Re: Applying for FAA permission
 

Robert, I hope you have a pretty good telephoto for the eye level shots. The "not over people" rule surely will not mean, "right over people" but more like "not within blowing or gliding or accidental maneuvering distance of people". When they classify these as a type of aircraft requiring a license to fly them they will be holding people to a much higher standard than the ordinary drone guy might like.

Sure, we are all thrilled to have any drone rights at all, which, considering this is a country of rights, is a little surprising we are happy to have any rights. I still think the FAA went way overboard in their regs. We need to protect the public, of course, but did we need to go to this length?

I can see shots for real estate, roof inspection, pipeline inspection all more practical applications than any event with people. In my case, we would love to have had aerial shots of the police hammering the occupy Wallstreet crowds in various cities, but there were no regs in those days. That shot is what got me thinking about how nice it would have been to have a drone. That shot (the police attacking protesters in Denver, for example) is not possible under the new proposed regs.

I like the way you are framing your shot and it would be beautiful. Will it be legal in the U.S.?

Re: Applying for FAA permission
 

I spent several hours the other evening reading the entire contents of this page on the NPRM.

Regulations.gov

In reading the entire thing, you get a good narrative of how the FAA is thinking about different aspects of commercial sUAS operations.

You will take a basic course in aeronautical knowledge and apply for an Unmanned Aircraft Operator certificate. There will be costs involved such as TSA security vetting. A bi-annual refresher test will be required. NO MEDICAL will be required.

My concerns are that they don't see current technology as being reliable enough to "see and avoid" using FPV. See and avoid is a basic responsibility for manned aircraft operations. Therefore, they wish to limit operations to line of sight by operator. A visual observer can be used, but the operator must always be able to look up from the ground control station and see the aircraft. So, under this scenario, the VO scans the sky for other aircraft while you are looking down at your FPV screen to get the shot you want. However, I recently watched a Youtube video where the operator has a head tracker on his FPV goggles and his FPV was turning and looking side to side and up and down as he was in a dogfight with a bird.

Some times, they seem to contradict themselves. They list tower inspections as one good example for the use of sUAS, but then propose to limit operations to 500 AGL and below. That limitation would preclude inspecting many radio and television tower structures.

All in all, it seems to contain a lot of common sense thinking in the rule making process and I was pleasantly surprised at what I read.

I hope to submit some feedback about technical abilities before the comment period closes.

-gb-
The docket is worth reading, or at least scanning through. I have fewer concerns about the eventual outcome than I originally did.
Daytime only is asserted due to the specific lighting requirements for full sized aircraft and they say they don't want to place undue burden on the operators to require such lighting..

Re: Applying for FAA permission
 

Exactly why I bought the 4K GoPro. I can zoom in nicely. That would allow both a safe (regulated) distance and one that abates the noise.

I'm still thinking it through, but I hopefully.

We primarly hope to use our drone for field inspection, and other mid-week money ideas. For weddings it may be like our slider: used sparingly, as able.

Re: Applying for FAA permission
 

Aargh.

Reading an article (sorry, can't find it again), I see that with the 333 exemption, you still need to file requests for each separate drone and each "mission." Its not clear, but it sounds like each time you are going to get hired, you have to file a plan and get permission from the FAA.

On to getting ready for the rule change instead of chasing the 333 exemption, I guess.

While I wait, I'll be getting a website ready, forming an LLC, finding insurance, and think I'll find a farmer (my wife's cousin) to work with, gratis, which will get me experience and example footage of field inspections.

Re: Applying for FAA permission
 

Looks like you have a good approach, Robert. The regs are here to stay, assuming they get adopted the way the FAA has envisioned. Certainly, there will be uses for drones fitted with cams. The better practiced you are and the more you know about the regs the safer you will be in operating a drone/cam biz.