4 ms·

You are missing important part: find a way to punish violators of these (and other) rules. This is critical for safety.

by lsh123 12y ago

toomuchtodo 12y ago
Typically, if you violate FARs, you'll lose a huge pilot's license investment (private, ifr, commercial can total in the tens of thousands of dollars). It doesn't hurt to lose a $300-$1000 quadrotor pilot license.
- lsh123 12y ago
  Correct. The question is - how to identify the drone pilot? With planes you have N-number, transponders, FBOs, etc.
  - toomuchtodo 12y ago
    Require user registration by serial number on the drone possible? Or perhaps require commercial drones use ADS-B?
    - lsh123 12y ago
      It's not clear how one can get the serial number from the drone. ADS-B might be an option not only for tracking violators but also to solve "see-and-avoid" problem too.
    - LyndsySimon 12y ago
      Registering individual airframes doesn't make much sense - it's not unusual for a single quadcopter to go through many design iterations over the course of a few months. It might start out as a 10" wide quadcopter, until the first major crash. Instead of ordering a new arm, it can be reconfigured as a tricopter with the addition of a servo. After a while, the tricopter might become a V-Tail if the user likes the flight characteristics. Then FPV kit might get added, or a GPS reciever. Now it's flying semi-autonomously and the user wants better quality video, so it's transplanted onto a 18" frame, fitted with a gimbal and nicer camera. At what point does the multicopter need to change registration numbers? A simple "You must have your name and contact info on it" rule would be more than sufficient - and in fact is already the case for 90% of the aircraft out there. I even have my contact info taped to the body of my little 4" Hubsan quadcopter; I'll probably never need it, but why throw away expensive hardware if you don't have to?
    - LyndsySimon 12y ago
      Registering individual airframes doesn't make much sense - it's not unusual for a single quadcopter to go through many design iterations over the course of a few months. It might start out as a 10" wide quadcopter, until the first major crash. Instead of ordering a new arm, it can be reconfigured as a tricopter with the addition of a servo. After a while, the tricopter might become a V-Tail if the user likes the flight characteristics. Then FPV kit might get added, or a GPS reciever. Now it's flying semi-autonomously and the user wants better quality video, so it's transplanted onto a 18" frame, fitted with a gimbal and nicer camera. At what point does the multicopter need to change registration numbers? A simple "You must have your name and contact info on it" rule would be more than sufficient - and in fact is already the case for 90% of the aircraft out there. I even have my contact info taped to the body of my little 4" Hubsan quadcopter; I'll probably never need it, but why throw away expensive hardware if you don't have to?

You are missing important part: find a way to punish violators of these (and other) rules. This is critical for safety.

by lsh123 12y ago

You are missing important part: find a way to punish violators of these (and other) rules. This is critical for safety.

Typically, if you violate FARs, you'll lose a huge pilot's license investment (private, ifr, commercial can total in the tens of thousands of dollars). It doesn't hurt to lose a $300-$1000 quadrotor pilot license.

lsh123 12y ago
Correct. The question is - how to identify the drone pilot? With planes you have N-number, transponders, FBOs, etc.
- toomuchtodo 12y ago
  Require user registration by serial number on the drone possible? Or perhaps require commercial drones use ADS-B?
  - lsh123 12y ago
    It's not clear how one can get the serial number from the drone. ADS-B might be an option not only for tracking violators but also to solve "see-and-avoid" problem too.
  - LyndsySimon 12y ago
    Registering individual airframes doesn't make much sense - it's not unusual for a single quadcopter to go through many design iterations over the course of a few months. It might start out as a 10" wide quadcopter, until the first major crash. Instead of ordering a new arm, it can be reconfigured as a tricopter with the addition of a servo. After a while, the tricopter might become a V-Tail if the user likes the flight characteristics. Then FPV kit might get added, or a GPS reciever. Now it's flying semi-autonomously and the user wants better quality video, so it's transplanted onto a 18" frame, fitted with a gimbal and nicer camera. At what point does the multicopter need to change registration numbers? A simple "You must have your name and contact info on it" rule would be more than sufficient - and in fact is already the case for 90% of the aircraft out there. I even have my contact info taped to the body of my little 4" Hubsan quadcopter; I'll probably never need it, but why throw away expensive hardware if you don't have to?
  - LyndsySimon 12y ago
    Registering individual airframes doesn't make much sense - it's not unusual for a single quadcopter to go through many design iterations over the course of a few months. It might start out as a 10" wide quadcopter, until the first major crash. Instead of ordering a new arm, it can be reconfigured as a tricopter with the addition of a servo. After a while, the tricopter might become a V-Tail if the user likes the flight characteristics. Then FPV kit might get added, or a GPS reciever. Now it's flying semi-autonomously and the user wants better quality video, so it's transplanted onto a 18" frame, fitted with a gimbal and nicer camera. At what point does the multicopter need to change registration numbers? A simple "You must have your name and contact info on it" rule would be more than sufficient - and in fact is already the case for 90% of the aircraft out there. I even have my contact info taped to the body of my little 4" Hubsan quadcopter; I'll probably never need it, but why throw away expensive hardware if you don't have to?