Let’s go to the Drone Expo in L.A. Saturday Dec 13, 2014!

Los Angeles-CA—It did not take long for a Drone Trade Show to happen once the multi-rotor camera drones have it the landscape!

Saturday, December 12, 2014 from 10:00 AM until 7:00 PM there will be exhibitors, speakers and a whole lot of networking going on. 

You will be able to meet many of the drone industry mover and shakers.  We will all learn about the future of this exciting technology.

Crimefile News plans on covering this event.  Those folks that are too far away to attend can expect lots of video and information right here!

Those wanting to attend can visit their site right here: 

http://www.uavsa.org

A Window into Civilian Drones, the FAA and Congressional Oversight

Washington, DC—The FAA was very tight lipped about the drone regulations they are drafting for public comment later this month. 

An FAA official claims they are releasing a Risk Based Proposed Regulatory Program that will integrate commercial drones into the airspace. 

Judging from today’s Congressional hearing they are attempting concentrate on educating the operators of small consumer drones and more serious regulation of anything else.  

Oddly enough they never once mentioned using drones for news video news gathering and only touched lightly on filmmakers.

Once they release their draft drone rule package it must be published and then there is a routine schedule for inviting public comment. Once that period passes the FAA will then set their rule in concrete.  That of course can be challenged later both by Congressional action and litigation.

The FAA seems to be coming to grips that the small camera drone operator will be nearly impossible to regulate.  They are currently haggling with the manufactures about geo-fencing software manufacturing requirements and packaging FAA rules and guidelines with the drones at the point of sale.

The larger drones that will be traveling greater distances and have by nature a higher risk have cumbersome licensing, vehicle air worthiness inspection and registration in their future. 

The rules are going to cover all types of drones fixed wing or multi-rotor and the FAA seems to understand that one size does not fit all.

We will have to see what they do in the coming weeks.  The Obama Administration’s FAA has already put us well behind Canada, Europe and Australia.  Billions of dollars are at stake and the USA is now weaker as a result.

I wish the hearing today could have disclosed real direction but there were lots of questions with very few concrete answers.

Of course the pilots fables of near misses were no small subject of conversation.   They all failed to mention that no deaths or serious injuries have been reported.  Chicken Little is alive and sending out his alarms about falling skies. 

If you’ve got a couple of hours to watch bureaucrats and politicians reading prepared statements and tossing a few questions around you can see this below:

The Civilian Drone Industry and the Serious Impact of Government Tyrannical Overregulation

Los Angeles, CA—As Crimefile News prepares to cover the first ever Drone Expo here on Saturday, we are watching as more corporate and business refugees are fleeing this once great nation.  Americans are also renouncing their citizenship now, more than ever before.

Currently drone hobbyists have no licensing or training requirements to fly their drones.  The only FAA restrictions currently are in the form of somewhat vague “guidelines”.  They suggest maximum altitudes of 400 feet, staying three miles or more from airports and keeping visual contact with the drone.

Frankly the hobbyists have already proven that civilian drones really pose no threat to Americans, their safety or privacy. 

The only hard and fast enforceable civilian drone regulation is that they can’t be used to earn or generate money.  Of course the government can’t realize any income tax revenue from drone operators either. 

Civilian multi-rotor drones currently number well beyond one million.  So far none of them have been ever been involved in a death or reported serious injury. 

Frankly the drones are incredibly safer than conventional aircraft, don’t emit poisons into our air and should they crash damages are minimal and confined to the drones themselves.

Yes, there are the “reports” by conventional aircraft pilots of “near collisions” and dangerous behavior.  However suspiciously absent are any collisions, photographs, or actual identifications of any of these offending drone operators! I call them fantasy sightings.   

The over-abundant reports of cowboy drone operators ruining it for all are just more fabrications.  The fact is drone operators zealously protect their investments if for no other reason so they can continue to enjoy flying them.

I won’t personally speak for anything more than the relatively small multi-rotor craft carrying camera’s such as the GoPro or relatively light weight DSLR cameras similar to the Canon 5D or the Panasonic GH4. 

No matter how you feel about your own political preferences this issue is falling hard along political Party lines.  Republicans are responding as pro-business and commerce. 

Democrats on the other hand want to regulate, tax and punish any and all commercial productivity especially anything drone related.  That’s of course, if the political Left can’t simply ban them altogether.  United States Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA) is leading the way for a total civilian drone ban as I write this. 

Democrats like their Communist cousins have a long history of massive overregulation, extortionate taxation and restricting personal liberty despite our Bill of Rights.  

I will again redundantly argue that nearly all safety concerns are bogus since the multi-rotor drone record is stellar.

Additionally, existing privacy laws don’t insulate any drone operators from arrest or punishment should they engage in stalking or filming anywhere people have established rights to privacy.

The FAA’s foot-dragging and drone related kingdom building has had expected results.   American corporations, filmmakers and drone enthusiasts are rapidly voting with their feet to exit the USA.   

Helicopter operators currently have nearly unrestricted access to our populated cities for filming or newsgathering.  However not a year goes by with out deadly crashes costing millions in destruction.  Multi-rotor drones are significantly safer, quieter and greener

Drones are a marvelous tool for video newsgathering, filmmaking and other creative endeavors.  The First Amendment of our Bill of Rights protects those things!  Restricting these activities without a clear thereat to public safety is un-American and unlawful.  We fought wars to protect this important freedom!

The drone industry shows great promise in areas of farming and cattle ranching protecting our necessary food supply.  Livestock and irrigation need constant monitoring and drones are perfect for this role.

The necessary inspection of ecological properties like fresh water supplies, electrical and fuel lines can be accomplished much cheaper and certainly safer using drones.

With the drone industry exit, America stands to lose important intellectual property, technological and other discoveries that are vitally essential to our national defense.  

Drones are the future for the construction and insurance industry.  They also have a solid place in disaster operations to evaluate needs and delivery of food, water and medical supplies when our roads become impassable.

The Obama Administration and their FAA must step aside and allow the research, development and commercial use of drones. 

Should problems be discovered down the road, government can certainly address them.  America has up till now avoided governing by prior restraint.

The American people simply cannot afford to allow a handful of politicians and their appointed bureaucrats to continue their tyrannical governing direction over this vital technology.  

A Pretty Pair of Hideout Handguns

Phoenix, AZ--In this state where concealed carrying if firearms by law-abiding citizens requires no license or permits the choices of guns are unlimited.  However I teach and preach that conflict avoidance is the best policy.  Walk softly but carry a big stick is the right way.

Here is a lovely pair of somewhat effective hideout guns.  One is the Smith & Wesson Model 340PD .357 Magnum.  The other is a vintage High Standard .22 Magnum derringer. Both of these guns are outfitted with elegant Kirinite grips from www.eaglegrips.com.  The color of this set is called LAVA and you'll never find a more durable or stronger material for gun grips than this incredible Kirinite. The color or pattern choices are nearly limitless.  This is all about personalizing your firearms.  

Huge Downtown Inferno Rocks Los Angeles Overnight

Photo courtesy of KNBC-TV News

Los Angeles, CA—The City of Angeles was the scene of an overnight structure fire larger than I have ever seen before.  Reportedly over 250 firefighters battled the firestorm since it was reported at 1:20 AM. 

The massive blaze was adjacent to the Harbor #110 Freeway at the 900 block of Fremont Avenue. 

Additionally two nearby commercial high-rise buildings were severely damaged by heat, smoke, hundreds of broken windows and flooding from the sprinkler systems. 

Broken glass and debris could be found all over the neighborhood.  

By mid-morning the fire was nearly out but visibly smoldering.  I sent my drone up from the opposite side of the Harbor Freeway, which apparently was the only vantage point to see the ruins. 

The structure itself, which incidentally is located adjacent to a fire station, was to become the Da Vinci Apartments.  At least one million square feet of prime property was totally destroyed. 

Fire officials have said the blaze is very suspicious in nature and a massive investigation has begun with the LAPD and BATFE pooling their best resources. 

There are no damage estimates available right now but I'm sure it will be well into the hundreds of $Millions.

Reports are coming in that there has been criticism concerning the massive amount of wood used in the construction.  That causes me to shudder what a disaster this could have been had the apartments been completed and fully occupied.  Perhaps this was a cheap lesson in public safety. 

Here is some drone video of what’s left of the structure this morning. 

Why All The Anti-Drone Propaganda? Some Real Answers…

Los Angeles, CA—Report after report has been broadcast and published by the mainstream media alleging dangerous misconduct committed by people piloting little camera drones.

“Experts” quoted in media reports are constantly citing serious danger and privacy concerns.  They all talk about the large number of the sighting reports as a reason to regulate, restrict or otherwise outlaw this new technology.

There is just something really fishy about this propaganda campaign.  There is not one reported collision between a single little drone and any aircraft. 

Despite the reality that absolutley everyone has a decent cellphone camera in their pocket there is not a single image of a drone even near an aircraft.  All we have are unsubstantiated claims from various pilots flying conventional aircraft.  

More importantly there is not a single death or serious injury involving a civilian multi-rotor camera drone despite the fact that more than a million of them are in the hands of ordinary civilians.  Many of these owners are young teenagers.

As for privacy concerns existing laws allow for the arrest of stalkers, peepers and alike.  The use of a drone in no way insulates someone criminally invading privacy.  There is not a single case involving these drones resulting in sufficient evidence to bring about and indictment or conviction.

The fact is each and every claim of drone misconduct has been debunked.  However new, non-stop phony reports instantly follow the ones that fail.

The late Nazi Propaganda Minister, Josef Goebbels said it best; “If you tell a lie often enough it becomes the truth.”

The only people cited in any drone incidents were those found flying their drones in areas like national parks that have suddenly banned them. It’s safe to assume that the violator’s were ignorant and unaware of these brand new prohibitions.

The major media honchos have their own issues and conflicts in this dogfight.  TV and Newspapers are losing ground to Internet bloggers like me. 

I did not have to invest in expensive presses or buy ink by the barrel.  For less than $10K I’ve acquired all the TV production equipment necessary to produce quality video news stories and full documentaries.  

Now, I even have two camera drones to get the aerial still shots and video I could only dreamed of capturing two years ago.  The big media giants no longer have an edge on me!  Wow!  What raw power! 

In the next decade the entire news and entertainment landscape will be Internet based.  We will see some the major news providers vanish altogether.  It’s all changing by the second! 

The only apparent uncertainty is how revenue the will be generated by content providers.  One thing for sure the new power of the little camera drones is making a lot of people nervous.  

Drone technology is a very serious threat to professional pilots.  Not to their safety, but their livelihood. We are close to aircraft that will fly free of pilot error crashes and of course pilots!

Very recent emerging drone technology has made great strides in collision avoidance software.   GPS, computer software and imaging hardware will eliminate the need for a large percentage of pilots.  Right now there is no love lost between conventional pilots and the burgeoning drone technology. 

It was just after the Wright brothers created air travel that the military discovered the value of being able to observe enemy movement from high above.  Aerial reconnaissance soon gave way to aerial combat and later bombing missions.

There are those in government that fear the population and never want to see any leading technology in civilian hands.  It’s about people control.  Our First Amendment already protects newsgathering drone cameras.  Is the Second Amendment arms bearing right potentially involved here too?

I recent years during civil disturbances the FAA declared cities or entire regions, No Fly Zones.  This was only about keeping newsgathering helicopters grounded.  It’s more than obvious that this is to give government absolute power to control and dictate what news is reported.   

The whole drone propaganda campaign is not based on public safety or flying Peeping Toms.  It’s obviously all about controlling Americans and who can report news.