Posted on 07/25/2014 9:59:06 PM PDT by steve86
the problem here is not restricted airspace (which is a specific term... restricted airspace can be found on charts and is labeled, for example, R-2515 (part of the Edwards AFB complex)), or a Military Operations Area (MOA). The area of the flight is in the mode C veil of SeaTac airport, where transponders are required (within 30nm of the airport and from the surface to 10,000ft)... there are exceptions to this requirement for glider ports, some older aircraft without engine-driven electrical systems, but even those need 1hr advanced notice/approval from ATC in this airspace. Even if this were not within 30nm of an airport, it is over what is known as a ‘congested area’, which is also a specific term, and is designated on FAA terminal area charts (TACs) with bright yellow swaths in urban areas. No model aircraft operations are allowed over congested areas. I’m not sure what the interoperation is within your own property, below controlled airspace, but I’m certain it is not allowed over someone else’s property over congested areas. The FARs are a joy to read, and sometimes seemingly contradictory, but it is pretty clear this type of operation is illegal... whether it is considered a drone, an RC aircraft, or an ultralight aircraft... it is illegal. The only aircraft allowed to operate in this area are helicopter along prescribed helicopter routes... Class B airspace floor is at 1800 ft, and the space needle is over 600ft... you cannot be within 2000ft of the space needle (laterally) unless you are 1000ft above the space needle (and that is assuming it is the tallest thing within that radius). The guy has a number of issues (legally), the question is simply how hard the FAA wants to come down on him.
The FAA has always been of the mindset that they regulate all the airspace over the U.S., the only question is what within that airspace needs to be regulated... the answer to that lies in what aircraft are deemed to be a public safety hazard. About 15-20 yrs ago (can’t specifically recall), I had an FAA official tell me that the FAA would regulate a frisbee if they thought it represented a safety hazard. I do not believe RC flyer have ever had a carte blanche to operate over congested areas at any altitude. The AMA has done an excellent job of self-policing over the decades, and the recent crop of new entrants into the hobby has led the FAA to consider them a safety hazard... a few morons (or terrorists) fly a quadcopter into the approach path of a major airport, and it is clear the breed has become a safety hazard. A few bad apples are ruining it for the vast majority of those with common sense and without ill intent.
No, of course not. I was referring to actual helicopters, not drones. I drive on that road almost every day, and I don’t know how many times they would take off or land right over my vehicle. That wreck would have been so much worse on a crowded weekend or if traffic had been heavier or gridlocked.
Sadly, true. As a kid in the 70's I had a great time flying R/C powered and unpowered aircraft. R/C gliders are a blast to fly when you hit a thermal and ride it up, up, up!
FedGov is on a mission to squeeze the last drops of joy out of living. Give it a few more years. They'll have our activities so regulated, smiling will be a crime.
Plenty cool, not the most responsible thing to do though..
Sorry, but he didn’t just buy it at a hobby shop, that rig took a while to set up, lots of add-on equipment there.
Yeppers. You are logged out.
Great Video,
Good Link,
Let Freedom Reign!
Thanks
Has to be a fake video. It shows Seattle with the sun shining.
“They’ll have our activities so regulated, smiling will be a crime.”
In Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, walking around in public with a smirk was deemed “facecrime” by the Thought Police.
In a police state there are two kinds of people: those looking down the barrel of a pistol aimed at them, and those aiming the pistol.
In a police state there is never a shortage of volunteers to be on the aiming end of the pistol.
That is a great video. Well done by the Amazon employee.
We are Americans, and the exceptional will still overcome the beast.
Quadcopters already have radio transceivers that could have a transponder function, but this toy weighs 2.6 pounds. A seagull weighs 4.2 pounds. Unless Fedzilla plans to attach transponders to every bird flying around the rules of flight need some sanity.
Not on the required frequency... if they did, they would never have passed FCC compliance (due to potential interference with the frequencies reserved for ATC!). I understand the frustration with overburdensome regulation... I share it. My primary point was that the regulations this guy broke are not new, and they are unambiguous... they’ve been around for a long time, and this guy, either willfully, or with ignorance of the law, flew his toy where he was not allowed to. As far as the ability of a 3 lb toy to create a safety hazard in comparison to a seagull? Birds DO create a hazard (especially flocks of them)... if the FAA thought they could get funding for outfitting them with transponders, they’d try! Many airports in bird-prone areas (e.g. bordering a bay, like SF) have permits to shoot birds to reduce the hazard they pose... roughly 5000 birds annually are killed at the major airports in CA. A single small one does not pose much of a hazard to a large airliner, but for smaller aircraft, it does not take much to get caught in the wrong place of a control surface to make an aircraft uncontrollable. For RC and drone aircraft, they are supposedly working on the rules to better delineate what can be done where (pretty easy to get a drone with a 12ft wing span that travels 150kts for not too much $ nowadays... this presents a much higher risk than the 2.6 lb craft here, but is currently captured under the same rules). The main thing that has been holding the rules up is apparently privacy concerns (or at least it was last year). The FAA is a dinosaur that historically has only sprung to action following a major disaster or two... the one-size fits all, conservative approach they are taking now is an attempt to prevent such a disaster until they better understand what the hell they should do.
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