“A few years ago, I wasn’t doing very well. I would barely go outside and when I did, I didn’t really talk to anyone. I was suicidal for years, but trying to hold on till my dad passed away, so he wouldn’t have to bury his son. One night I saw a video on Youtube by Tom Smith (titled Greatest FPV clip of all time) and I was instantly sold. It seemed like the experience delivered an unparalleled sense of freedom. I don’t have any electronics degree or knew anyone around my area that was into this, so I just binged build videos for a month till I felt confident building my own drone. Ever since I’ve tried to squeeze in a flight whenever I can. It requires so much focus, everything else just disappears for a while. I generally just listen to a specific song and do an interpretive dance to it. I really enjoy it as a form of artistic expression, like dancing in 3 dimensions… It’s given me a brand new perspective on the world and it has forced me to go outside and talk to people. Now I have a bunch of friends that feel more like family than my family ever did, some of who live in the US. At least once a year I try to make a trip across the Atlantic to visit some of my FPV family and rip some packs with them at an event, or around any other remote spots they know about… I feel like these proposed regulations fail to understand the difference between hobbyists that fly for the thrill of flight, and people who buy a drone in a box to make pretty pictures with. Hobbyist FPV pilots have caused very few problems. They are generally very concerned about the safety of other people and only take well-calculated risks. They generally fly very low, with a spotter and in remote locations like the woods or abandoned buildings. I am afraid these proposed regulations will deter people from even pursuing the hobby, leading to a stagnation of innovation in the space, which will show its effects on the consumer-grade and commercial-grade segments of the market.”