Alex
Sink
, Fenton
, Michigan
, United States
Posted on
2020-02-21 10:04:34
“A few years ago my Son and I were injured pretty badly in accident at the very beginning of what was his summer vacation from school. It left me out of work for months, and him stuck in the house for the entire summer. I was carrying quite a bit of guilt over the entire situation, and felt as though I had lost his trust. He gets bullied quite a bit in school and doesn’t have many friends, I sometimes fear that I’m the only friend he has. In an effort to keep both of us busy while being stuck in the house I found FliteTest, and we began building air planes from scratch with materials my wife picked up from the dollar store. We ordered electronics from the FliteTest store and built our first remote controlled airplane. As soon as we were both able to stand and walk a close friend came over and helped to teach us both to fly in the backyard, and my son and I became best friends again. He learned so much from building that airframe, and wiring the electronics for the control surfaces. He gained so much confidence in himself that he went back to school that fall in a walking cast and instantly made a couple of new friends, and has been able to talk at least one of his bullies into becoming a friend as well. Our discovery of this hobby has changed our lives for the better.
With all of the proposed regulations none of this would’ve been possible. The cost of upgraded equipment, and another subscription to a remote ID service would’ve been completely out of reach. The way the rules are worded, the even fly a home built plane in my back yard would be a crime. How can something so educational and encouraging to a young boy be criminal? This is going to stifle the education of our children, and suffocate their ability to innovate in the future. This is going to basically close the door to general aviation as well, as many kids used to start out flying remote controlled air craft before pursuing a career in aviation (which is currently suffering from a lack of interest already) … The negative effects of this regulation will far outweigh any measure of safety that is gained from it.”