David

Weikel

, Apopka

, Florida

, United States

Posted on
2020-02-14 0:07:26
“I started flying at age 13. I’m. Now 55. Built my first airplane TriStar Midwest. Gas engine. Got hooked on aviation and trouble shooting flight and moving components. Joined AMA certified field. They taught safety had a certified trainer on buddy box to help. Kept me busy and out of trouble as a kid. Great mentors in this hobby. Mentoring is I big need these days especially with so many kids taking care of them selfs. Mom and dads so busy making an income. Thriughout my life I relied on my hobby. It’s provide a community of life long friends. Learned skills like building , engines , flight , communication , teaching , community support. After my spine injury and strokes. I leaned on my hobby for rehabilitation regaining hand and eye coordination communication and memory. I started rehab with skiilled nurses just like most and then I was introduced to Realflight simulator to help with eye hand coordination. Eventually I approached toy drones learning to fly 3ft of the ground. I haven’t flown my airplanes as im still regaining my abilities. I can’t drive a car due to my disabilities. So my son drives me to my flying location. Point is this hobbies provided a vehicle to bond with my son. We both fly and completely enjoy our time we spend together. Im now flying drones with cameras. Why you ask? I’m limited to a either a walker or my wheelchair. See I can’t drive due to my limitations. My world consists of doctors and 4 walls. To break free of it I use drones. It breaks me free to see the world that can’t be seen from a mear wheelchair or walker. I can’t climb a mountain or hike a trail. I can’t swim a ocean or a lake. My drone can set me free to see from it’s camera view. I can see far and with the freedom I can see higher and wider. I feel so much freedom and it gives me a sence of being normal. So please don’t over regulate this hobby. I understand safety is a concern. I say look deeper into the AMA they have established mentors and safety and even rules. The even hold regular aviation meeting for educational purposes. They are the prime example how to expand to non regulated site’s. I say keep AMA flying fields and let them govern them selfs. Creat parks at city level or an extension of AMA just for drones who sport race provide drones with obstical courses on these fields. It’s much safer and they shouldn’t be fling in playgrounds and such were harm could come to pedestrians. For drones with cameras or FPV vehicles. Keep them in line if sight. But allow them to be tracked by remote ID. If inforcement is required use frequency transmitted that only local gov and Federal can identify. Not allowing citizens to monitor. This way local police can tune to transmitted short wave signal identify whom is in violation of said regulations. Keep this as a non prophited monitoring remote I’d. Point is most drones send I signal to controller. Also drones with cameras have wifi transmitted. All of the manufacturers use a language unique to the manufacturers. All that is needed here is a firmware update. The firmware update would include manufacturer model serial number and bandwith. Also piggy backing were signal is sent to. Same as your cellphone already does when you ping location to find family member. It’s just same concept. For industrial drones like Amazon , Google , ect airspace should be controlled by airtraffic control towers and a fee should be established for industrial flight just like airliners pay. This will off set cost for remote I’d and airspace control. This monitoring of model aircraft should not be the burdin of hobbiest. I have faith our FAA can find a solution for all of us and thank you for reading how this affects people like me”