Erik
Gruber
, Apple Valley
, California
, United States
Posted on
2020-02-22 11:25:49
“I am currently disabled dealing with foot bone issues for the past several years, but I have been flying FPV racing drones since early 2016. My good friend flies mostly fixed wing and I enjoy chasing his creations. After teaching my friend to fly FPV multi-rotor, we were contacted by a school in Utah. Their Aviation Department was interested in drone flight training. We built high-quality racing drones for their school. We taught them how to use their 3D printers and personally trained them how to fly their drones. This program would simply be snuffed out due to this regulation. We are at an extreme shortage of pilots worldwide. These school programs are the key to keeping aviation interest high in these children and therefore, the future of aviation. This program is something that could never happen under the proposed rules.
We are in the process of developing a specialized drone for my employer. This is a drone that will likely never fly over 25 feet in the air due to the work that it will do. FAA remote identification is pointless with this drone. It will fly over evaporation ponds that are well below the road itself and the work that it will be performing is proprietary. We do not wish to make any of its data public. I am certain that there are countless cases where proprietary information including flight data is something that can never be shared with the public. Additional unneeded regulation will drive up costs and even ground aircraft and stifle innovation with it. As Bruce Simpson has asked, “Where are the bodies?” Therefore, I ask, “Where is the risk assessment.” My employer requires a risk assessment before our aircraft leave the ground. Has a drone actually taken down a manned aircraft? We know that birds take down airplanes. An argument can be made to remote ID birds where that same argument cannot be made for drones. While I understand that remote ID is inevitable, we can recognize shielded operations that Europe is using. We don’t need to kill FPV racing and freestyle as we know it with remote ID. If the FAA wanted to keep this hobby intact, why did they propose only 12 months for recognized non-remote ID flying fields?
Flying is a deep passion of mine and I have always wanted to become an actual pilot. As my condition worsens, I understand that this dream will fade away in time along with my dream to continue flying FPV without unnecessary restriction. My hope is that the FAA will seek a more reasonable approach to remote ID to keep the dream of flight alive for everyone who enjoys it.”