Commercial use of helis for filming banned by FAA???

[Rob Anderson]

Does that also explain why this Kickstarter eye3 UAV drone project got suddenly and "without warning" cancelled?
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/eye3/eye3

All very interesting. Truly hate to hear this. Regulation and licensing would be nice (if public safety is the true concern here)... Not an outright ban. I assume that may be coming, but for the moment the FAA is flexing it's powers to slow the spigot somewhat.

 

[Justin R Goff]

The FAA pushes back it decision on airspace drones to "this spring" - LA Times Article: http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-faa-civil-drone-20120130,0,1087684.story

 

[Michael Panfeld]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vOor1xmVDs&feature=player_embedded
Take a look at this video and you might see why the feds might not like having any one have an eagle eye at any event... Or have it drop on any of the officers trying to do their job or drop another thing on them...
Just think if you could shoot aerials around Washington DC with one....AAAAhhh thats not mine officer...

I live in Washington DC. Severe restrictions on airspace, as you can imagine. Honestly, I think there are tons of pros and cons on UAVs, but as usual, the cons will scare regulators into over regulating.

However, I think its stories like this that will have corporate lobbyists pushing for even tighter regulation: http://securitymanagement.com/news/...t-uncover-river-contamination-009456?page=0,0

Note that there is an element of timing here. The recent FAA actions mark a convergence of video and UAV technologies. Things are really coming together with functionality, GPS improvements, wifi, etc set to have UAV use skyrocket (for good and bad)

 

[Alan Skinner]

The biggest problem here is the argument that "by restricting the use of UAV's, they are going to keep the terrorists from using them for nefarious purposes."

Sort like the way that all of the gun laws have been so successful in keeping guns out of the hands of criminals and made us safer................

I agree that we need a permitting/licensing arrangement to assure public safety. Outright bans will be a bit much.

 

[Stephen Mick]

I've been involved in a fair bit of UAV HD filming, and here's my take…

The problem is that for every pilot/operator who takes the time to learn the craft and has safety as their number one concern, there are ten, twenty, even fifty pilots who see nothing but dollar signs. They try to avoid getting permissions and permits, they think nothing of safety, and they don't understand why anyone should have a problem with what they're doing.

And then they crash. Hard.

I'd like to see some kind of permitting/regulations in place, if for no other reason than to avoid the seemingly-inevitable repeat of what happened to Vic Morrow. An RC heli, with the payload of an Epic/Scarlet, can do serious damage (or worse) when it comes down.

 

[Marcos Montenegro]

Its disappointing to see the FAA overreact like this. While I agree UAV's should be regulated by the FAA, banning them from US airspace is simply wrong when you consider all the livelihoods that this will impact. I know of 3 businesses already (100% UAV freelance businesses) that the FAA forced to shut down. The FAA will legalize this approach in April, but it continues to contact UAV businesses and warning them about this change. Remember, in April, if you use a UAV in US airspace for commercial purposes you will get a hefty fine and it is a Federal offense.

I would much rather see the FAA offer a certification path for commercial UAV operators.

My 2 cents.