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Flouting the law?

I think the scary thing coming from someone who'd spent days talking in groups and researching laws before even receiving an inspire a few years back! Is the real lack of any awareness people have regarding the potential consequences a drone dropping from the sky can have.

Years ago when I did some work in construction I was made to watch videos of idiot workmen losing toes or fingers because they underestimated the tools they where asked to use. Are we going to have to see deaths or serious injuries before these reckless flyers learn? Will they learn?
 
No, they won't learn unless it actually hits them in the pocket or they are forced to take a holiday courtesy of her Majesty.
Attitudes have changed in recent years and now individuals will just not be told 'No'. It's a word that they can't cope with hearing.
What I'm seeing from the hoodie mentality is a mindset of "Stop worrying dude, one of these will never bring down a jet, ain't gonna happen - man"
Or, "These things have got obstacle avoidance now" (which we know is very unreliable) "so if it hits someone it's DJI's fault for not making it better"

I'm going to put on a CD now and listen to some music...... now let me see.........
Ahh yes, this one will do, how about Nat King Cole - 'There maybe trouble ahead'
 
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Reporting to the FAA is a waste of time. Has anyone here reported a drone pilot to the FAA and got REAL results? Several people in my town reported an "almost" legal company. The local FSDO replied via email. The FAA gets copies of YouTube Videos (that are still online), emails where the almost legal pilot admits to flying in controlled airspace, claims to have waiver when he didn't, flies over people, and flies at night without a waiver. FAA gets plenty of photos as well, some were posted weeks AFTER the FAA started their investigation. The other day the FAA issued him a waiver for Class D airspace. So even with overwhelming proof of repeated crimes - the FAA does nothing but give him a reward. There is even more... He has been operating without a legal company for months, charing people and collecting taxes - all with NO LEGAL COMPANY! In fact the wavier he just got is issued to a company that does not and has never legally existed. The FAA knew all this months ago and gave him a waiver for his crimes a week ago. So again, has anyone here actually witnessed the FAA taking tangible action against anyone? Maybe this investigation is still ongoing and next year they will take his 107 away, but I'm not holding my breath.
 
As in registered with the Sec. of State and IRS. He was doing paid jobs and took taxes without a company and without a 107. He did get his 107 in Sept. but didn't register his company until months later, all the while doing paid jobs of course. His waiver is issued to a fake company name, and again - the FAA was aware of this way ahead of time and still issued it to him. I like to this the FAA is just being slow, but it sure looks like they reward illegal pilots with waivers. PM me for more info, I will not post this guy's name or company as that would only help get him attention.
 
As in registered with the Sec. of State and IRS. He was doing paid jobs and took taxes without a company and without a 107. He did get his 107 in Sept. but didn't register his company until months later, all the while doing paid jobs of course. His waiver is issued to a fake company name, and again - the FAA was aware of this way ahead of time and still issued it to him. I like to this the FAA is just being slow, but it sure looks like they reward illegal pilots with waivers. PM me for more info, I will not post this guy's name or company as that would only help get him attention.
"As in registered with the Sec. of State and IRS." Still not sure what you mean. As a sole proprietor of my UAV business I am not required to be "registered" with my state unless I am an LLC. As far as the IRS, no registration requirement exist. I do have to report my income under my Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) come tax time. I do have a city business license in every city I operate. I am not siding with this individual, I do not support law breakers, just wanted to understand what you were referring to.
 
Sorry, I should have said he was using a fake name that was an LLC. Also charging state sales tax (Colorado) without a registered company - again using a fake LLC name. He currently has a registered LLC that is a different (but close) name. So his waiver for example is registered to a LLC that was never registered. And yes the FAA was made aware of all this months ago and they issued his waiver a few days ago after multiple people filed reports.

But back to my question, have you or anyone else on this forum ever known for a fact that the FAA took REAL action against someone that was seriously violating the laws? And please don't quote the Pirker case.
 
I'm talking about a FAA 107 Pilot that blatantly and repeatedly violates the 107 laws. Posts his illegal material to his Facebook Page and website and when the FAA learns of it they issue his fake LLC a waiver. As far as FAA vs. Private Person - not one of those cases has been won by the FAA. Pirker case was as close as they ever got in a courtroom. As a 107 pilot, wouldn't you expect at least a call/letter from the FAA if they were made aware of you flying in Class D at night over groups of people? Now how about posting videos and picture after picture of illegal material? Wouldn't you think the FAA would want their 107 pilots to follow the laws we all learned on our 107 test? Taking no action is what I was honestly expecting, but not issue this guy's fake LLC a waiver. If you have email evidence, photos and video evidence that is a slam dunk case. This wouldn't even be a legal matter, could be nothing more than revoking his temp 107. I know the FAA can be slow, so I guess I am still holding my breath that they will take some type of action. We just don't need people like that in our industry.
 
I am one of several people in direct contact with the FAA first of all. Second of all I know the pilot in question and some of his friends. So I know. Remember, I'm talking about someone that the FAA was made aware of back in July when he started doing this. I know 3 people at least filed FAA Reports against this guy. His fake LLC was issued a waiver for Class D - 400'AGL - 2.5mile Radius that's good for several months a week ago. So the timeline would tell you the FAA didn't take action, except grant him a waiver. I guess that counts as action. ;)

Tough enforcement would be nice, but I would be happy with ANY enforcement. You and I are on the same side, but as you can see - not every 107 pilot feels the way we do.
 
Being a member of this forum has been an honour and I see the vast majority of members are flying inside the various regulations laid down by authorities around the world. However I'm also a member of the 'MavicPilots' group and it seems the opposite there.

I'd like to ignore these people and put it down to lack of brain cells but the more and more incidents I see make me less and less eager to invest in this technology due to the real threat of legal sanctions and possible bans.

I wanted to ask the opinions of this groups members and see if I'm just worrying about nothing or do others feel the same way??

:(:(:(
After reading many posts both on this forum and also the p3 forum, i wonder if there are any stats that reflect the number of instances that have involved drones hiting persons fromthe drones falling out of the sky and damaged to property by drones falling out of the sky and doing damage .
 
I joined the Mavic forum some time ago (don't own one) but very quickly found my blood pressure rising at the crassness, stupidity, selfish, irresponsible, brat-like mentality in defiance of the law, feeling and respect for others and their property and ignorance of the consequences of their actions. Needless to say, I never visit it now. Rant over!
 
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As for the guy collecting taxes and not paying them to the state, how would you know? If you've reported him to the state, then it's in their hands, just as the FAA has looked into what he's doing and sought fit to endorse it. I take that as they realize their rules are quite restrictive for responsible individuals/ businesses and they are eager to assist with compliance by putting him on the waiver track. (That or he knows someone, lol.)

With all that in mind, your ire kinda appears to come from a position of envy. Get out there and hustle.

Another lesson you have to learn about the United States is the Golden Rule: the one with the gold makes the rules or at least gets to bend them. I'm a plumbing contractor in a major city in Florida where Plumbing is strictly regulated by the state. There was a major company that was not licensed, but was a big company with a well-known name and a lot of advertising that was violating all the rules. I went to report them to the county whose responsibility it was to enforce the code and they took a completely hands-off approach and even made excuses for this business as if they were on its payroll. That's just the way it goes in the good old US of A and probably everywhere else for that matter.
 
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I joined the Mavic forum some time ago (don't own one) but very quickly found my blood pressure rising at the crassness, stupidity, selfish, irresponsible, brat-like mentality in defiance of the law, feeling and respect for others and their property and ignorance of the consequences of their actions. Needless to say, I never visit it now. Rant over!
LOL just left both the sister group to this full of Mavic morons and the large FB one that had even more wannabe idiots flouts the laws.... sorry guidelines and arguing its there right...blahblahblah...
 
I've been a pilot for four decades and spend hundreds of hours each year photographing and videoing from helicopters. When my son gave me a P2 kit all decked out I was very conflicted. The P2 was a surprise and with extra batteries and a Black Pearl monitor, etc., he spent over three grand. That was several years ago and unless you were a Hollywood somebody, you weren't likely to get to use a drone for business. I talked with a half dozen friends at the FAA and to the man the response was, "we have no intention of allowing drones to populate the airspace" My P2 seemed to have a mind of it's own regardless of the calibration dances I did with it. Every time I launched it all I could see was liability, no commercial use if I had the nerve to fly it, it's sits in the case having seen daylight a dozen times.

Fast forward four years and the FAA has drastically changed it's tune, drones are everywhere, licensed and not, commercial use qualification is relatively simple, and the products continue to become more and more amazingly capable. That being said, you can't regulate common sense. I don't know why the Mavic guys would be any less cognizant of the need for following regulations as compared to the Inspire owners. The amount of money invested shouldn't influence responsibility. Even a Mavic owner has a grand flying around and pretty much the same liability hanging out there as an Inspire operator. Why would they be so cavalier?

I'm telling you that a Mavic being sucked through the intake of a business jet or an EMS helicopter won't do any less damage than an Inspire, they'll both shell a very expensive engine and may well lead to the loss of the aircraft. The 400' restriction is a good one, line of sight is common sense, why would operators fudge on any of that? The down side is huge. The first time someone's Gulfstream spews engine parts out the tail because it ingested a drone, the industry will see the FAA reverse it's stand on the proliferation and areas of use. The multi billion dollar industry has pressured the Feds into doing things that they really had no intention of allowing at the outset. Done operators in general should be triply vigilant regarding regs and their operations, if not for the industry then for their own incredible exposure each time they launch their craft. Many of the liability policies that cover operators are basic and won't come close to protecting an operator if anything goes significantly awry. A million bucks in coverage doesn't go as far as it used to, and coverage is negated if any malfeasance can be proven. Pilots often joke about the fact that there are so many regs that the best of us can't log flight time without breaking some rule or reg. Insurance companies love finding those hiccups, that leaves the operator exposed to whatever claims arise.

I apologize if this sounds negative. Drones are amazing, and getting more so every day, but holy cow, unless you live and fly somewhere outside of Amarillo or Lubbock in areas where the worst case scenario is you hit a cow, or dent a pick up, it's a scary proposition and a huge responsibility.
 
I think it's more a generation of pilots that haven't learnt to fly, just point and click. When I used to mess with Quads in early days you were lucky to be able too balance and trim it. Not the new pilot presses take off button and land button. So between these two key things they get bored and play the let's see how far we can fly or high game.

I'm moving to Canada soon and already they've tightened the laws so people are going to have to do ground school before flying and then will be limited without commercial license. Which I plan to get, after which I'll definitely be letting the authorities know about anyone not following the rules.

If I invest in this business then I don't want some cowboy selling services they aren't qualified to offer.


...buzzing about somewhere above you
 
Certified pilots should have nothing to worry about. Sure, in a worst-case scenario, we'll need more waivers. With a history of approvals, good documentation and mitigation planning skills, your airspace clearance requests become a growing resume for the authorities who review and approve. Hobbyists have the biggest worry, as future laws can require everyone to be certified. This would be good because most hobbyists have no idea about airspace, weather hazards, or taking responsibility. When I studied for my Part 107 exam, I thought to myself, "Wow, everyone should know this!"
 

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