Dick

Durstein

, Las Vegas

, Nevada

, United States

Posted on
2020-02-14 11:38:53
“One of the few good memory I have of me with my father was of us building a 3 foot wingspan, balsa wood, gas powered aircraft from a kit, then joining the AMA, finding a flight instructor, and promptly crashing it. I am now a Navigator in the USAF (KC-135R, 2,500 hrs, 110 combat sorties). Flight and the challenges it presents form the core me. I fly for my AFSC, and when I’m not flying I write tactics manuals on how to fly better. Out of uniform, there is limited capability for a navigator to engage aviation as a hobby in a cost effective manner. Obtaining a PPL and renting/buying an aircraft is incredibly expensive. Such an expenses is hard to justify purely for recreation. Luckily, RC aviation is available to me. I approach RC flight in a methodical mission driven process, they way I’ve been trained to by the military. Here is my typical flight process. I’ll identify a remote target, some photographicly interesting subject in as remote/isolated an area as possible. I’ll look up the UAS regulations to verify its validity. Study charts and and weather forecasts. Plan a 5-10 mile land-nav hiking route to the target. The my wife and I will prepare our hiking bags. And then when the weekend comes we will set out. It’s days if not weeks of preparation and anticipation, and often a difficult several hours of trekking, but it’s worth it when you get to the target and are able to fly and photograph a scene. I recorded the flight video, edit it in with some music and then share it with friends and family on YouTube. I’ll occasionally fly at a local AMA field, but that’s uncommon. Typical the result of being too busy to plan a hike, the need to test out a newly build aircraft, or for a social function with the AMA community. I’m deeply concerned with the FAA’s proposed rules, not just a RC aviation hobbyist, but primarily as red-blooded American. The sprit of America, since we first tossed tea into Boston harbor, is supposed to be Liberty. Liberty utterly unconstrained, except where necessary to preserve Liberty of another. These rules seem to be preemptively restricting the Liberty of the entire population without need, but only to benefit corporate interests and provide a degree of security-theater.”