi and upwards from there could have circuits in them which allowed them to communicate with the networks (GPS, Cell, Satellite) which would then set a internal governor which would limit the altitude based on the area where the drone was flying. This programming would have to be verified by taking the drone in for a once a year inspection to a shop - or maybe it could ever be done over the internet. There would be both a primary and a backup circuit to make the unit almost failsafe - so that, no matter what, the drone could not climb past a certain altitude based on where it was located. Just a thought....which would fall somewhere in-between full licensing of pilots and machines and the toy and hobby drones. Given the current and future technology, this should be able to be done at a relatively low cost.
Here is what I can tell you on the UAS verses standard air traffic (plane, helicopters, blimps).....commercial use. Hobbyists will still fly under line of sight and 400 foot altitude rules outside of air traffic corridors....like we are suppose to be doing anyway (read the AMA rules, follow them). There are two air traffic type pilots, visual flight rule pilots (they fly by sight) and then the pilots who fly under non-visual rules, instrument rated (don't need to look out the windows). For this the commercial UAS would have to have or be able to; First the easy one, instrument rated pilots. These are pilots who can fly at night, under bad weather conditions.....they are trained to fly by the instruments in the aircraft. For the UAS to be "seen" by them we need: Transponders, communicate with air traffic control and other aircraft that have the technology. GPS position reporting (location and altitude). Radar signature, the UAS is either big enough to reflect a radar signal, or has an active radar transmitter so the ground / air radar can see it. For both the instrument pilot and visual pilot a UAS would need to have: The UAS pilot will also have to have a radio in order to communicate with air traffic control, just like the standard aircraft all have. If the pilot of an aircraft or air traffic control needs to communicate with the UAS pilot for any standard type of air communication (warnings, clear area, landing, etc) or for the UAS pilot to communicate with them a radio is needed for this. Navigation lights, red, green, white, and strobes will have to be added. These lights have to be powerful enough to be seen for miles...... The UAS would have to be constructed to have high visibility under all conditions, reflective finishes, high visibility colors, be large enough to be seen for miles..... A commercial UAS will have to file a flight plan, this would keep the small UAS out of traffic as the "tower" will know its there and can keep standard pilots out of the area, or limit the time the UAS can be in the area (currently high powered rocketry has to tell air traffic control when they are launching). Keep in mind, the FAA is looking at rules for the commercial use of a UAS in air traffic corridors and smaller UAS's that can be used for film, research, etc.......not to regulate the hobbyist. Project Wyvern is being used to test the items above, some are successful, others are not so easy............
There are lots of in-between uses where a system such as I described might come in handy. Let's say you want to inspect cell or ham radio towers. Instead of having to deal with the strictest regs on the books, a quad which is set to certain standards (obviously regular pilots don't fly within 50 or 100 feet of a cell tower), might do the job. I guess I am looking at the space between hobbyists and total pro's and commercials as being a very large one...and there are solutions to it. It's not unlike automobiles. Who would imagine the regular untrained person could drive a 2 ton vehicle with thousands of others at 65MPH? But we do. And it's because of rules and system (roads, lights, etc.). I like to look into the future - and what I sense is a very large market in the "prosumer" area, where people want to use their hobby for things but not get to the level of full and expensive licensing that a drone which flies in "real" airspace needs.
That would be great, but.........bureaucracy at its finest is putting a hard line between hobby and commercial use. Basic black and white language is being used right now, commercial use is anything done by a UAS in the coarse of business use. Filming for a movie, pictures for advertisement, security, research, etc. is commercial use. A hobbyist is defined as a pleasure flyer......................but, certain locals are making laws to protect privacy of citizens in there locations........we may have to fly in designated R/C parks only if these laws get to strict.........only we can help educate the public on out hobby, and be responsible enough not to cause the public to panic due to the lack of common sense some pilots have shown in the past
Yes, it's interesting. We think nothing of walking through a parking lot or crossing in crosswalks where the dangers are big time - but this is "change", so we're probably going to have to go through the paranoia phase before we get to the other side. In the end, both commerce - combined with "good for the people" end up winning most of these battles. As it stands nows, most quads are like the earliest cars - with few or no safety systems. But they are getting smarter very quickly. It's just like anything else in tech...it will continue to accelerate at a faster pace. Before we know it, when the quads start automatically landing (RTH), they will also make sure they are 6 meters from humans...using various sensors.
Am I missing something here? It appears the AMA says that 400 feet is within 3 miles of an airport.... "(c) Not fly higher than approximately 400 feet above ground level within three (3) miles of an airport without notifying the airport operator. " http://amablog.modelaircraft.org/amagov/2012/03/08/your-questions-answered-the-400-foot-limit-for-model-aircraft/ "AMA’s 75 years of experience tells us that MA operations above 400’ pose little to no risk to the manned aircraft community. The only time this activity is of concern is when model aircraft are operated in close proximity to airports. As such, AMA stands by its 3mi/400’ safety criteria" http://www.modelaircraft.org/files/105.PDF
