Model aircraft hobbyists, research universities and commercial drone interests filed lawsuits Friday challenging a government directive that they say imposes tough new limits on the use of model aircraft and broadens the agency's ban on commercial drone flights.
The three lawsuits asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to review the validity of the directive, which the Federal Aviation Administration issued in June. The agency said the directive is an attempt to clarify what is a model aircraft and the limitations on their operation.
The FAA has been working on regulations that would permit commercial drone flights in U.S. skies for more than 10 years, but the agency is still at least months and possibly years away from issuing final rules to permit flights by small drones. Regulations for flights by larger drones are even farther away.
Part of the agency's challenge is to distinguish between planes flown by hobbyists and those used for commercial applications, a distinction that's become harder to draw as the technology for model planes has grown more sophisticated.
(Score: 2) by duvel on Saturday August 23 2014, @05:32PM
Perhaps the FAA could consider being a bit less overbearing and take a cue from UAV laws in Brazil. The basic rule over there is: for recreational use, anything goes: http://www.missouridronejournalism.com/2013/04/what-flies-when-it-comes-to-drone-laws-across-the-globe/ [missouridronejournalism.com]
This Sig is under surveilance by the NSA
(Score: 3, Interesting) by frojack on Saturday August 23 2014, @05:55PM
The distinction isn't about hobbyists vs commercial. The distinction is about the USE.
The public simply does not want drones peeking in their windows, or following them around. Doesn't matter it its the cops or voyeur or the model airplane club down the block. This is another thing government surveillance programs have forced into the public's awareness, but the issue was simmering for a long time before that.
Nobody cares what you fly over some cow pasture. But live video feeds over populated areas are where the common man in the street (to say nothing about his wife in the pool) draws the line.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by moondoctor on Saturday August 23 2014, @08:07PM
bingo. drones *are* model aircraft.
as an aviation modeling enthusiast (slope soaring gliders is my fave) I believe that autonomous model airplanes should be treated different than piloted ones. ultimately, as you say, it is the use that really is the last word. regulation is tricky because autonomous planes with cameras in urban environments have almost zero in common with dynamic soaring 60 inch gliders.
That being said, i don't think anyone wants 'drones' flying around their neighborhood recording everything, be they recreational, law enforcement or of any other kind.
(if you like things that fly and go fast but aren't familiar with dynamic soaring, have a look on the youtubes for 'dynamic soaring speed record' and be aware the you may have your mind blown)
(Score: 2) by khallow on Saturday August 23 2014, @11:38PM
I think the ban on commercial drone use is a terrible idea as well. If the FAA isn't capable of coming up with a sensible experimental regulatory scheme for drone use right now, then maybe the US should instead pass that on to a regulatory agency that is capable of doing so. I suspect what is going on is that the US government is attempting to create legal precedent for prevalent government operated drones before commercial interests can muddy the waters. A public outcry over commercial drone use that steps over regulatory lines would be inconvenient.
Note that I assume commercial interests will sooner or later abuse any regulatory system that is set up. We aren't going to magically discover what those abuses are with a complete ban. But they're likely to have considerable overlap with the abuses that government-operated drones would have, just with far greater publicity. So I think some sort of commercial allowance would be beneficial just on the grounds of discovering how this technology can be abused by someone protected by national security laws.