“I am a commercial airline pilot, who is also a commercial drone operator, and hobbyist. I got into this hobby with my son and together have learned electronics, soldering, flight, and have built over 10 drones in the last year between the two of us. This hobby would be dead to us if the regulations go through as proposed. I’ve tried to get schools to pay attention and make this a path for kids. It’s an amazing opportunity to get middle school and high school aged kids in how things work. It’s a steep learning curve, but the reward of getting to fly the drone that you built, tested, and set up, is exceptionally rewarding. There are many, many other hobbyists out there that are smarter than I am. Many better ideas exist. As an airline pilot, the current threat is overblown. I don’t want the hobby given away to commercial companies with no regard for anything other than the bottom line.”