Chris
Latham
, Homeworth
, Ohio
, United States
Posted on
2020-02-26 9:01:58
“My son introduced me to the hobby about four years ago. Since then, I have thoroughly enjoyed building and flying winged model aircraft. I have always had a fascination with flight and am thrilled that I now get to experience it first hand. In fact, I have started using model aircraft as the basis for an outreach program to build parent-child relationships in my community.
When I was young, the Remote Control (RC) technologies that we know today were either non-existent or cost-prohibitive. Along with the macro-trend of technology advancement, the growth of the RC market has driven many technology advancements of its own, like advance flight controllers and FPV systems. Additionally, these market dynamics have forced prices down to the point where RC flight is accessible to almost everyone. Having spent my career developing new technologies and products, I have learned that the existence of individual technologies in isolated applications does not mean that they are immediately and broadly applicable in combination.
Virtually all of my flying, including FPV, is within line of sight on private property in sparsely populated rural areas. At my home in northeastern Ohio, the best internet service provider (ISP) that I can find offers 5 (five) Mbs over-the-air internet; and my mobile phone (AT&T) gets 2 (two) bars. While this is laughable in most urban areas, it is the reality in my community and most like it. Compliance with the proposed regulations as I understand them would be at least difficult and most likely impossible because the required chain of underlying technologies do not work reliably under these conditions. Should the proposed regulations be promulgated, I will spend immeasurable time and money and never be able to comply fully, in spite of my best efforts. Additionally, the logic of how safety is improved by having to pay to join the the closest club and drive 30 (thirty) minutes every time I wanted to fly over following current regulations and guidelines while flying on private property is lost on me.
In my view, the most prudent approach that would be both effective and protect individual privacy would include on-line training, mandatory knowledge testing (similar to HAM radio licencing) and tools to identify where flying is restricted, like LAANC. Someday, the debate can be revisited when the telecom infrastructure can actually and broadly support the proposed regulations.”