Any Drone pilots on here?

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Chief Sapulpa

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Last Friday, May 19, the District of Columbia circuit court agreed with John A. Taylor's assertion that the FAA does not have the statuary authority to issue the 2015 Registration Rule in which owners of small unmanned aircraft operated for recreational purposes must register their equipment with the FAA.

Circuit Judge Kavanaugh wrote, "Taylor is right. In 2012, Congress passed and President Obama signed the FAA Modernization and Reform Act. Section 336(a) of that Act states that the FAA “may not promulgate any rule or regulation regarding a model aircraft.” Pub. L. No. 112–95, §336(a), 126 Stat. 11, 77 (2012)(codified at 49 U.S.C. §40101 note).The FAA’s 2015 Registration Rule, which applies to model aircraft, directly violates that clear statutory prohibition. We therefore grant Taylor’s petition and vacate the Registration Rule to the extent it applies to model aircraft. "

The FAA released a statement saying, "We are carefully reviewing the US Court of Appeals decision as it relates to drone registrations," it reads. "The FAA put registration and operational regulations in place to ensure that drones are operated in a way that is safe and does not pose security and privacy threats. We are in the process of considering our options and response to the decision."

The finding is based on an earlier use of the term 'model aircraft' which included UAVs at the time. The court opinion said Congress may or may not choose to amend the 2012 rule.

The court's decision does not impact registration for commercial drones.
https://www.cadc.uscourts.gov/inter...20585258125004FBC13/$file/15-1495-1675918.pdf
 

p238shooter

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While I can see that the FAA should not regulate UAV's outside of their airspace, I take exception to the fact that if a UAV is operating in FAA controlled airspace, there can and will eventually be problems. We all need safe air to fly in, it will somehow have to be sorted out as we go.

To me the biggest problem for aircraft pilots is detecting and identifying a small drone in time to avoid a collision. Avoiding birds are tough at times, even large ones. With birds, a pilot can virtually always depend on a bird folding its wings and diving to avoid a collision and we are taught to pull the nose up to try to avoid a collision which will not be a dependable avoidance maneuver with an anonymous UAV.
 

DT Jeff

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I would stay away from all DJI drones after their press release today. They are requiring you register your drone with them and log in before flight so they can ensure your firmware meets their idea of compliant with the country in which you live otherwise your drone essentially won't fly.
 

NightShade

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I don't mess with your airspace, you shouldn't mess with mine.


I don't know where this even became a part of the subject matter but simply put you would have the right of way in a plane and would be pretty easy to figure out you are around. I tend to fly in populated areas so it would not be an issue and I stay within guidelines and most people will either be flying in populated areas or over their land where you probably will not want to fly very low anyway since a house is an inhabited area.

How do y'all know when you're at 400' with your drone?

I changed out the Main board in my drone and it has an OSD that also gives altitude readings among other things. You can also swap the camera's out to ones that have an OSD with a lot of the same information or add a board that can give an OSD. But by the time you are at 400 feet they are very hard to see, figure it this way a 30 story tall building is approx 400 feet in fact if you need one to compare to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SandRidge_Center is a perfect place to stop by to judge the height.
 

dennishoddy

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I would stay away from all DJI drones after their press release today. They are requiring you register your drone with them and log in before flight so they can ensure your firmware meets their idea of compliant with the country in which you live otherwise your drone essentially won't fly.

Before each flight?
 

DT Jeff

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It appears at least initially though my friends in China say that periodic log-ins will eventually be required. The concerns seems to be by installing this new firmware DJI can at any future time decide to disable your drone.
 

NightShade

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Before each flight?


I think the drone wants a regular update to fly and are often "viewed" using a smartphone and software. If you don't mind not being able to see through the camera it would be hard to control if the software is of a certain age, you also would lose some functionality. Also DJI drones are set so that they can not fly in restricted airspace through software so if you want to fly near an airport you pretty much can't if you are too close. Where I live is about 1000ft west of the south end of a runway and I have spoken with the airport and flown with zero issues I stay fairly low just in case some plane is too low or whatever a DJI drone's software probably would not allow it to fly at all.
 

DT Jeff

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Initial log in for now but my friend's in China say periodic log-in will soon be required. The concern seems to be that DJI can in the future disable/track/severely limit the capabilities of your drone at will.
I can't see this as being good for their sales.
 

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