Aaron

Sisco

, Mountain Home

, Idaho

, United States

Posted on
2020-02-19 3:03:57
“I am a recreational pilot. I found FPV almost 2 years ago. Like many others, it saved my life. There is nothing I have experienced that compares to the feeling of building, flying, and video editing with my quadcopters. It helps with depression, anxiety, and many other side effects of life in general. It keeps my brain active, and allows me to learn new things on a daily basis. It gives me a great sense of accomplishment, and I hope to one day be able to make a living on some aspect, or many aspects, of these amazing things I am privileged to be able to do. I have a plethora of new friends and acquaintances, and indeed, people I call family. Many of them have been affected by FPV in the same, or much more profound ways, as I have. Please do not take this away from us. This will destroy so much, loved by so many. STEM programs that get people of all ages communicating and interacting with one another, that educate so many, will be wiped out, no longer enhancing the lives of the thousands of individuals who benefit from them. Please do not take that away from those children, those parents, those people, from all walks of life. Small businesses across the nation will be forced to close, unable to afford to comply with new regulations and new standards, and unable to supply approved equipment to pilots. Please do not take their livelihood away. People, such as myself, who thrive on the feeling we get from building and flying and filmmaking, will no longer have inspiration from our peers to push ourselves to create the amazing things we get to share with the world. Please do not take away our self expression, comradery, and this amazing creative outlet. It is an outlet that feeds so much creativity. This is a beautiful thing for us. It is a way of life. It can be, and has been, a religious experience for so many people. Please, do not take all this away. As many of us do, I understand, and can accept a commercial UAS industry. It will be a reality. I get it. We all get it. We cannot understand, however, taking what we love, and giving it 100% to commercial conglomerates, and Government. I would suggest something similar to what we already have in place. Let us recreational pilots have what we’ve already been given. 400 vertical feet. Give commercial UAS operations 400-600ft. I would be ok with 300ft recreational, commercial 300-500ft. Give commercial UAS operations a grid on which to operate, as well as hours of operation. For example, if a delivery is scheduled for an address that is not on a gridline, a point of pickup must be established that is. I am very concerned by the process used to establish the need for these regulations, as well. I would like to see the information used in the risk assessment, and the risk assessment itself, that calls for such drastic action to be taken, at such an extremely personal level. To my knowledge, there have been no deaths involving uas. I have searched for such incidents in public records across the country, and have found absolutely zero reports of fatal injury due to negligence or improper use of uas. Was the NPRM passed before the proper committee to determine whether the regulations within the NPRM are necessary? There is a process to introducing Federal Regulations. I think we all would like to be assured that process was followed, and that our government is serving us well.”