Tuesday, July 12, 2016

New FAA rules open the skies to commercial drones—mostly

Bananas – although high in calories (so only eat a few a week) they are still a fruit so will burn as such, also they help protect from asthma symptoms and are said to help boot moods and help fight depression. Hey Fitfam!! It’s another beautiful Wensday! Hope you all had an awesome, at least somewhat healthy weekend. Just in case you didn’t (and even if you did it definitely won’t hurt) here are 10 power foods that you can add to your meal plan this week! Olive Oil – a healthier oil, it lowers blood cholesterol and its antioxidants can help protect against some cancers. Apples – this fruit contains quercetin, a compound that can protect brain cells from tissue damaging and its also a great source of fibre which can aid weight loss. Avocados – delicious and a good source of potassium, avocados can help prevent high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke. 
When it comes to drones, there are the well-wishers: “What an advance in farming, search and rescue, construction, engineering, forestry, firefighting, law enforcement, filmmaking and photography!” And there are the naysayers: “I don’t want eyes in the sky invading my privacy, churning up a deafening racket and crashing into crowds!”
Today, after years of trying to reconcile these two viewpoints and wading through thousands of proposals, drafts and public comments, the FAA has finally issued its rules for commercial drones. (These rules cover drones flown for payment; the FAA already has guidelines for amateur, just-for-fun drones.)
The new rules for commercial drones, which go into effect in late August, are far more relaxed than many drone fans had feared. For example, the final rules abandon the requirement that you have to have a pilot’s license—for airplanes—to fly a drone. Now you just need a drone pilot’s certificate, which is far faster and cheaper to get.
(The FAA doesn’t call them drones—it prefers the poetic term “small unmanned aircraft system,” or sUAS—but they’re not fooling anybody. We’re talking about drones.)


With today’s ruling, the rules for commercial and amateur drone flights are now fairly similar. Here’s the official FAA document (624 pages), here’s the FAA’s summary document…and here’s plain-English version:

The New FAA Rules for Flying a Commercial Drone

  • The pilot. You must be over 16 and speak English. You have to pass a knowledge test at an FAA-approved test center, which are listed here. (If you already have a pilot’s license—a “part 61 certificate”—you can take this test online.) You also have to get a drone operator certificate (a “remote pilot certificate” that never expires) or be supervised by someone who has one. You have to take a flight-knowledge test every two years.
  • The drone. You have to register the drone with the FAA, which costs $5. The drone must have “aircraft markings” (an ID number that can be traced back to you, the owner) and weigh less than 55 pounds. There must be at least one pilot for every drone.
  • The site. You can’t fly the drone while you’re under a roof (of a building or a parked car, for example). You also can’t be in a moving vehicle if you’re in a populated area. You have to keep the drone within your sight at all times, or at least within the sight of an observer who’s in communication with you.
  • The flight. Before you fly, you have to inspect the drone to make sure it’s safe. You can’t fly at night unless the drone’s lights are visible for three miles. Once you take off, you have to keep the drone below 400 feet, unless you’re within 400 feet of “a structure.” (That loophole lets drones inspect towers and buildings.) You can’t fly the drone over people (except your own team), you have to avoid other flying craft, and you can’t exceed 100 miles an hour.
(For amateur drones, the FAA doesn’t issue rules—they’re called only “safety guidelines”—but they’re similar. If your drone weighs between 0.55 pounds and 55 pounds, you have to register the drone with the FAA. You have to keep the drone below 400 feet, you can’t fly over people or cars, you have to keep the drone at least 25 feet away from people, you have to keep it within your sight, you have to avoid other flying craft, you can’t capture images where there’s “a reasonable expectation of privacy,” you can’t fly over infrastructure like power stations and prisons, and you can’t fly within five miles of an airport without permission.)

The Impact of the New Rules

The new commercial guidelines are a big, big deal, and hundreds of thousands of companies are breathing a sigh of relief. Compared with the previous, temporary rules (called Section 333), the new ones (called Part 107) are much less restrictive.
No longer do you need a pilot’s license to fly a drone. You don’t need a medical certificate anymore. The requirement to stay at least 500 feet away from any building is gone.