RC aerials illegal says FAA

[Bob Willis]

Sorry, I couldn't help myself.

The Andrews Sisters "Straighten Up and fly Right" - YouTube

[Ray Bell]

Originally Posted by Bob Willis

Ray....

An R44 is a helicopter. People in a helicopter.
Just a little perspective.

yes.... and I have seen helicopter hacks too... ( Gulf of Mexico )

I'm just saying everyone has to start somewhere, right?

And yes, I'd be a little peo'd if my helicopter was hit with a RC vehicle...

Paul I wasn't slamming you... I'm just saying you didn't have the same experience 8 years ago that you have now....

[Paul Cronin]

Good one Bob thanks for that.

[Duane Adam]

Unless I'm missing something these new regulations don't apply to all RC aircraft, just those with cameras.

[Jim Martin]

Well, we've jumped in:

Phantom Quadcopter w/GoPro HERO and HERO2 Mount - Filmtools

This unit is really cool.....when I was little, I had a RC boat that I launched in Marina Del Rey and it took off across the water beautifully.....never to be seen again! The Phantom has the GPS built in so when you fly it say 1 block away, turn off the remote control, the unit stops & hovers in place, waiting for a signal......after a few seconds, it decides to "go home"...at the same height until it is right over the spot where it took off...still waiting for a signal.....then decides that it's going to land, lowers, and at about 5 feet, it slows and then lands! We've been testing these for the last few weeks and, other than putting some "dampening material" around the GoPro, are continually blown away at what this copter does, the range, and the really great shots you can get with it.

Jim Martin
Filmtools.com

[Brent Kaplan]

What is the range of this rc copter ?

distance from controller to rc ?

[Panagiotis Raris]

wow this is a total mess of a situation.

[Jim Martin]

Originally Posted by Brent Kaplan

What is the range of this rc copter ?

distance from controller to rc ?

300 meters from the remote......

Jim Martin
Filmtools.com

[Paul R Johnson]

It seems a little like rubbing salt into a wound, but at the Broadcast Video Expo in London this week, helicopter type devices are all over the place - a number of exhibitors showing off their products. Seems odd it's been banned in the US but here, becoming very popular!

[Brian Drysdale]

Originally Posted by Paul R Johnson

It seems a little like rubbing salt into a wound, but at the Broadcast Video Expo in London this week, helicopter type devices are all over the place - a number of exhibitors showing off their products. Seems odd it's been banned in the US but here, becoming very popular!

Here's information and guidance from the the CAA. Unmanned Aircraft and Aircraft Systems | Aircraft | Operations and Safety

You should note the 20kg weight. Basic Principles | Aircraft | Operations and Safety

Plus pilot qualifications Pilot Qualifications | Aircraft | Operations and Safety

[Warren Kawamoto]

LAPD cracks down on drone aircraft use by real estate agents - latimes.com

Pretty sad if you spent thousands on a flying rig, only to find that you can't use it. The only winner would be the person who sold it to you, he'll be laughing all the way to the bank!

[Mark Ahrens]

Regarding the article subject matter: Exactly what part of the helicopter is susceptible to damage, let alone serious damage by collision with an RC copter?

[Chris Medico]

Originally Posted by Mark Ahrens

Regarding the article subject matter: Exactly what part of the helicopter is susceptible to damage, let alone serious damage by collision with an RC copter?

We had one of the guys at the local flying field loose control of his craft and it dove into an industrial building next to the field. Went through a rubber membrane roof, through the steel decking, and took a divot out of the concrete floor inside the building. Luckily it was a weekend and the building was closed.

These things weigh as much as a brick. Charge them with some momentum and they can do a lot of damage. Even if a UAV didn't do enough damage to cause a crash of the manned aircraft, have you ever looked into repair of anything that flies? It is very expensive to repair any damage to an aircraft. It is best to avoid the situation completely.

[Pete Bauer]

Originally Posted by Mark Ahrens

Regarding the article subject matter: Exactly what part of the helicopter is susceptible to damage, let alone serious damage by collision with an RC copter?

Main rotor, tail rotor, antennae, engine, windscreen, pilot behind windscreen, any part of the airframe, for starters.

Even many small helicopters can cruise at more than 100 knots and the tips of their rotors are going several times faster and won't tolerate much imbalance. I don't know how fast these remote mini-copters move..I'll guess 20+ knots?

Would a 120+ mph impact to your car windshield concern you? (It should). Do you suppose a rotor blade moving at, say, 400mph, might suffer catastrophic damage if it met up with an object like one of these minis? (It would).

Not to take sides, but however the skies are shared, it must be in a way that highly assures aerial vehicles of any type don't have unintended meetings in the sky. And the Big Sky theory of air traffic control is less and less reliable as the skies get fuller and fuller.

[Nigel Barker]

Originally Posted by Paul R Johnson

It seems a little like rubbing salt into a wound, but at the Broadcast Video Expo in London this week, helicopter type devices are all over the place - a number of exhibitors showing off their products. Seems odd it's been banned in the US but here, becoming very popular!

The difference is that in the UK the CAA have procedures in place for regulating drones doing aerial photography. However for even the smallest craft if the work is commercial then the operator needs to be properly licensed & pass an exam for a Basic National UAS Certificate for Small Unmanned Aircraft (BNUC-S). The CAA is quite tight on its definition of payment for aerial work & in one of their documents says that it's non-commercial & OK to do it for a pint of beer but that a whole case would count as aerial work.

So far the CAA has issued less than a couple of hundred licences to do aerial work with Small Unmanned Surveillance Aircraft (the majority of those to people at the BBC) so I suspect that most of the people buying DJI Phantoms & similar will be operating illegally.