Paul

Hodgetts

, Beaverton

, Oregon

, United States

Posted on
2020-02-21 15:59:30
“Flying to me is just one part of a multi-faceted recreational activity. I design, build, maintain and fly my multirotors. I participate in drone racing. I am a member of both local and international interest and social groups. This hobby keeps me learning and expanding my expertise in mechanical, electronic, software and other fields. It also provides exposure to a broad social group that I would otherwise not meet (I am in my 50s, I get to interact with people in their 20s). I am certainly concerned about irresponsible flying, for example someone that buys a camera drone at a local big box retailer, knows nothing about what they’re doing, and then gets in the way of firefighting planes. Perhaps we need to restrict the ability to easily purchase these larger camera drones, I don’t think someone that will take the time to assemble & build a freestyle or racing drone from scratch is a concern. Yes, those who building-dive over people for Facebook likes need to be handled as well, but they are such a small percentage of the overall community. I am not in favor of clearing the skies for hoards of commercial delivery drones to roam where they like–THEY should be the ones restricted and made to comply with very strict safety guidelines. If they even end up being feasible, the larger delivery drones roaming our neighborhoods BVLOS are what will kill someone.”