[HN Gopher] FAA releases TRUST: Free online training required to...
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       FAA releases TRUST: Free online training required to fly drones
       recreationally
        
       Author : asix66
       Score  : 146 points
       Date   : 2021-06-24 13:33 UTC (9 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (dpreview.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (dpreview.com)
        
       | dahart wrote:
       | Since the title * can be mis-interpreted to mean that you've
       | never needed a license, I can forgive some commenters here from
       | forgetting that just a few years ago, the only legal way to fly a
       | drone was with an actual aircraft pilot's license. Drone
       | operators, rightly, thought that was pretty silly, but it took a
       | number of years before the FAA crafted drone-specific rules and
       | allowed drone flights under 400 feet without a license.
       | 
       | Having to attend a short online training course about what the
       | rules are and to stay away from people and out of the airspace of
       | manned aircraft seems pretty reasonable, and perhaps necessary
       | given the growing number of drone accidents in the recent past
       | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_UAV-related_incidents
       | 
       | * edit: the HN title has been changed for the better. To clarify
       | for anyone reading this now, my comment was referring to the
       | previous HN title: "Effective Immediately: You need a drone
       | license before you fly in the US"
        
         | swiley wrote:
         | >the only legal way to fly a drone was with an actual aircraft
         | pilot's license.
         | 
         | That must have been a rather large drone (or maybe what you
         | mean is "fly a drone near an airport or city") since you don't
         | even need a pilot's license to fly small planes in the US.
        
           | sokoloff wrote:
           | You don't need a pilot's license* to fly _ultralight_
           | category aircraft in the US, but for the category commonly
           | called  "small planes", you do.
           | 
           | Ultralights are governed by Part 103 and limited to: single-
           | seat, day-only, VFR-only, weighing less than 254 pounds,
           | carrying 5 US gallons or less, and having a top speed of not
           | more than 55 knots [calibrated].
           | 
           | * - Technically "certificate", but practically the same.
        
             | swiley wrote:
             | Yes, to people who don't fly though an ultralight and
             | Cessna both look like "small planes."
        
             | tinus_hn wrote:
             | The only reason I see for drones not being compliant with
             | that is that they lack the single seat.
        
               | beerandt wrote:
               | The commercial use aspect also came into play- if you
               | were hired to use the drone to do something (like take
               | pictures), or were a company using a drone as part of a
               | product/service, it would arguably fall under a different
               | set of rules. Which is another reason clarification was
               | needed.
        
               | ptero wrote:
               | One part commonly overlooked is "see and avoid". That is,
               | under VFR, a pilot should look out the window and avoid
               | hitting other things. Which, strange as it sounds, has
               | been a sticking point for some drone flight approvals.
        
               | labcomputer wrote:
               | It's not strange at all. Drone pilots have more limited
               | visibility.
               | 
               | The bigger issue is that drone pilots have no skin in the
               | game. If they cause an mid air collision resulting in
               | fatalities: opsie daisy!
        
               | sigstoat wrote:
               | only the most psychopathic individuals say "oopsie daisy"
               | after causing accidental death.
               | 
               | for everyone else the result is usually a lot of sobbing.
               | 
               | that doesn't mean they're not blase about taking risks
               | ahead of time. but that's more because they misevaluate
               | the risk, and can't clearly imagine the negative
               | outcomes.
        
               | xhkkffbf wrote:
               | Does a person need to be sitting in the seat? Or could I
               | just put some plastic Lego seat on my drone and qualify?
        
               | sokoloff wrote:
               | You'd fail 14 CFR SS 103.1.a:
               | 
               | "Is used or intended to be used for manned operation in
               | the air by a single occupant;"
        
               | dragonwriter wrote:
               | Huh, so if I build a remote control system for an
               | intended-to-be-manned ultralight, I could use it as a
               | drone without a certificate, but not an actual purpose-
               | built drone?
        
               | sokoloff wrote:
               | So long as you could successfully argue in front of an
               | FAA Administrative Law Judge that you "used or intended
               | to use it" as a manned aircraft.
               | 
               | Since it sounds like you're doing so with the specific
               | intention to use it as an unmanned craft, the Part 103
               | rules would not apply (and would not permit it). (The law
               | is "is" rather than "was originally built to be".)
        
           | TheFreim wrote:
           | You don't? Multiple people I know who fly regularly say
           | they're required to fly a certain amount or else they'll lose
           | the license to fly.
        
             | briandear wrote:
             | They won't lose their license. They'll just be out of
             | currency. Which means they can't fly passengers until they
             | get current which is as single as three takeoffs and
             | landings.
        
         | 34679 wrote:
         | I appreciate the new system. When the first set of rules
         | requiring certification went through, I called all 3 of the
         | training locations the FAA had listed in my state and none of
         | them had any idea what I was asking about. I ended up not
         | flying my drone for over a year, until I brought it to Mexico.
        
         | syshum wrote:
         | If I remember correctly that legal requirement was rejected /
         | nullified by legal challenge to the FAA n federal court,
        
         | dperfect wrote:
         | > ...just a few years ago, the only legal way to fly a drone
         | was with an actual aircraft pilot's license.
         | 
         | As I understood it, small unmanned aircraft flown for hobby or
         | recreational use had long been excluded from the full authority
         | of the FAA (except for some basic rules for respecting the
         | airspace of manned aircraft), or the need for a pilot's
         | license. They were essentially treated like RC airplanes, which
         | of course have not required a pilot's license to operate,
         | albeit with some of those basic rules (I believe the AMA was
         | involved in establishing some of those guidelines).
         | 
         | Of course, when drones became more popular, there was a lot of
         | misunderstanding when it came to the interpretation of current
         | regulations (e.g., line-of-sight operation vs FPV), and it was
         | debatable whether or not the FAA even had the authority to
         | regulate the operation of small hobby aircraft, including
         | drones. Commercial operation was and still is clearly regulated
         | by the FAA and requires a license.
         | 
         | Basically, what I'm saying is that in this category of aircraft
         | (for recreational use), the FAA has become _more involved and
         | restrictive_ over the past few years, not less so. In my
         | opinion, that 's generally been a good thing (some people do
         | foolish things with drones), but the regulation should also be
         | balanced in maintaining some of those reasonable freedoms of
         | operation.
        
       | asix66 wrote:
       | OP here. The original title was not really wrong nor misleading,
       | however I'm not opposed to it changing.
       | 
       | Prior to TRUST, you did NOT need a license to fly any drones for
       | recreational purposes.
       | 
       | The FAA has had Part 107 in place for a while, which is a drone
       | license, but only needed if you fly drones for commercial
       | purposes.
       | 
       | Now we have both. Part 107 for commercial drone flying. TRUST for
       | recreational drone flying. I'm not opposed to either, and given
       | that the TRUST test is very easy, I don't see any downside.
        
       | airhead969 wrote:
       | Effective immediately: You need a license before you can throw an
       | American football in the US because it might break a window.
       | 
       | How many decades were R/C planes and helicopters operating
       | without a problem? Instead of police work, it's collective
       | punishment with privacy invasion and barriers as the answer to
       | salve MIC-generated paranoia. Firearms aren't even tracked this
       | absurdly.
        
         | mumblemumble wrote:
         | Many decades. My grandfather was an avid RC aircraft
         | enthusiast.
         | 
         | They are simply not comparable to the drones that are being
         | sold nowadays. 30, 40 years ago, RC aircraft were a seriously
         | difficult and expensive hobby to get into. You generally had to
         | build the plane yourself, including fitting the electronics and
         | servicing the gasoline engine. They were huge and difficult to
         | fly, too, so, after putting in all that investment, you
         | generally wouldn't even consider flying it yourself without
         | finding a mentor in the hobby to show you how it's done. And
         | you'd generally have to do it out of an RC airstrip that was
         | operated by an RC aviation club that was very interested in
         | self-policing. Hijinks would get you kicked out.
         | 
         | So, yeah, 30, 40 years ago you didn't _need_ something like
         | this, because it was not a,  "Some grandparent trying to Win
         | Christmas can just blow $200 at Wal-Mart and give one of these
         | to a 4-year-old," kind of thing. There were some much-needed
         | barriers to entry back then. Nowadays apparently any idiot can
         | have one, and yes, it is creating a legitimate problem. A
         | couple years back I almost took a drone to the face when
         | someone was whizzing it around at night, with the light off,
         | trying to startle passersby for laughs. Thankfully I took it to
         | the shoulder instead.
        
           | _hyn3 wrote:
           | This doesn't fit with my experience at all. They were
           | somewhat expensive, yes, but only a bit more than a nice Lego
           | set (which I got for Christmas one year). I don't even know
           | if there was an aviation club nearby, but there were tons of
           | RC airplane people that would just launch from their lawns.
        
           | heelix wrote:
           | Ironically enough, this is what drove me into real airplanes.
           | As a kid, did the line and rc models. Very easy to turn
           | hundreds of hours of build time into... trash. The cost of
           | the better RC stuff was darn near what you might spend on an
           | ultra light for manned flying. It is amazing how cheap drones
           | became (and the corresponding... how much general aviation
           | has gotten to be).
        
           | airhead969 wrote:
           | America solve gun violence with regulation. Look how well
           | it's working!
        
             | marcinzm wrote:
             | The US has basically non-existent gun regulation by
             | developed world standards. Go compare the gun violence
             | rates in the US with any country that actually regulates
             | guns.
        
               | airhead969 wrote:
               | "Basically non-existent [sic]" like backgrounds checks.
               | 
               | How would nanny state regulations work or be comparable
               | when Americans already possess many guns? Cow / barn
               | door.
        
               | handrous wrote:
               | What's the "[sic]" for? I don't see an error.
        
               | marcinzm wrote:
               | You made an implicit argument that regulation doesn't
               | work, I simply pointed out that it does in many many
               | place.
               | 
               | You now argue that it doesn't work because the item being
               | regulated is in wide spread possession. Drones are not.
               | Thus by your own chain of reasoning it is perfectly
               | reasonable to enforce very strong regulations NOW if we
               | wish to have any chance of managing drones.
               | 
               | I guess, thank you for making such a great argument for
               | strong regulation from the onset.
        
               | mumblemumble wrote:
               | That's perhaps a true fact, but also, maybe a bit of a
               | rhetorical own goal?
               | 
               | I don't think that the gun lobby having been so
               | successful at achieving a sort of crony capitalist vendor
               | lock-in with the American public implies in any way that
               | this is a good thing, which is what you'd have to
               | demonstrate for this analogy to really help the case
               | you're trying to present.
               | 
               | I mean, if you're trying to say that regulation doesn't
               | work, then pointing out that the the gun lobby has
               | secured laws that severely limit firearm regulation in
               | the USA, so now Americans already own a lot of guns and
               | shoot each other a lot and there's nothing that can be
               | done about it anymore, is perhaps doing more to
               | illustrate the case that you're trying to argue against.
        
               | gunapologist99 wrote:
               | > now Americans already own a lot of guns and shoot each
               | other a lot
               | 
               | Your analysis of the data may vary, but:
               | 
               | Between 1998 and 2019, there have been more than
               | 391,897,875 background checks for gun purchases in the
               | U.S.[1].
               | 
               | It is unknown which of those were for rifles; it is also
               | unknown what percentage of those background checks were
               | for multiple firearm purchases in a single transactions.
               | 
               | The AR-15 is the most popular rifle by far, so it seems
               | entirely plausible that there are perhaps vastly more
               | than 100 million AR-15's in private ownership in the U.S.
               | (An interesting point is that it is rather unlikely that
               | most people would be so unwise as to advertise
               | ownership.) (Of note, there is no legal definition of
               | assault rifle, and the "AR" in AR-15 stands for Armalite,
               | one of the first manufacturers of the AR-15.)
               | 
               | In total, less than 400 killings (including murders,
               | self-defense, suicide etc) per year committed with _all_
               | types of rifles[2]. (In fact, more people are killed each
               | year with blunt objects like clubs, hammers, etc.)
               | 
               | Those who wish to increase ownership of handguns would do
               | well to note that many, many people in the U.S. own
               | handguns for personal defense, and a very tiny fraction
               | are used for killing in any given year. By far the
               | largest handgun numbers are from people taking their own
               | lives, and most of the others are from criminal
               | activities, typically in large cities. Those criminal
               | activities are committed by people who, by definition, do
               | not obey the law.
               | 
               | This is obviously a politically fraught topic; just
               | wanted to provide some actual, if somewhat surprising,
               | data. Again, your analysis and politics may vary, but
               | that's the data.
               | 
               | 1. https://www.fbi.gov/file-
               | repository/nics_firearm_checks_-_mo...
               | 
               | 2. https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2019/crime-in-
               | the-u.s.-...
        
               | [deleted]
        
               | frockington1 wrote:
               | Why do you consider it unwise to advertise ownership of
               | an AR-15? Why would anyone care? Where I live the
               | response would be "cool, can I shoot it next range trip"
        
               | gunapologist99 wrote:
               | Depending on where you live in the country, you might
               | experience any of the following things:
               | 
               | 1. social response / cancel culture
               | 
               | 2. theft
               | 
               | 3. legal liability
        
               | gunapologist99 wrote:
               | (Sorry, too late to edit.. I meant "increase regulation
               | of handguns" in case the mistake wasn't obvious)
        
               | EricE wrote:
               | "the gun lobby has secured laws that severely limit
               | firearm regulation in the USA"
               | 
               | The gun lobbies didn't secure laws that severely limit
               | firearm regulation. They didn't have to. It was
               | enumerated as the 2nd amendment in our constitution - and
               | for damn good reasons.
               | 
               | The difference between the American and French
               | Revolutions - the American Revolution started from the
               | place that the people have all rights and our
               | constitution restricts governments ability to infringe
               | upon those _inalienable rights_. The French Revolution
               | came from the perspective of the states rights and in
               | turn grants rights to the people. I think I prefer the
               | former over the latter.
        
               | marcinzm wrote:
               | Given the events of the last year and the historical
               | opposition of groups like the NRA to minorities having
               | gun access I feel the greatest threat to continuing free
               | democracy in the US (for everyone) is not the government
               | but the same group that owns the majority of guns.
        
               | 34679 wrote:
               | >America has an 18 to one advantage over Brazil in the
               | number of guns, yet proportionally, Brazil suffers six
               | times more deaths by guns than America.
               | 
               | >In Brazil, all firearms must be registered with the
               | state. Minimum age for owning a gun is 25 and
               | restrictions make it virtually impossible to have a carry
               | permit. Owners must pay a $40 tax every three years. As a
               | result of these and other restrictions, it is very
               | difficult to own a gun in Brazil much less carry one.
               | 
               | https://www.tfp.org/what-about-gun-violence-in-brazil/
        
               | mumblemumble wrote:
               | The data are high variance, so you can't just pick
               | individual cases and then only look at selected facets of
               | them. That's classic cherry picking.
               | 
               | You've got to look at large scale trends if you want to
               | see a large scale pattern, and, if you want to dig into
               | the particulars, you need to look at _all_ the
               | particulars. For example, that article you cite fails to
               | consider the different levels of organized crime between
               | the two countries. Perhaps because including that detail
               | might necessitate acknowledging that Brazil and the USA
               | have different gun crime problems with different causes
               | that might therefore require different responses.
        
               | 34679 wrote:
               | "Go compare the gun violence rates in the US with any
               | country that actually regulates guns."
        
               | marcinzm wrote:
               | Given that the first sentence mentioned developed nations
               | I figured it was clear I meant any developed nation.
               | Furthermore, regulates guns generally means actually
               | regulates guns and not "has laws for regulating guns."
               | The two are not the same except in countries that have
               | stable governments, enough money to pay for law
               | enforcement and low amounts of corruption. Unless you
               | actually believe the state of the US government and
               | economy is akin to that of a country like Brazil?
        
               | 34679 wrote:
               | Brazil has the world's 9th largest GDP. Does this look
               | like an undeveloped country:
               | 
               | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A3o_Paulo
        
         | briandear wrote:
         | When a football brings down an airplane, then we can have that
         | discussion. Don't know anyone throwing footballs at 500 feet in
         | the approach course of an airport. There has to be a level of
         | common sense involved in this discussion.
         | 
         | As far as the decades where R/C planes operated without a
         | problem, you didn't have millions of people flying those
         | things. You also didn't have the readily-available ability to
         | fly them outside of line of sight.
        
         | chriswwweb wrote:
         | I had similar thoughts, you don't need a permit to buy a gun
         | but your kids need one if they want to fly their small toy
         | drone, well that makes totally sense :D
        
         | handrous wrote:
         | Not commenting on whether the regulation is helpful or
         | reasonable, but quadcopters are _in practice_ different, pretty
         | clearly.
         | 
         | I lived a long time before quadcopters became A Thing. I drive
         | by a place (empty, rural field) where sometimes people fly R/C
         | 'copters and airplanes. Lived lots of places. _Nonetheless_ I
         | bet I 've seen at least 3x as many quadcopters in my life as
         | other R/C aircraft, almost all in the last 6 or 7 years. I'm
         | not sure I've ever seen those traditional R/C aircraft flying
         | in a neighborhood, or out in a public area, or a small public
         | park (not one with _acres_ of empty space). Maybe a helicopter
         | once? While that 's the _only_ place I see quadcopters.
         | Indoors, at parks, at outdoor gatherings of all kinds,
         | weddings, trails, _everywhere_.
         | 
         | Whether this difference warrants the regulation, I dunno, but
         | there clearly _is_ a difference.
        
           | ckoerner wrote:
           | I'm on the opposite end of experience than you and find a
           | drone is often unpredictable in its flight. I just got a
           | small (DJI Mini 2) drone in March and have been learning and
           | flying as a recreational flyer as often as weather and time
           | permits. According to the logs I have flown a mere 8 hours
           | and 40 odd miles over 40 some flights. This small drone is
           | easy to move quickly in nearly all directions while having 4
           | swiftly rotating blades that do not care what they touch and
           | with no easy way to avoid. Wind gusts over 20 mph (easy to
           | find over even just 75ft) can cause the craft to struggle to
           | control, much less move in the direction intended.
           | 
           | Not to mention while I paid the smart sum of $600 for my kit
           | (a high bar for many to spend on getting started in a hobby),
           | DJI now has an even more approachable model at $299. Making
           | the ability to get into the hobby more accessible is great,
           | but it does come with a greater risk of even well-intentioned
           | but under-educated people (or just knuckleheads) sending a
           | drone up for a quick flight and smashing into
           | someone/something without even reading the manual.
           | 
           | I'm a pretty cautious guy. I took a MSF course before buying
           | a motorcycle, wear a helmet and gear, etc. I was very careful
           | on my first few flights with my drone, but even then managed
           | to crash into a stationary bird house. All this to say I am
           | happy to take a simple test to prove to myself, much less
           | those around me, that I know what the heck I'm doing and to
           | keep myself and others safe because these things are very
           | different from model aircraft and most consumer electronics
           | that include a camera and gyroscopes. :)
        
         | jvolkman wrote:
         | 20+ years ago when I flew models as a kid, the various clubs
         | all required an AMA membership and a certain amount of flight
         | time with a trainer. Seems like the hobby self-regulated a bit
         | more back then.
        
       | letterlib wrote:
       | I mimic the top comment here. I used to be an aerial photographer
       | in the Northeast about 7ish years ago when drones were still
       | relatively new. You still had to build you own back then, you
       | couldn't just BUY them.
       | 
       | The regulations were super confusing. I even had cop sending me
       | an email in case I ever needed anything, but I'm pretty sure at
       | the time I wasn't really supposed to be flying because I didn't
       | have a license. Regardless, regulations were ridiculously
       | confusing so it's nice to see some clarity after all these years.
        
       | wil421 wrote:
       | It's a 30 minute class and probably a no brainer for most people.
       | Sometimes you have to take these for a fishing licenses or to
       | ride a Jet Ski without a license. Hunter education courses are
       | usually mandatory. In Florida you have to take certification
       | course if you plan to Shark fish.
        
         | macksd wrote:
         | And such measures can be pretty useless and only amount to
         | rent-seeking. I did hunter education in Colorado with the
         | Makhaira group. Some students were unable to hit an 8.5x11
         | sheet of paper with a .22 bolt-action rifle at a distance of 5
         | yards (which is absolutely pathetic for someone who thinks they
         | can hit a deer at even 100 yards with a hunting rifle). These
         | individuals were granted their credentials because they failed
         | this exercise while not breaking any of the gun safety rules
         | (I'm not sure how you can say that you can fire a gun safely
         | when you're that inaccurate, but that's my point).
        
           | ctdonath wrote:
           | For all those disagreeing, I'll agree with you. Inability to
           | hit a large target at very close range belies cognitive
           | inability to perform safely. Knowing rules of the road
           | doesn't matter if you can't drive on the road for a mere 100
           | feet without going over the curb.
           | 
           | That said, methinks this FAA training is abusing rent-seeking
           | to harass & discourage small drone use (just as most legally
           | obligated "gun safety" courses are designed to hinder
           | ownership via imposing undue cost & time burdens).
           | 
           | [LFI-IV][Gunsite/Cooper]
        
           | barbazoo wrote:
           | How would a free 30 minute class considered "rent-seeking"?
        
           | dv_dt wrote:
           | Considering the number of drone flying incidents that ground
           | fire fighting equipment, or cause concerns around airports -
           | I think the drone operation education is one of the cheaper
           | ways to reduce incidents
        
           | _jal wrote:
           | Licensing is only tangentially about competence. The point is
           | to have a revokable permission.
        
             | dylan604 wrote:
             | How many people continue to drive a car after having their
             | license revoked? When they do, they are capable of far
             | greater damage than a revoked drove license. People that
             | have to respect for the law are not going to follow the
             | law. How many criminals carry weapons even though there are
             | laws?
             | 
             | The point of laws are to give guidance to know what
             | is/isn't allowed, and to allow for punishiment when broken.
        
               | [deleted]
        
             | ampdepolymerase wrote:
             | Selective enforcement of rules and legal discretion ought
             | to be banned through constitutional amendment.
        
           | phkahler wrote:
           | >> And such measures can be pretty useless and only amount to
           | rent-seeking. I did hunter education in Colorado with the
           | Makhaira group. Some students were unable to hit an 8.5x11
           | sheet of paper with a .22 bolt-action rifle at a distance of
           | 5 yards (which is absolutely pathetic for someone who thinks
           | they can hit a deer at even 100 yards with a hunting rifle).
           | These individuals were granted their credentials because they
           | failed this exercise while not breaking any of the gun safety
           | rules
           | 
           | Gun safety is the point, not marksmanship.
           | 
           | In this case the point is safe drone use. There have been
           | incidents of people flying drones in controlled airspace
           | around airports, which is dangerous. The FAA doesn't give a
           | shit about some dude and his drone, they care about the
           | safety of the general public. A simple course like this will
           | cut down on the number of people doing things that endanger
           | others.
        
             | cameronh90 wrote:
             | At a certain point, inability to hit a target becomes a
             | safety issue.
        
               | lootsauce wrote:
               | You don't shoot in any direction where missing the target
               | is a problem. If there a a house near-by or a busy road
               | and the path of a bullet not hitting its target may
               | encroach that space you don't even point your gun let
               | alone shoot. For deer hunting an elevated position in a
               | stand makes it more likely you see a deer but also makes
               | it far less likely that a miss will go somewhere you
               | don't want.
        
               | craftinator wrote:
               | > You don't shoot in any direction where missing the
               | target is a problem.
               | 
               | Hoping that the class included that nugget of wisdom.
               | That being said, being wildly inaccurate with a hunting
               | rifle isn't usually a problem, especially if the sights
               | are calibrated correctly. A handgun however, is pretty
               | dangerous when you don't know how to aim it.
        
               | GeneralAntilles wrote:
               | It's one of the core gun safety bullet points, so any
               | class covering gun safety certainly should have. . . .
        
               | ctdonath wrote:
               | Missing by a couple minutes of angle is understandable,
               | and factored into safe use.
               | 
               | "Unable to hit the broad side of a barn" (American
               | aphorism) isn't a miss, it's functional/cognitive
               | inability to abide by safety rules.
        
           | triceratops wrote:
           | > I'm not sure how you can say that you can fire a gun safely
           | when you're that inaccurate,
           | 
           | Isn't "be aware of what's behind your target" one of the
           | rules of gun safety?
        
             | AuryGlenz wrote:
             | If your aim is off enough that could be an issue. You'll
             | never know what's beyond your sight, so if your aim is too
             | high...
             | 
             | There are places on my property I could use for
             | inexperienced shooters, and those would be different from
             | places I could use.
             | 
             | My friend brings people to his family's gravel pit for that
             | reason - huge "walls" when you're in the pit.
        
           | ska wrote:
           | Was the certificate on marksmanship, or safe handling of a
           | firearm?
           | 
           | Firing a weapon inaccurately in the correct general direction
           | isn't high risk, this isn't how people get hurt in hunting
           | accidents. You shouldn't even have your rifle up (let alone
           | firing) at all unless you have a clear idea of what will
           | happen when you miss, and a good view of the field.
           | 
           | I doubt the licensing body gives any thought to your
           | probability of a successful hunt.
        
           | throwaway0a5e wrote:
           | I'd argue that the point isn't to enable rent seeking (though
           | some parties definitely benefit from that), the point is to
           | add bureaucratic red tape to discourage the activity.
           | 
           | >I'm not sure how you can say that you can fire a gun safely
           | when you're that inaccurate, but that's my point
           | 
           | The NYPD probably has a well practiced answer to this
           | question.
        
           | cogman10 wrote:
           | Usually, these aren't expensive classes nor is the licensing
           | expensive. And generally, those funds are earmarked towards
           | paying either for the education or enforcement.
           | 
           | As for the actual shooting education... I mean, I think I
           | care more about someone being safe with a gun than I care
           | about them being a good shot. Missing the side of the barn
           | matters less than making sure someone's not standing next to
           | the barn when you are shooting.
        
             | macksd wrote:
             | My point was more that the class was just plain garbage and
             | that's the most objective measure of how terrible it was
             | that I can think of. There were people repeatedly and
             | absent-mindedly pointing rifles at the person next to them.
             | You know why they still got the hunter's safety card?
             | Because they didn't do it on their last shot, so obviously
             | they learned their lesson. The in-person instruction was
             | also just a slide-show of the instructor's previous hunting
             | trip.
             | 
             | That said, I stand by my suggestion that an inability to
             | hit a standard sheet of paper at 5 yards with a training
             | rifle is bad enough to qualify as a safety issue. Doing the
             | math here, these people would be unable to hit a 60' target
             | at typical deer ranges in my state. You can't be sure of
             | your target and what's behind it at that point, and that's
             | one of the 4 fundamental rules of gun safety. You should be
             | measuring your ability to hit the vital organs of an animal
             | in a low number of minutes of angle - so we're talking
             | INCHES at the same ranges. If you can't do that you have no
             | business hunting. If you're off by 60' you're just plain
             | being reckless.
        
         | madcow2011 wrote:
         | I didn't know about the shark fishing one. That's neat. Does
         | that include tourists that hire a charter, or is it for the
         | charter captains themselves?
        
           | wil421 wrote:
           | Looked it up and it's only for shore based shark fishing
           | because you're taking the shark out of the water.[1]
           | 
           | In some states the Captain's fishing license will cover
           | everyone on board for most types of fishing (including
           | sharks) in state waters, except certain Tuna IIRC based on
           | federal laws/permits.
           | 
           | [1] https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/FLFFWCC/bulletin
           | s/2...
        
         | syshum wrote:
         | One big difference here, is that for these other recreational
         | activities the license is only required if you doing them on
         | public lands, however on private land you do not need a hunting
         | license, or fishing license at all
         | 
         | From what I understand these FAA rules apply even if i am
         | operating a drone in my back yard.
        
           | rhinoceraptor wrote:
           | Yes, because there is no such thing as unregulated airspace.
           | The FAA governs all navigable airspace, and a drone has no
           | minimum flight altitude, so literally any outdoor flight is
           | within their purview.
        
           | bigdubs wrote:
           | It follows because you may be taking off from private land
           | but you're operating in federal airspace (all airspace is
           | federal in the US)
        
             | _hyn3 wrote:
             | _All_ airspace? Not even airspace above, say, 500 feet?
             | 
             | Am I literally walking through federal airspace right now?
             | 
             | The U.S. Constitution is pretty explicit about physical
             | space that is allocated to the federal government and the
             | reasons (post offices and post roads, military
             | installations, and that's about it), so laying claim to
             | every square inch of "air" above that land seems to be
             | quite a stretch.
        
               | sithadmin wrote:
               | Yes, all airspace. If you're out walking, driving, or
               | erecting a structure, you're entitled to its usage
               | provided you're not creating an air navigation hazard.
               | The general understanding is that you're entitled to
               | airspace on your property, and to a limited extent on the
               | property of others, insofar as the usage of that airspace
               | is necessary to use the land itself. Flying _anything_ is
               | not, from a legal and regulatory perspective, understood
               | to be a usage related to the land itself.
               | 
               | This issue has been settled for quite some time in US
               | law. The main grey areas that exist are debates over what
               | sorts of exceptions should be made for reasonable use of
               | UAV/drones at low altitudes.
        
               | cameronh90 wrote:
               | I've always wondered about the edge conditions.
               | 
               | Would flying a drone indoors require permission from FAA?
               | What about a daredevil jump on a motorcycle?
        
               | sithadmin wrote:
               | As long as there's a roof, you can fly whatever you want
               | indoors without the FAA's interference.
               | 
               | As for airborne ground vehicles - it's difficult to
               | imagine a situation where it would legitimately be a
               | concern, which is why it's a grey area :)
        
               | cameronh90 wrote:
               | I'm actually in the UK and it appears until relatively
               | recently, the CAA did assert control over indoor
               | airspace. But recently they've relaxed the rules and said
               | if there's no possiblity of escape, you can do what you
               | want.
               | 
               | That does mean technically that if you're flying a drone
               | indoors, the legality depends on how wide you open the
               | windows.
        
           | chrischattin wrote:
           | You need a license to hunt/fish on private land.
        
             | wil421 wrote:
             | Not in Georgia if it is your land or your
             | wife/brother/sister/dependent of you and you all live in
             | the same house hold. You're still required to get a free
             | deer harvest record or free Turkey stamp etc.... No hunter
             | ED required. [1]
             | 
             | [1] https://georgiawildlife.com/licenses-permits-
             | passes/choose
        
             | syshum wrote:
             | Not in my state... I am not sure where you live but in
             | every state I am aware of this is not true, though I tend
             | to only live in area's where freedom is respected so...
             | 
             | Edit: I am rate limited but a comment below claims KY does
             | not allow hunting with out a license, yet Offical KY
             | government web sites says you can
             | 
             | "if you are a Kentucky resident hunting on your own
             | property, then neither you, your spouse nor your dependent
             | children need a license or statewide deer permit to harvest
             | a deer. "
             | 
             | https://fw.ky.gov/Hunt/Pages/Deer-Season-FAQ.aspx
             | 
             | This is the regulations I am aware for most states, if you
             | are on your own private land you do not need a license to
             | hunt and fish
        
               | pomian wrote:
               | That's very interesting. Worth moving to Kentucky!
               | Everywhere else I have visited you need a license, and to
               | follow bag limits. Except for non licensed animals:
               | rabbits, squirrels, gophers for example; or predators:
               | cougars, wolves, bears.
        
               | yaur wrote:
               | I'm not aware of any state where you can hunt wild game
               | on private land without a license. Including states where
               | you would expect that to be the case if it were true
               | anywhere... ND, SD, MT, and KY to name a few. Non-game
               | species and preserve "hunting" are a different matter.
        
           | sithadmin wrote:
           | The key difference is that if you're flying anything, you're
           | not operating 'in [your] back yard' - the FAA has purview
           | over that airspace.
        
             | syshum wrote:
             | Yes I am aware that the FAA claims to have full control
             | over everything down to the ground, I am also aware there
             | is not much case law supporting that position, and in fact
             | the case law seems to indicated the Supreme Court could be
             | in a position to limit the FAA's authority to 100ft and
             | higher, anything lower than that being consider private
             | property.
             | 
             | IMO it is clear unconstitutional taking for the FAA to
             | seize ownership of all the air above my property, with out
             | limit
        
               | peteyPete wrote:
               | Your backyard or 100 acre plot, doesn't change a thing,
               | isn't restricted airspace. A plane can fly over it, and
               | the one in a million chance that you're flying your drone
               | high enough to impact a plane or helicopter exists.
               | 
               | Say people just start launching rockets and drones
               | literally anywhere, at any time... How are flight paths
               | supposed to be know ahead of time to avoid collisions?
               | With 45,000ish DAILY commercial flights handled by the
               | FAA, almost 20,000 airports in the US, how exactly do you
               | think you can safely co-exist without catastrophes if
               | people can just start putting stuff up there?
               | 
               | My reaction to this whole "unconstitutional" rebuttal to
               | everything in the US is literally jaw dropping, confused,
               | and wtf... If you're smart enough to not do something
               | stupid, or not put yourself in a position to make
               | mistakes that affect others, thats great. Good for you.
               | There's 350 million other peeps just in your neck of the
               | woods and I can guarantee you that same innate sense of
               | logic and common sense doesn't apply to everyone else.
               | When a stupid move can put the lives of 100s of others at
               | risk, or cost a ton of money every time they need to
               | intervene, I'm not sure you get to just throw around "me
               | myself and I and my constitution" and actually come out
               | not sounding like a 1 year old throwing a tantrum because
               | he's told to not wipe poop on everything and everyone.
               | 
               | How many hundreds of millions or billions would have to
               | be wasted in downtime, planes crashes, car crashes, lives
               | lost, random injuries, before we ask people to do the
               | equivalent of reading the dumb ass common sense
               | instructions that came with the toy that is way more than
               | a toy?
        
               | Chris2048 wrote:
               | > A plane can fly over it
               | 
               | Maybe it shouldn't. Ground vehicles need to purchase land
               | to operate, maybe planes needn't have right of way over
               | private property.
               | 
               | > I'm not sure you get to just throw around "me myself
               | and I and my constitution"
               | 
               | You absolutely get to. Planes are operated at profit -
               | "me, myself an I" for a private corporation.
        
               | syshum wrote:
               | >>My reaction to this whole "unconstitutional" rebuttal
               | to everything in the US is literally jaw dropping,
               | confused, and wtf.
               | 
               | Well the constitution is where the Government derives is
               | power from, I know it is a concept most people (even US
               | Citizens to not ) understand. The Constitution is a
               | document that explicitly outlines what the government can
               | do, if the constitution does not grant the authority than
               | the government has no power over that thing.
               | 
               | This is far different than most government organization
               | where constitutions apply more to the people not the
               | government, meaning the constitutions in many nations
               | assume the government is all powerful and simply grants
               | some rights to the people for which the government is
               | barred from infringing.
               | 
               | This is not true for the US, as the founder of the US
               | recognize that our Rights are natural rights bestowed
               | upon us by our creator, we are self governing for which
               | we organized a government and granted that government a
               | very LIMITED amount of power.
               | 
               | >>Say people just start launching rockets and drones
               | literally anywhere, at any time... How are flight paths
               | supposed to be know ahead of time to avoid collisions?
               | With 45,000ish DAILY commercial flights handled by the
               | FAA, almost 20,000 airports in the US, how exactly do you
               | think you can safely co-exist without catastrophes if
               | people can just start putting stuff up there?
               | 
               | That is easy, as my other comments have laid out I am
               | talking about low altitude situation, not many planes
               | under 100ft or even 500 feet, there should be no issue
               | with the FAA only regulating things above say 500ft
               | 
               | >>the one in a million chance that you're flying your
               | drone high enough to impact a plane or helicopter exists.
               | 
               | So 1:1,000,000 is the statistical floor for you? You
               | might want to rethink that because if that is your risk
               | tolerance that more or less makes everything illegal.
               | Hopefully you have at least some respect for freedom, and
               | are not a complete totalitarian, pretty sure you said in
               | another comment "you are all for freedom" but if you want
               | to outlaw everything that has a 1:1,000,000 chance of
               | unsafe event well I dont think you have any respect for
               | freedom at all
        
               | phkahler wrote:
               | You might be right. But this isn't about who has control.
               | It's about making sure drone operators know where their
               | wild-west airspace ends and the FAAs begins. How many
               | people have purchased a drone and decided to see how high
               | they could go without even knowing there are rules about
               | that? The point isn't to track you or regulate you, it's
               | to make sure you've at least read the rules even if you
               | have no intention of flying beyond your back yard.
        
               | sithadmin wrote:
               | I'm not sure I'm convinced the FAA's claim to airspace
               | above private property is unconstitutional. Just as
               | there's not a lot of precedent firmly establishing the
               | FAA's purview in low altitude airspace, there's also not
               | much precedent that land ownership conveys a right to
               | airspace usage beyond the right to place structures upon
               | the land that happen to occupy that airspace. Further,
               | there's a clear parallel here to the FCC's purview over
               | EM spectrum usage that _does_ have significantly more
               | precedent backing it, so I would expect that to set the
               | groundwork for any future case law on the airspace
               | matter.
               | 
               | In any case, it's an area that certainly needs much
               | greater clarity than there is today.
        
         | prawn wrote:
         | You have to watch a video and answer basic questions before
         | they give you a permit for Fiery Furnace in Arches National
         | Park too. I have done that a couple of times, as well as
         | Australia's simple drone test, and they're both no-brainers.
        
           | airhead969 wrote:
           | Let's say you're in America rather than Australia, because
           | context matters.
           | 
           | If it happens a few people cannot operate domestic lawnmowers
           | correctly and chase crowds down with them out of acts of
           | terrorism because they slip a gasket, should we have
           | licenses, certifications, and tracking of all lawnmowers? Is
           | that a "no-brainer" too? Maybe we should think first before
           | trying to regulate or educate ourselves out of every edge-
           | case risk.
        
             | peteyPete wrote:
             | I hear you, but this is apples and peanuts, not even
             | oranges. There's little risk you're going to accidentally
             | launch your mower into a car, building, a person. It stays
             | on the ground. A small mistake or moment of inattention, or
             | mower failure won't cause it to drop from hundreds of feet
             | down onto who ever is below.
             | 
             | There's also awareness of where you can and cannot operate
             | drones and people should know this. You are after all
             | occupying air space. If drones could only fly up 30 feet it
             | would be a different story but they can go quite far.
             | People fly them over protected airspace, crash them in
             | random places... Last thing you want is people flying them
             | over airports, over busy streets or highways where they can
             | crash into planes, get sucked in to engines, crash into
             | cars and cause accidents, etc etc...
             | 
             | They're not asking people to take hundreds of hours of
             | flight to get certified, just a short awareness course for
             | those who have no common sense... You don't need to blow a
             | gasket to have a drone accident. It's not like drones are
             | crash proof and all aware of airspace restrictions. Just
             | don't want to have accidents in places that can affect
             | others or have people fly them into places that will
             | automatically trigger an emergency responses and disrupt
             | operations and waste time and money... Like a drone over an
             | airport where they'll dispatch security to take down the
             | drone and interrupt all flights taking off or landing.
             | Thats a LOT of money for one person's ignorance or
             | stupidity.
             | 
             | https://www.newscientist.com/article/2190096-drones-are-
             | caus...
             | 
             | I'm all for freedom as long as your 10 minutes of good
             | times don't cost others a ton of money and the reality is
             | there's a ton that can go wrong even with no intent on
             | doing anything wrong.
        
             | ocdtrekkie wrote:
             | This is ridiculous because the default use for a lawnmower
             | is solely your own yard, and it doesn't fly. Most literally
             | power down if they leave your hand.
             | 
             | And the reality is that drone testing and licensing isn't
             | based on hypothetical risks, but real world incidents which
             | have disrupted public safety and caused injuries. So if you
             | have sources for lawnmowers threatening the public safety
             | and injuring anyone outside the owners' household, let me
             | know.
        
               | [deleted]
        
               | airhead969 wrote:
               | Lawnmowers have aren't shopping carts. They don't know
               | the boundaries of a yard.
               | 
               | You haven't seen "The Lawnmower Man?" Carry or swing a
               | running lawnmower upside down through a dense crowd, and
               | it will injure many people.
        
               | BobbyJo wrote:
               | I think the idea with drones is that it's much easier to
               | cause great harm to a great number of people
               | _accidentally_. A lawn mower has very obvious risks: a
               | spinning blade. A drone has many non-obvious risks:
               | scaring wildlife, power lines, planes, restricted
               | airspace, falling out of the sky onto people, etc.
        
             | prawn wrote:
             | "No-brainer" is purely my describing it as a simple test.
             | If you have an issue with the licensing itself, that might
             | be better as a top level comment.
        
             | snypher wrote:
             | This particular analogy in the US lead to a whole variety
             | of safety measures, eg you can't mow with a riding mower in
             | reverse without holding down a override switch, and there
             | still dozens of children a year being reversed over by an
             | inattentive operator.
        
               | throwaway0a5e wrote:
               | Unless things have changed recently that's a California
               | only thing.
               | 
               | My coworkers were recently pontificating about how "not
               | for sale in California" is practically a marketable
               | feature on anything with a blade or engine after one of
               | them suffered the misfortune of buying one.
        
               | snypher wrote:
               | The blade brake on a walk behind was mandated in 1982 at
               | a federal level by the CPSC. Riding mowers were mandated
               | by ansi 2003 standard, including everyone's favourite
               | 'operator presence control's aka the seat safety switch.
               | 
               | Most everything safety can be disabled if you really
               | want, but anyone pontificating about CA compliant
               | emissions on small power equipment can go sit with the
               | coal-rollers as far as im concerned.
               | 
               | Edit: to stay on topic, if people start getting
               | frequently maimed by drones then I'd expect to see some
               | crazy CPSC action like an altitude safety switch or
               | something...
        
             | verelo wrote:
             | I'm curious why this context matters?
        
               | airhead969 wrote:
               | Because most former British colonies tend to welcome
               | education and regulation with open arms as a panacea
               | instead of with suspicion of onerous, unnecessary
               | drudgery and expense.
        
               | marcinzm wrote:
               | Which matters in terms of a non emotion based discussion
               | on an international forum why exactly?
        
             | kube-system wrote:
             | The air is a public thoroughfare. We have a long and
             | established history of licensing for activity that require
             | public cooperation on publicly shared resources: driving,
             | boating, hunting, fishing, radio operation, etc.
        
           | FlyMoreRockets wrote:
           | Flying lawn mowers have existed for decades:
           | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNWfqVWC2KI
        
       | frankhhhhhhhhh wrote:
       | RC car owners will also be required to have a state issued
       | drivers license.
        
         | sithadmin wrote:
         | Unlike drones, the average RC car doesn't carry a risk of
         | killing/maiming people when they drop out of the air at near-
         | terminal velocity. If a bus hits your RC car, at worst it gets
         | a scratch or dent before the RC car is destroyed. Even a tiny
         | drone, on the other hand, could easily take out a prop or
         | turbine on an aircraft and lead to the death of the occupants
         | or bystanders.
        
           | handrous wrote:
           | I don't get how people in this thread are failing to see that
           | this is _reactive_ , and pulling out ridiculous examples as
           | equivalencies. Guess what? If people driving RC cars started
           | causing problems like drones are, those would be regulated
           | too. "Well next they'll require a license for RC cars, or
           | lawn mowers!" Well... yeah, they will, if enough people cause
           | serious-enough problems in public with those.
        
             | sleepybrett wrote:
             | ... and yet gun laws never seem to get any harsher...
        
               | briandear wrote:
               | They're pretty harsh already. Shoot someone with a gun
               | and you can spend 20+ years in prison. Assuming a
               | district attorney does their jobs.
        
               | handrous wrote:
               | Get one of the two major political parties to adopt
               | protecting the right to fly drones as an unquestionable
               | and heavily-promoted plank of their platform, then throw
               | many millions of dollars behind interest groups
               | supporting that message and activity, and the same thing
               | will happen there. Oh, and maybe get an amendment passed
               | about it.
               | 
               | Guns are special in America.
        
       | makerofspoons wrote:
       | This is great news. About a month ago a scofflaw drone pilot
       | wiped out an entire generation of elegant terns:
       | https://news.yahoo.com/generation-seabirds-wiped-drone-o-110...
       | 
       | More training and harsher penalties need to be proportional to
       | the amount of damage recreational flyers can do.
        
         | Robotbeat wrote:
         | Is there a reason that someone couldn't do the same damage just
         | running around among the terns' nests?
        
           | groby_b wrote:
           | It's significantly more work to run around the nest, and it
           | requires more intentionality than piloting a drone and being
           | stupid about it. There's also usually signage warning you to
           | not do the running-through-the-nest thing.
           | 
           | For obvious reasons, we can't hang warning signs in the air.
           | 
           | I have my doubts that a license will prevent people from
           | doing stupid things, but that is (at least part of) the
           | reasoning for having a license - so the government can say
           | "told you so".
           | 
           | It's on par with immigration forms asking you if you're
           | planning to be a terrorist. It's a useless question, but it
           | establishes a paper trail that somebody has told you not to
           | do that.
           | 
           | It's like rooted in _Lambert v. California_ , which stated
           | that you can't convict a person of violating a law if there
           | was no probability they could've know the law existed. A
           | question, or a sign, or a license establishes that there is a
           | probability.
        
             | saint_abroad wrote:
             | > There's also usually signage warning you to not do the
             | running-through-the-nest thing.
             | 
             | "No drones, no dogs, and no bikes. Those are the posted
             | rules in the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve in Huntington
             | Beach." https://laist.com/news/climate-environment/after-
             | thousands-o...
             | 
             | Indeed, licences won't stop stupidity but they do help
             | establish penalties.
        
               | sleepybrett wrote:
               | Current law already has penalties.
        
             | _hyn3 wrote:
             | There's also no question or sign indicating that you have
             | to take a drone license course, effective _immediately_.
             | How would someone even find out about this new regulation?
             | By hanging out on hacker news waiting for it?
        
           | airhead969 wrote:
           | Stop that. It's illegal thinking against loyalty to the
           | agenda.
           | 
           | Also, this exposes that we will need to regulate, educate,
           | license, and certify wearers of trainers so that they can't
           | be used in a way we don't like. No running!
        
         | sleepybrett wrote:
         | I'm not sure how this changes that. The fact is that pilot was
         | already flying in an area where it was not allowed and already
         | in violation of current law. You can't really legislate your
         | way out of this.
        
         | airhead969 wrote:
         | That sounds terrible, but "more education" won't, and never
         | will, change attitudes or behavior. Psychopaths will always do
         | what they want. Going Big Mother on a particular sport for the
         | actions of a few independent persons doesn't address anything
         | other than destroy that sport. Wishful thinking does nothing.
        
           | cecilpl2 wrote:
           | Education is aimed at people who are well-intentioned but
           | _unaware_ , which is a vastly larger population than those
           | who are intentionally causing harm.
           | 
           | How will requiring people to take a 30 minute class "destroy
           | the sport"?
        
             | handrous wrote:
             | Really, this seems like an effort to _save_ "the sport". If
             | a few people keep doing enough damage with these things, or
             | generally behaving like jackasses, they're gonna receive a
             | lot more regulation than just requiring a brief class,
             | guaranteed.
        
           | hutzlibu wrote:
           | Psychopaths will not do bad things, if they fear real
           | consequences.
           | 
           | The course is very simple but basically a reminder of the
           | rules. Now potential violaters are more aware of it. Combine
           | that with real consequences - and the number of idiots flying
           | close to airports or peoples bedrooms will get lower.
        
           | briandear wrote:
           | Most drone "pilots" aren't psychopaths. They just might not
           | realize the hazards of flying their drone without airspace
           | awareness.
        
       | sleepybrett wrote:
       | ... and yet I can buy an AR-15 and ammunition with no such
       | requirements.
        
         | cronix wrote:
         | They need to put drones in the constitution.
        
         | briandear wrote:
         | I don't recall ever having a near-miss with an AR-15 when on
         | final approach. But I and many other pilots that fly frequently
         | have many stories of drone near-misses.
         | 
         | How many legal AR-15 owners are shooting at airplanes? How many
         | drone "pilots" have interfered with air traffic? Drone
         | incursions are a very big deal. Not a single case I have ever
         | heard of in the US where an AR-15 has brought down an airplane.
         | 
         | https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_UAV-related_incident...
        
           | andrewmunsell wrote:
           | Speaking about AR-15s bringing down airplanes is a false
           | equivalence-- it would be more apt to compare drone
           | incursions to incidents from negligent discharge or improper
           | gun storage.
        
       | jaywalk wrote:
       | This applies to ALL drones, including ones under 250g that don't
       | need to be registered.
        
       | carapace wrote:
       | A few bad apples spoil the barrel, eh?
       | 
       | Twice now I've had drones flying over my house with the operators
       | nowhere to be found. I wouldn't mind so much if I could find the
       | operator and ask them not to fly over my house but I can't.
       | That's the fundamental problem with drone: the asymmetry.
        
         | cronix wrote:
         | You will by 2023 when all drones need to have Remote ID
         | transmitters installed, which shows the drone location, bearing
         | and speed as well as the location of the controller. Mine
         | already has it.
         | 
         | https://www.engadget.com/faa-final-drone-rule-dates-18453896...
        
           | carapace wrote:
           | Thanks for the tip. It's a start.
           | 
           | But I don't see how this would work for me in the situation I
           | described. Would I call the police or the FAA or what?
           | 
           | > Remote ID helps the FAA, law enforcement, and other federal
           | agencies find the control station when a drone appears to be
           | flying in an unsafe manner or where it is not allowed to fly.
           | 
           | > Authorized individuals from public safety organizations may
           | request identity of the drone's owner from the FAA.
           | 
           | https://www.faa.gov/uas/getting_started/remote_id/
        
             | cronix wrote:
             | You'd call either.
             | 
             | Just like if there is other suspected illegal activity, you
             | contact the branch of gov't that handles it and not involve
             | yourself. If you see someone speeding, it's not legal to
             | speed to catch them. You call the cops and let them deal
             | with it.
             | 
             | Personally I don't see this working at all, or at least
             | won't have much of an effect. Most drone pilots aren't
             | sitting there for hours in the same place waiting to get
             | caught, especially if they are knowingly doing something
             | bad. They usually fly for 15-30 minutes and go somewhere
             | else. By the time the cops/faa get to you, the drone, pilot
             | and all their "remote id" data are long gone. In a lot of
             | major US cities, cops aren't even responding to anything
             | but the most serious of crimes due to budget cuts and
             | personnel shortages. I don't see how they will even have
             | the time to follow up given the list of priorities they
             | have, maybe unless the report included a weapon mounted on
             | the drone (which has happened). And people intent on
             | breaking the law just won't register or get a drone with
             | Remote ID anyway. They'd build their own (it's a fun hobby
             | and how all this drone stuff got started to begin with -
             | the first ones just used arduinos with appropriate sensors
             | [see ardupilot project]) or use some of the millions
             | already in existence built in the last 15 years that don't
             | have the capability.
        
               | carapace wrote:
               | Thanks for the information. I really appreciate it.
               | 
               | Both of these drones were flown multiple times (five or
               | six times per month) over dense residential areas. I
               | doubt these folks were serious scoff-laws, just
               | inconsiderate. Like I said, I wouldn't mind so much if I
               | could see and talk to the operators. I like drones and I
               | have seven or eight myself.
        
         | eulers_secret wrote:
         | You do know you don't own the airspace over your house, right?
         | The drone operator is operating within the law and you do not
         | have a _right_ to talk to them.
         | 
         | I'd stop flying over your place, but I have friends who would
         | laugh and tell you to pound sand - then they'd fly over your
         | place a few more times for fun.
         | 
         | Remote ID won't solve this either, it doesn't apply to drones
         | <250g. You're going to have to just deal with it.
        
           | carapace wrote:
           | > If you fly over private property, this is trespassing, and
           | you can receive a punishment of up to $2,500 in fines. If
           | it's a second-time offense or more, you can actually face
           | jail time in addition to large fines. If you use your drone
           | to harass someone, the victim can file a restraining order
           | against you. Again, drone laws by state can be quite
           | different, this is strictly California's regulations.
           | 
           | https://www.thedronelogic.com/drone-laws-by-
           | state/california...
           | 
           | > Keep your drone within sight. If you use First Person View
           | or similar technology, you must have a visual observer always
           | keep your drone within unaided sight (for example, no
           | binoculars).
           | 
           | https://www.faa.gov/news/fact_sheets/news_story.cfm?newsId=2.
           | ..
           | 
           | > The drone operator is operating within the law
           | 
           | No. I checked and the law is that they must be within line-
           | of-sight. These two drone were both flying all over a
           | residential neighborhood and the operators aren't in line-of-
           | sight.
           | 
           | > you do not have a right to talk to them.
           | 
           | That makes no sense. Of course I have a right to talk to
           | anyone.
           | 
           | > I have friends who would laugh and tell you to pound sand -
           | then they'd fly over your place a few more times for fun.
           | 
           | Then we would have a _serious problem._
           | 
           | > You're going to have to just deal with it.
           | 
           | No one wants that.
        
           | dodobirdlord wrote:
           | > You do know you don't own the airspace over your house,
           | right? The drone operator is operating within the law and you
           | do not have a right to talk to them.
           | 
           | A landowner in the United States owns the air space above
           | their land up to the height that the FAA has classified as
           | Navigable Airspace in that area, generally either 500ft or
           | 1000ft. Flying over someone's property below that height is
           | trespassing, and after a good faith effort to identify the
           | trespasser and inform them to stop trespassing, the landowner
           | is entitled to destroy the drone (for example with buckshot)
           | or report the trespassing to the police for investigation.
        
             | cronix wrote:
             | > A landowner in the United States owns the air space above
             | their land up to the height that the FAA has classified as
             | Navigable Airspace in that area, generally either 500ft or
             | 1000ft.
             | 
             | > the landowner is entitled to destroy the drone (for
             | example with buckshot) or report the trespassing to the
             | police for investigation.
             | 
             | Citation?
             | 
             | > But today the FAA in response to my questioning confirmed
             | that shooting down a drone is a federal crime and cited 18
             | USC 32. That statute makes it a felony to damage or destroy
             | an aircraft.[1]
             | 
             | > the statute also prohibits interfering with anyone
             | "engaged in the authorized operation of such aircraft" and
             | carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison. Since drones
             | are considered aircraft, threatening a drone or a drone
             | operator, according to Ms. Alkalay, would also be a federal
             | crime subject to five years in prison under this same
             | statute.[1]
             | 
             | [1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/johngoglia/2016/04/13/faa-
             | confi...
        
               | dodobirdlord wrote:
               | From the cited (18 U.S.C. 32):
               | 
               | > Amendments to 18 U.S.C. SS 32 enacted in 1984 expand
               | United States jurisdiction over aircraft sabotage to
               | include destruction of any aircraft in the special
               | aircraft jurisdiction of the United States or any civil
               | aircraft used, operated or employed in interstate,
               | overseas, or foreign air commerce.
               | 
               | The special aircraft jurisdiction in question requires
               | the aircraft to be "in flight", where the definition of
               | "in flight" oddly enough depends on the aircraft having
               | "doors".[1]
               | 
               | A plain reading of the statute indicates that it does not
               | apply to unmanned aircraft unless they are engaged in
               | interstate commerce. But I am not a lawyer.
               | 
               | > engaged in the authorized operation of such aircraft
               | 
               | Perpetrating a crime like criminal trespass or harassment
               | is by definition not an authorized operation of any
               | aircraft.
               | 
               | An FAA advisory on the topic [2] claims broad authority
               | to supersede local regulation, but is careful to refer
               | only to "navigable airspace", and notes that
               | 
               | > Laws traditionally related to state and local police
               | power - including land use, zoning, privacy, trespass,
               | and law enforcement operations - generally are not
               | subject to federal regulation.
               | 
               | I should have been more careful in my wording in the
               | above comment. What you can and cannot do to a
               | trespassing unmanned drone operating below the navigable
               | airspace ceiling on your property is going to depend on
               | the applicable state and local laws. For example, most
               | municipalities have laws against use of firearms within
               | city limits.
               | 
               | [1] https://www.justice.gov/archives/jm/criminal-
               | resource-manual...
               | 
               | [2] https://www.faa.gov/uas/resources/policy_library/medi
               | a/UAS_F...
        
       | prawn wrote:
       | This is inline with recent changes in Australia. Here, there is
       | an in-person training/accreditation process (costs a few thousand
       | dollars) required for large drones and flying near controlled
       | aerodromes, etc. Otherwise, you undertake a very simple online
       | test that is just about impossible to get wrong. I dislike many
       | impositions but it's not taxing at all for anyone making money
       | with their drone.
       | 
       | There'd be virtually no checks/enforcement though. I have flown
       | thousands of times and never been chased up over anything. I know
       | 10+ commercial drone operators and only one of them has ever been
       | queried about his flying, and that was by marine parks
       | authorities because they thought he'd flown in a conservation
       | area (he knew the area very well and was a couple of metres
       | outside it...).
        
         | airhead969 wrote:
         | The US isn't and doesn't work like Australia. No nanny state,
         | TYVM.
         | 
         | Fly a low-mass, little toy around, the government wanting you
         | to get a license and track you like you're operating a nuclear
         | reactor is absurd.
        
           | enticeing wrote:
           | Remind me in which way the licensing/permitting process for
           | drones is at all similar to the licensing/permitting process
           | for a nuclear reactor. I'm certain that a nuclear reactor
           | takes much more than a 30 minute course to operate.
        
           | bdamm wrote:
           | The requirements for nuclear plant operators are quite a bit
           | more burdensome than the new rules for drone operation.
           | Flying a drone doesn't even require a drug test! Not the same
           | at all.
        
             | jcranmer wrote:
             | Can't reply to parent, so I'll add my response here to
             | illustrate what "quite a bit more burdensome" looks like.
             | 
             | I don't know the requirements for operating a nuclear
             | reactor, but here's the requirements to operate a water
             | treatment plant:
             | 
             | * A degree in engineering, environmental engineering,
             | chemistry, physics from an accredited school.
             | 
             | * Pass a licensing exam
             | 
             | * For operating larger plants, a minimum of X years
             | experience working at smaller plants first.
             | 
             | * After getting your license, you're required to have N
             | hours of continuing education requirements before you can
             | renew your license. Something like 10 hours / year.
        
       | IgorPartola wrote:
       | I might as well as an off topic questions here:
       | 
       | 1. I recently moved and now have a sizable chunk of land attached
       | to a much larger sized chunk of city-owned land which includes a
       | huge open field. Seems like the perfect place to fly a drone.
       | Will it be fun doing this or is this a thing that I would get
       | bored from shortly after dropping serious money on it?
       | 
       | 2. Are drones that follow you any good? Would love to do a video
       | of myself riding a motorcycle while a drone follows me.
       | 
       | 3. Any recommendations for a good beginner drone that isn't
       | $1000?
        
         | nanidin wrote:
         | I think of my drone less as something fun to do, and more as a
         | flying camera. Photography can be fun, but it involves a bit of
         | planning. You will most likely get bored of flying in the same
         | location over and over.
        
         | sleepybrett wrote:
         | 3) get a tiny-whoop style micro. They are generally under the
         | weight requirement around a 100 bucks but are super great
         | platform to learn on.
         | 
         | They don't have all the fancy stabilization and idiot proofing
         | that you might get with a dji style drone, these drone types
         | came more from the RC/Racing community.
        
       | wantsanagent wrote:
       | This is just to build a national database of drone users right?
        
         | plank_time wrote:
         | You already have to register your drone after purchase.
        
           | somehnguy wrote:
           | No you don't. You were required to register _once_ as an
           | operator, but the same ID number can be placed on any number
           | of drones.
           | 
           | I have been building & flying for about 6 years now,
           | personally I don't bother with any of this stuff. Instead I
           | just follow what should be common sense rules and have yet to
           | have any issues.
        
           | theli0nheart wrote:
           | You only need to register with the FAA for drones that weigh
           | over 250g.
           | 
           | https://www.faa.gov/uas/getting_started/register_drone/
        
             | airhead969 wrote:
             | _You only need to register knives longer than 2 "._
             | 
             | is still an absolutely absurd imposition.
        
               | [deleted]
        
               | theli0nheart wrote:
               | Not absurd at all. There are good reasons for it. People
               | don't throw knives outside in random directions--nor do
               | they "malfunction" in the way an electronic device can.
               | Nor do knives require a manual to understand how to use
               | them.
               | 
               | At some point, a line _does_ need to be drawn. Drones can
               | be dangerous in unpredictable ways, outside of the
               | control of the operator.
        
         | yellowfish wrote:
         | more likely it's so there's a legal ability to prevent someone
         | from flying drones around if they are causing problems
        
         | RIMR wrote:
         | How _Orwellian_ /s
        
       | bgorman wrote:
       | This is worrying. The FAA was never created to regulate drones.
       | Hobbyist pilots have been safely flying RC planes for decades. We
       | need to return regulatory power to legislators, not unelected,
       | unaccountable bureaucrats. Another example is the FCC- an agency
       | created to regulate radio is now attempting to regulate internet
       | service providers!
        
         | DiffEq wrote:
         | They were created to regulate airspace and when you have people
         | flying drones into planes and helicopters at airports then
         | someone needs to step in.
        
           | bgorman wrote:
           | If someone wants to intentionally fly a drone into restricted
           | airspace, this will not stop them.
           | 
           | Furthermore, your claims about the FAA being created to
           | restrict airspace is revisonist at best.
           | 
           | https://www.faa.gov/about/history/brief_history/
        
             | DiffEq wrote:
             | So it is not revisionist. Airspace rules, in large part, is
             | what creates the safety. And of course it is not going to
             | stop malicious people. But it will create cooperation so
             | accidents risk is reduced and it allows for one to be
             | punished if they disregard the rules and are caught.
             | 
             | It is against the law for people to play on the Interstate
             | highway and I am sure you would have a problem with it if
             | it wasn't and some kids decided to go build a fort in the
             | middle of one.
        
         | FlyMoreRockets wrote:
         | The FAA grew out of the Air Commerce Act of 1926 to ensure
         | commercial development of aviation.
         | 
         | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_government_role_...
        
           | bgorman wrote:
           | How are recreational drone pilots "commercial aviation"?
        
       | pininja wrote:
       | The course can be found here [1]. The FAA designated 16
       | organizations to make materials for it, and we can take it from
       | any one of them.. I look forward to reviews comparing them and
       | finding the best one.
       | 
       | [1]
       | https://www.faa.gov/uas/recreational_fliers/knowledge_test_u...
        
         | kfarr wrote:
         | I just did this one in about 20 mins after seeing this post:
         | https://trust.dronelaunchacademy.com/
         | 
         | It was genuinely helpful to understand the regulations and the
         | multiple choice test was easy. It did not however create a
         | certificate so I did a pdf screenshot to save on gdrive in case
         | I need it sometime later.
        
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