Drone Safety, The FAA and Those Misguided and Self-Appointed Drone Cops

Los Angeles, CA—Yesterday I got a gentle safety reminder as I began to pick up my Phantom 2.  The props suddenly began spinning on their own.  I thought I turned of the battery and then the radio controller.  I’m somewhat hearing impaired and did not hear those telltale sounds that the battery power was not actually shut off. 

As I reached for the drone the plastic propellers really spanked my fingers.  I felt pain but suffered no visible injury beyond a little redness that quickly disappeared.  Had I been using carbon fiber props I would have definitely needed stiches and a trip to the ER.  I was lucky my negligence did not cause what may have been termed a minor injury. 

Through negligence, I nearly suffered the only kind of injury that the small multi-rotor drones ever inflict.  Thankfully in my case, my precious fingers and the props were none the worse for wear. 

To date, the smaller under 55 lbs. multi-rotors have never caused a reported death or significant injury.  That’s a perfect safety record considering there are over a million of these things out there in civilian hands.  Unfortunately the 7,000 helicopters in the world can’t begin to boast similar safety statistics.

The multi-rotor drones are almost exclusively camera drones used to obtain low altitude, slow speed, photo and video images.  These are in no discernable way risky flights.

The FAA recommends that these drones be operated at less than 400 feet and five miles away from airports without advance control tower approval.   They also suggest not flying over the heads of crowds.  Flying near crowds is not an issue.

These voluntary, common sense limits are easy to live with for most of us. 

Avoiding other aircraft such as low flying helicopters involved in rescue, media or police activities is imperative.  There is little fear of my little quad damaging a conventional helicopter because of the heavy prop wash that would quickly push my little drone far away.  

It’s for the survival of our somewhat expensive drones that we need to always give right of way to any aircraft manned or unmanned.

But for the outright ban on any commercial use there are the reasonable FAA recommendations.   Somehow we wound up with a bunch of self-appointed drone cops/trolls.  They think their role is to dictate to their fellow drone operators with their own laws.  They’re doing a disservice to others by demanding our politician’s make new laws and regulations that will strangle the safe exploitation of drones.

The misguided drone cop/trolls ignorantly scream that flying in any urban area is dangerous and will somehow bring a total drone ban.  They never take into account the perfect safety record or the First Amendment rights of camera drone operators.  Cameras, even flying cameras are constitutionally protected!

Laws may be passed but one by one they will be challenged in court and the First Amendment will always win in the absence of a real and present public safety issue.

Things can and do go wrong and it’s nearly always pilot error but when they do the damage is usually insignificant and limited to the drones. 

We have enough fear and loathing of our flying cameras and the bogus drone cops are giving the ignorant ammunition to make arguments for strangling regulations.

It won’t be some 12-year-old kid flying negligently that ruins it for all, but a self-appointed drone cop/troll crying Chicken Little in a Public forum. 

We all have a duty to teach other the safe and effective way to enjoy this exciting technology.  Leave the police work to real cops. 

Camera Drones are Voraciously Addictive!

Los Angeles, CA—If my blog seems to have so much content related to camera drones it’s because I hopelessly hooked!

I find myself adding sites to my bucket list every day.  Most of them are in far away places. 

Here are two of my latest shoots.  Please enjoy!

Why is the Media is Falling For Fake Drone Stories?

Los Angeles, CA—The latest technology tool for newsgathering is taking a propaganda beating from the media.  As incredible as it seems the media is promoting ignorance about camera drones rather than enlightening their audience! 

The little drones are indeed amazing.  They can take sophisticated yet tiny cameras to incredible heights to get inexpensive video and still images in near absolute safety!  

They are definitely a novelty and local police have zero training about these devices.  They have not been around long enough for police and procedures to be developed.  The obvious best policy is to simply leave the drone operators alone. 

Cops seem to want to make arrests for drone use because they know right now they will get substantial news coverage.  However those highly publicized recent arrests of drone pilots have turned out to be absolutely bogus.

Two police helicopter pilots in New York spotted a little plastic drone in the area of the George Washington Bridge.   They chased it and then arranged for the felony arrests of two young men claiming these drone operators endangered the police helicopter!  Their own recorded radio transmissions were solid proof that the cops lied! 

Yesterday a drone pilot was arrested as a Peeping Tom when his drone was “too close” to a medical center where people were believed to be possibly undressing inside.  The fact was that this proved impossible because of reflective material on the glass window.  There certanly were no images of undressed people on the drone's camera!

Since when do people that don’t close their drapes have any reasonable expectation of privacy?

As for the camera drones they have the ultimate “black box” that will show the world in high definition video exactly what it was doing!  We can count on liars being exposed when the images are viewed. 

Many helicopter and fixed wing pilots stand to lose their livelihoods as drone operators replace them.  They have an obvious conflict of interest when it comes to making reports about drone activities.  They want them outlawed for very understandable but ulterior motivation. 

It’s simply about cost and safety.  Even if the little drones crash nobody is going to neither die nor will there be remarkable injuries or property damage.  These traditional pilots can be counted upon to hate multi-rotor drones and their operators.

Propaganda is feeding fear and loathing by the ignorant public.  Nobody stands to gain more from the camera drones that the media and the public that will be able see the world as birds do.  Why is the media falling for the deception of the drone detractors?

Drone journalists are going to be broadcasting and publishing images that were impossible until now.  The camera drones are already bringing us art, beauty, and truth.  There are really no negatives.

People are beginning argue that terrorists will use them for attacks.  They are far less powerful and destructive to aircraft or people than ordinary firearms.  People are letting their over-active imaginations rule over common sense.

The FAA is trying to deal with government concerns that these devices are dangerous.   In the hands of the media that’s true because they may discover waste, mismanagement and questionable behavior of government employees.

Cops are already in a goldfish bowl with millions of cellphone cameras waiting to catch them making missteps.  Now they are being observed from drones too!  Will cops be making arrests of drone operators to intimidate and prevent them from documenting their behavior?  History says that’s a guarantee!

We know from experience that cops have arrested thousands of photographers and cellphone users until the courts ruled that the cops were dead wrong.  Police tyranny may well be a fact of life for many camera drone pilots.  

Cameras are very dangerous instruments because they expose the naked truth.  Camera drones are a new danger that may bring us yet more truth than we can handle.   Human being have shown over and over again that they can’t handle the truth!

The Quadcopter and More Video!

I was up in the SF Bay Area attending the IRE, Investigative Reporters and Editors Conference last week.  I also had a teriffic lunch in Hollywood yesterday. I could not resist sending my quadcopter up for some stunning video.  Take a look and enjoy!