HiFlyer Posted March 7, 2014 Posted March 7, 2014 This ought to stir things up in the FAA for a while... (Article from 7 Mar NY Times): Commercial Drones Are Completely Legal, a Federal Judge Ruled March 6, 2014 // 06:51 PM EST For the moment, commercial drones are, unequivocally, legal in American skies after a federal judge has ruled that the Federal Aviation Administration has not made any legally binding rules against it. The judge dismissed the FAA’s case against Raphael Pirker, the first (and only) person the agency has tried to fine for flying a drone commercially. The agency has repeatedly claimed that flying a drone for commercial purposes is illegal and has said that there’s “no gray area” in the law. The latter now appears to be true, but it hasn’t gone the way the FAA would have hoped. Patrick Geraghty, a judge with the National Transportation Safety Board, ruled that there are no laws against flying a drone commercially. The FAA attempted to fine the 29-year-old Pirker $10,000 after he used a drone to film a commercial at the University of Virginia. Pirker and his lawyer, Brendan Schulman, fought the case, saying that the FAA has never regulated model aircraft and that it’s entire basis for making them “illegal,” a 2007 policy notice, was not legally binding. The FAA has never undertaken the required public notice necessary to make an official regulation. Geraghty agreed: The FAA “has not issued an enforceable Federal Acquisition Regulation regulatory rule governing model aircraft operation; has historically exempted model aircraft from the statutory FAR definitions of ‘aircraft’ by relegating model aircraft operations to voluntary compliance with the guidance expressed in [the 2007 policy notice], Respondent’s model aircraft operation was not subject to FAR regulation and enforcement.” What this means, at least for now, is that you can go fly your drone and charge whatever the hell you want to do it. Beer delivery drones are legal, and so is everything else. It also means that all those companies that have been harassed by the FAA have, at least for the moment, nothing to worry about. The FAA could potentially try to establish an emergency rule, but it’s unclear how long that will take or whether they’ll do it. The FAA did not immediately respond to request for comment.
ExBoneOSO Posted March 7, 2014 Posted March 7, 2014 Well according to this email notification I got yesterday, the FAA is busy doing other things.. 2
FallingOsh Posted March 8, 2014 Posted March 8, 2014 Anyone have a bead on any drone companies capitalizing on civilian use?
LockheedFix Posted March 8, 2014 Posted March 8, 2014 Just require them to be equipped with a transponder, unlike crop dusters, and we should be okay. Oh, and how about some kind of Auto TCAS that makes them immediately self destruct when they set off an RA in my plane?
Toro Posted March 8, 2014 Posted March 8, 2014 Anyone have a bead on any drone companies capitalizing on civilian use? So close.
hispeed7721 Posted March 8, 2014 Posted March 8, 2014 (edited) So close. Shouldn't this company be good to go now? The FAA gave this guy the kibosh prior to the judges ruling Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Edited March 8, 2014 by hispeed7721
Apollo Posted March 10, 2014 Posted March 10, 2014 Maybe someone can answer this lingering question for me. If you get an RA for a UAV TCAS hit, does the drone also maneuver or is it simply the crewed aircraft that deviates?
Joey Freshwater Posted March 10, 2014 Posted March 10, 2014 Maybe someone can answer this lingering question for me. If you get an RA for a UAV TCAS hit, does the drone also maneuver or is it simply the crewed aircraft that deviates? One would think it depends solely on the capabilities of the drone's TCAS(if it even has one). Personally I don't give a shit what it does as long as it doesn't break any of my beers. Disclaimer: Don't know nothin bout no drones
Day Man Posted March 10, 2014 Posted March 10, 2014 Anyone have a bead on any drone companies capitalizing on civilian use? https://www.avinc.com/ publicly traded, if that's what you're getting at...
panchbarnes Posted March 10, 2014 Posted March 10, 2014 AeroVironment and Lockheed recently launched an UAS partnership, I wouldn't be surprised if Lockheed buys out AeroVironment eventually. I had the honor of talking to Mr. Paul McCready one-on-one a couple of times when he was still alive. He was a great man. https://www.amazon.com/More-With-Less-MacCready-Efficient/dp/1893554902
Day Man Posted March 10, 2014 Posted March 10, 2014 AeroVironment and Lockheed recently launched an UAS partnership, I wouldn't be surprised if Lockheed buys out AeroVironment eventually. I had the honor of talking to Mr. Paul McCready one-on-one a couple of times when he was still alive. He was a great man. https://www.amazon.com/More-With-Less-MacCready-Efficient/dp/1893554902 Or Tesla, for that matter...it's been a great stock to own for the past few months.
Spur38 Posted March 12, 2014 Posted March 12, 2014 Maybe someone can answer this lingering question for me. If you get an RA for a UAV TCAS hit, does the drone also maneuver or is it simply the crewed aircraft that deviates? Look up MSDSA: Sierra Nevada Corporation.......UAV "Sense and Avoid" technology
HiFlyer Posted March 12, 2014 Author Posted March 12, 2014 This ought to stir things up in the FAA for a while... (Article from 7 Mar NY Times): Commercial Drones Are Completely Legal, a Federal Judge Ruled March 6, 2014 // 06:51 PM EST For the moment, commercial drones are, unequivocally, legal in American skies after a federal judge has ruled that the Federal Aviation Administration has not made any legally binding rules against it. The judge dismissed the FAA’s case against Raphael Pirker, the first (and only) person the agency has tried to fine for flying a drone commercially. The agency has repeatedly claimed that flying a drone for commercial purposes is illegal and has said that there’s “no gray area” in the law. The latter now appears to be true, but it hasn’t gone the way the FAA would have hoped. Patrick Geraghty, a judge with the National Transportation Safety Board, ruled that there are no laws against flying a drone commercially. The FAA attempted to fine the 29-year-old Pirker $10,000 after he used a drone to film a commercial at the University of Virginia. Pirker and his lawyer, Brendan Schulman, fought the case, saying that the FAA has never regulated model aircraft and that it’s entire basis for making them “illegal,” a 2007 policy notice, was not legally binding. The FAA has never undertaken the required public notice necessary to make an official regulation. Geraghty agreed: The FAA “has not issued an enforceable Federal Acquisition Regulation regulatory rule governing model aircraft operation; has historically exempted model aircraft from the statutory FAR definitions of ‘aircraft’ by relegating model aircraft operations to voluntary compliance with the guidance expressed in [the 2007 policy notice], Respondent’s model aircraft operation was not subject to FAR regulation and enforcement.” What this means, at least for now, is that you can go fly your drone and charge whatever the hell you want to do it. Beer delivery drones are legal, and so is everything else. It also means that all those companies that have been harassed by the FAA have, at least for the moment, nothing to worry about. The FAA could potentially try to establish an emergency rule, but it’s unclear how long that will take or whether they’ll do it. The FAA did not immediately respond to request for comment. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ It took less than a week for the FAA to respond. They appealed the case and the decision is on hold until the appeal is decided.
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