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FAA 333 Approved Closed Set Alta Operators

Discussion in 'Flight Regulations' started by James Adkins, Feb 23, 2016.

  1. MIke Magee

    MIke Magee Active Member

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    Agreed. There are two things that the FAA is primarily interested in protecting - (1) Aircraft in the air and (2) Assets on the ground.

    (1) Until you have flown an aircraft on final and know that it's the most hazardous phase of flight and also realize that you are focused 150% on "AVIATING" you just can't realize the problems that evasive maneuvers tend to introduce when one sees one of these phantoms flown by a bonehead. These folks focused on revenue or fun and not safety have less respect for the rules than we do. Period.

    (2) Until you have had one of these these things decide to simply drop out of the sky (I have - an MK X8), you have no idea of how dangerous it is to fly over folks or near structures.

    SO, does having a license address either of these situations? Nope. But does a 20 hour class that you take to demonstrate fundamental proficiency address it? Totally not.

    Does having a ticket make you a better UAS pilot? Nope. But neither does a 20 hour class.

    The level of commitment and awareness we have with a ticket unarguably places us in a different situation than a class or testing level that is being tossed about.

    If you do stupid stuff with your ticket and get busted, you lose " A LOT ". If you get busted with a class, not so much.

    As always, the truth is in the middle. I could easily argue that maybe an airman's certificate is a bit much, but I steadfastly agree that anything less is not enough motivation to staying safe as I would prefer.

    So that's my 20 cents. Dave was cheap, he only gave 2 cents.

    -m

     
  2. Chris Fanning

    Chris Fanning Member

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    I've been flying r/c for over 25years. Getting my pilots license didn't allow me to fly r/c better on the sticks, but did make me a smarter / safer r/c pilot. I agree that getting a pilots license isn't 100% tailored towards a uas pilot career, but do feel there should be something similar that it takes to aquire a uas commercial certificate. Any real pilots out there I know would stand with me in agreeing that the knowledge you gain from flight school is invaluable to making you a better all around pilot, and 80-90% of that knowledge is useful and valuable in this field.

    At the end of the day in just about any other field... plumbing, electrician, dr, lawyer, roofer, truck driver, pilot etc you have to have a lot of experience, schooling, time invested, cost etc. to practice that field commercially for hire. Why in the world is this being treated any differently?

    As of right now uas's have to be kept line of sight, but the next step will be 3mile out or much more, and phantoms & inspires already have the range to do that now and people are doing it all over the world. At that point your flying an aircraft by instruments and vfr same as me and you should be a pilot! PERIOD.

    Power is in numbers and I suggest we speak up before it's too late.
     
    MIke Magee likes this.

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