The Future

[pelmet]

The more I see about drones, the more I worry about the future.

Just saying.

[Meatservo]

Hey, wait. I've got a new complaint.

I am aware of the march of time and progress and blah blah blah. But I just want to say, this one time, that the drones and the drone people piss me off.

The reason they piss me off is because I used to have a relaxing hobby. I was never a fanatic, but once in a while I enjoy building and flying a model aeroplane. Sometimes I make them "free flight", which means you carefully trim and balance the machine, then you start the engine or wind up the rubber band or charge the battery, then launch it and see what happens next. If you're REALLY talented, a beautiful flight can result. It was an art form. But more recently, I have enjoyed equipping the models with servos and radio control, and it's relaxing in a different way. The planes don't crash nearly as much, and can be trimmed in flight, and since I'm actually a real pilot, I found it great fun, and easy, to be able to make the machine do takeoffs and landings just like a real one. Also trees and light poles no longer posed the mortal threat they once did. It would take up to a year to craft one of my models.

Now, because of drones and drone people, an irritating airborne object can be used as a plaything by those who possess neither the building skills nor the flying skills to have heretofore pulled it off. Such a nuisance was created by drones and drone people, that it attracted the attention of the regulator. Radio-controlled model aeroplanes have now been lumped in with "drones" and subjected to the same licensing and regulatory requirements.

It's easy to say, if you're a drone guy, that a model aeroplane can be just as much of a nuisance. But here's the thing. THEY TENDED NOT TO BE. It was the drone peop,e who constituted such a nuisance and a menace that the unspoken 100-year-old truce between model aviation enthusiasts and the regulator had to end.

I'm not one to bleat endlessly about things I can't change. But I am annoyed. I want you drone assholes to know.

Luckily, all these licensing requirements only apply to REMOTELY PILOTED models. I can still build one with no form of control whatsoever, launch it, and see what happens.

[CaptDukeNukem]

Hey, wait. I've got a new complaint.

I am aware of the march of time and progress and blah blah blah. But I just want to say, this one time, that the drones and the drone people piss me off.

The reason they piss me off is because I used to have a relaxing hobby. I was never a fanatic, but once in a while I enjoy building and flying a model aeroplane. Sometimes I make them "free flight", which means you carefully trim and balance the machine, then you start the engine or wind up the rubber band or charge the battery, then launch it and see what happens next. If you're REALLY talented, a beautiful flight can result. It was an art form. But more recently, I have enjoyed equipping the models with servos and radio control, and it's relaxing in a different way. The planes don't crash nearly as much, and can be trimmed in flight, and since I'm actually a real pilot, I found it great fun, and easy, to be able to make the machine do takeoffs and landings just like a real one. Also trees and light poles no longer posed the mortal threat they once did. It would take up to a year to craft one of my models.

Now, because of drones and drone people, an irritating airborne object can be used as a plaything by those who possess neither the building skills nor the flying skills to have heretofore pulled it off. Such a nuisance was created by drones and drone people, that it attracted the attention of the regulator. Radio-controlled model aeroplanes have now been lumped in with "drones" and subjected to the same licensing and regulatory requirements.

It's easy to say, if you're a drone guy, that a model aeroplane can be just as much of a nuisance. But here's the thing. THEY TENDED NOT TO BE. It was the drone peop,e who constituted such a nuisance and a menace that the unspoken 100-year-old truce between model aviation enthusiasts and the regulator had to end.

I'm not one to bleat endlessly about things I can't change. But I am annoyed. I want you drone assholes to know.

Luckily, all these licensing requirements only apply to REMOTELY PILOTED models. I can still build one with no form of control whatsoever, launch it, and see what happens.

I get what you’re saying. But I doubt you’re one of the people that are sending the remote vehicles to 1400 FT AGL just a couple hundred feet left of the localizer in order to take a couple “cool videos”. I’ve come close to eating at least 5 drones in my career, it’s just a matter of time. These things need to be regulated.