"In theory" being the key words here. Despite stringent airworthiness regulations, manned aircraft still crash all the time. But this makes sense because we all know that manned aircraft have orders of magnitude more parts and, ergo, more points of failure. Not just 2x or 3x, but orders of magnitude! Relatively speaking, a UAV is a pretty simple device.
What really bothers me about all of this UAS safety stuff is that it completely and utterly ignores scale. I don't know why scale (weight, size, mass) are never a consideration. Should safety regulations be scaled accordingly? It's like applying semi truck CDL regulations to a tricycle.
But it gets worse...
All the rules and regulations are based on what-if arguments that have yet to reconcile anywhere in the world. And, yes, it really, really bothers me. It's like comparing a tricycle to a semi truck. The differences are that profound. Yet the semi truck regulators feel the need to regulate the tricycles (metaphorically speaking).
Q: How many tricycles have caused semi's to crash? A: The same amount of UAV's that have caused manned aviation vehicles to crash. No...literally...the same amount.
Q: How many deaths have tricycles caused? A: Literally the same amount as UAV's (probably more!!).
What is the "what if" potential of a tricycle causing a semi to swerve off the road? I could make up a boat-load of what-if scenarios that would be right on par with the UAV what-if scenarios.
And you know, it seems like it's a very small group calling this out. It's like one has to completely dispel all physics to reconcile these UAV regulations. I just can't do it.
The AMA nailed it. Stay away from airports (makes sense). Stay under 400' AGL (makes sense). Don't fly over people (makes sense), and enjoy your hobby. The AMA has been saying these things for DECADES....without incident! So why FAA didn't just continue down that path is beyond me. The FAA is just another bloated bureaucracy with bureaucrats chomping at the bit to regulate something. UAV's were like a gift from the heavens for these guys.
One might argue that the rules are made for the Best Buy idiots. But they are the demographic that don't obey the FAA rules anyway, because most of them don't even know those rules exist, let alone what the rules are. Not to get political here, but it follows the same logic as the new proposed gun regulations by regulating the honest citizens in order to stop criminals from using guns. Wait?! What?! (Disclaimer: I've never discharged a firearm in my life (so I don't "love guns"), but I do the math).
Sorry to get off on a tangent here. I don't mean to shoot the messenger. But only thing that chaps my hide more than these ridiculous rules, regulations and restrictions on drones are those who try to actually defend those policies. Sorry, man...the "what if" arguments just don't hold water. Just my 2 cents.
I know you know this.
Then I assume you follow Trent Palmer. Have you noticed his content is focused more on his bush plane than UAV's? Think about that. You know why? Despite UAV's being his livelihood (Read: arguably the largest part of his life), the UAV stuff is boring and passé. No crashes here. No death. No injury. No property damage. Boring, boring, boring.
Have you seen his recent "uncontrolled descent" video? He essentially threw a rod mid flight. This, from a vehicle that passed all airworthiness regulations. Yet, there it is.
I respectfully disagree. I will concede to at least half or even 75%. But much is caused by vehicle failure.
It's my understanding (based on the Trent Palmer videos), that it's simply easier to own a plane in the U.S. Despite being a highly regulated hobby/profession, it seems it's even worse in the U.K. and Europe and Australia. This, based solely on my observation. So I'm open to learning more about it.
Touché. That sounds like a very reasonable assessment.
Again, sorry about the tangent. But it seems to me if drone companies would simply include a very simple, single page, bullet point instruction sheet with every drone, these new drone owners would read and obey these rules (at least most of them). Instead they're forced to navigate the labyrinth of cryptic FAA rules and regulations all penned in legalese.
If it were up to me, I would boil this AMA document down to a 4 or 5 point bullet list and include it with every drone sold in America:
View attachment 33299
Discuss.
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