Ben

, Australia

Posted on
2020-02-19 7:35:20
“In my country failing mental health is a major killer of young to middle aged men. Flying our racing drones in a relaxed club atmosphere at our local sporting complex that we share with a cricket and a football club (registered with the MAAA and CASA) gives us all some good company, it relieves stress and anxiety and gives people an ear for their problems and like-minded friends to bounce ideas off. People usually turn up quiet and tired, and leave smiling, laughing and with renewed energy. It is essential to the mental and physical well-being of most of our members, to stop them being ground down by the pressures of life, career, young families etc. Also most of the members at my club make our own quadcopter frames, cut from carbon fibre sheets and and build our own aircraft from individual parts. This can be fiddly and tedious, but is sometimes more fun and more rewarding that actually flying the quadcopters on race day. It is a part of the hobby I really enjoy. It has spawned the creation of many small (and not so small) businesses to create custom components for us to help keep us in the air enjoying what we do and giving themselves a chance to make a living doing something they enjoy and are passionate about. I am worried introducing remote ID will end the hobby as we know it and will leave myself and my friends in my club stranded with nowhere to fly. I understand why the FAA wants to introduce new rules regarding remote ID but I feel it’s far too of an extreme reaction to a relatively small problem. I think the current proposals are poorly thought out and disadvantage the vast majority of hobbyists that have been well behaved and have enjoyed their hobby with an impeccable safety record. I don’t think we should become criminals for flying a foam plane in our backyard after work without first asking permission – if a plane is down amongst the trees in my backyard, it has a lot bigger things to worry about than a foam remote controlled aeroplane.”