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FAA Expects 600,000 Commercial Drones In The Air Within A Year (npr.org)
The drone industry is expected to expand dramatically in the coming months and years with the passing of a new rule (PDF) that makes it easier to become a commercial drone operator. The Federal Aviation Administration predicts there to be roughly 600,000 drones to be used commercially within the next year. NPR reports: "For context, the FAA says that 20,000 drones are currently registered for commercial use. What's expected to produce a 30-fold increase in a matter of months is a new rule that went into effect today and makes it easier to become a commercial drone operator. Broadly, the new rules change the process of becoming a commercial drone pilot: Instead of having to acquire a traditional pilot's license and getting a special case-by-case permission from the regulators, drone operators now need to pass a new certification test and abide by various flying restrictions (and, well, be older than 16). The rest of the drone safety rules still apply: No flights beyond line-of-sight, over people, at night, above 400 feet in the air or faster than 100 miles an hour. Drones also can't be heavier than 55 pounds, and all unmanned aircraft have to be registered. Businesses, however, may get special wavers to skip some of the restrictions if they can prove they can do so safely. The drone association expects the industry will create more than 100,000 jobs and generate more than $82 billion for the economy in the first 10 years of being integrated into the national airspace. The FAA is also working on new rules that eventually will allow drone flights over people and beyond line of sight."
We call em "targets".
Wow, $82 billion over 10 years? thats a lot of money! It might pay for the toilet paper for the US Military!
i am skeptical about the numbers and time period, merely due to a rule change. these regulatory people have an exaggerated notion of their power in real world.
a change furthermore that require some time to implement in detail. (for instance, how many can practically get new certification during one year? )
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more interestingly would be the public reaction to inevitable first few deaths, if numbers do reach the ones cited (if not in 1 year in 1 decade or so ). how would inevitable calls for tighter regulations be handled?
>> No flights beyond line-of-sight, over people,
This is totally gonna screw Amazons drone-delivery plans.
How cool will that be!?!?!?
"This technology, which we have been promising for years will replace all kinds of delivery jobs and other jobs, will create 100,000 jobs"
The F.C.C. gave up regulating C.B. radio when the sheer number of users made it impractical and unprofitable to bother with. It looks like drones are headed that way, too. There will be so many drones flying around that regulations will be ineffective, so the only thing that will allow them to function will be controlled chaos.
I suppose we'll need an interoperable protocol by which they keep from crashing into each other; that will largely be worked out by the for-profit companies using them to make money. Perhaps the F.A.A. can act as mediator, but they seem so far behind the curve on this as to be insignificant. The charge forward is underway already.
slashdot: A failed experiment.
Oh, I forgot, many of our politicians are whores.
Silly, me.
https://www.youtube.com/c/BrendaEM
I expect this will go the form of the Jetsons or The Fifth Element, or Starwars coruscant scenes, with highways in the sky where the Drones, UAV flying vehicles, jets and flying cars will travel. 2 way highways with entrances and exits and virtual signs, barraiers, routes you see on HUDs and AR displays and glasses. The FCC will regulate that part. This is suppose to be commercial, not hobby people flying over peoples houses or looking into windows.
So " Businesses, however, may get special wavers to skip some of the restrictions if they can prove they can do so safely." is that like a big plastic hand for waving as opposed to a waiver? I don't understand how the waver works can you only skip some restrictions if it's always waving? What happens if it breaks?
...and counting backwards!
Not "to be", fucking American idiots.
I used to think that in the coming years, the most precious commodity would be clean water.
I was wrong. It will be true privacy, afforded to only the One Percent.
1. Prohibit all commercial drone activity
2. Create a bureaucracy to regulate it and pass Byzantine regulations.
3. Claim credit for other people's potential profit!
When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
I'm predicting (and hoping for) sales of shotguns to rise by at least 600,000 within a year, to meet the rising menace to our privacy from drones.
Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
55 lbs (25 kg) at 100 mph (161 kph) sounds like a weapon to me. It could easily be targeted at a building, a plane, a car, a truck, or anything else.
The FAA just gave terrorists easy access to the tools they need to f*ck up our world.