Dear Drone Pilot (A Case For Registration)
Dear Drone Pilot,
We live in exciting times. Just over a hundred years ago humankind was enthralled by putting people into flying machines. Now, we’re enthralled by taking them out of them.
At Kittyhawk, we spend a lot of time thinking about what our drone-laden future will look like and how we’ll be interacting with these machines. Drone registration is a unique and complex issue that deserves our full attention and it all stems from the fundamental questions: Why are drones different than other types of machines? Why would should I have to register my drone?
Hobbyists Aren’t In The Cross Hairs
Drone registration isn’t supposed to impede upon hobbyists. Though the DOT is saying that hobbyists will need to register their drones, it will likely never affect hobbyists beyond the initial registry. More than likely, they’ll not be registering drones below a certain threshold. Whether that threshold is power, weight or speed is to be determined but it’d be silly for the FAA to crush themselves under the weight of their own regulations to keep track of a Hubsan X-4.
If you’re a card carrying member of the AMA (Which includes up to $1M in liability insurance) you’ve been putting your name and AMA number on your aircraft for years. As a responsible model pilot, you’re hopefully not flying near anything that will involve a collision anyway. If you’ve ever tried to get a turbine-aircraft waiver or 55lb+ waiver you know that it involves a practical flying test and a number of other hoops to jump through. This is even less friction.
This Ain’t Your Dad’s Phantom
Drones are getting larger and more powerful. While the stereotype might have you envisioning a Phantom, there are very large and powerful drones being built. The LSX4, pictured below, has over 4000 watts of power. It can be configured with 4 more motors for over 8000 watts. That’s over 10 horsepower. The 49cc scooters so popular in the urban landscape are only about 3hp. At these power levels, the batteries alone can cause grave injury and damage. These aren’t toys anymore. It’s important to know who is owning and operating what. Should just anyone be allowed to fly something like this over your car, house, or kid’s school?
There’s Trouble Under The Tree
Registration is the first step towards bigger safety regulations. There have been cries from the industry that the government has failed to move fast enough on drone regulations. Now that they’re making decisions with aggressive timelines there are cries that they are tone deaf. I don’t envy their position. They’re obviously trying to do a lot of work, in a little bit of time, with not enough resources.
However, with over 1M drones expected to be sold this Christmas they have to move fast. It’s important to note that at it’s peak, there were only about 980,000 licensed pilots in the world. The FAA is looking at more than that just this year alone. Almost all of them are unlicensed and have never heard the words “restricted air space” before.
Four Wheels Doesn’t Equal Four Propellers
Though the comparison is somewhat obvious, drones are a lot like cars in this regard. They’re powerful, require proper maintenance, and the government wants to keep track of who owns one. In this context, I would argue that drones are even more important to register than cars. Most of the time, the person operating the car is the one who owns it. That means they’re inside of said car. This is not the case with drones. Without a registry someone can accidentally send a drone sailing into a crowd, turn off the transmitter, get in their car, and hope nobody saw them do it. There is potentially a future where “hit and run” with a drone exists and the FAA is trying to stop it.
“Pops, Can I take the 18 wheeler for a spin?”
Though drones pose less of a practical threat to airliners, they do pose a larger threat to small general aviation planes that have less built in redundancy. Bird strikes are significant events that often kill pilots and down airplanes. As drones start to approach the size, altitude and weight of birds, we should begin treating them just as seriously. GA airplanes fly lower and in less restricted airspace than their commercial counterparts. If we want the National Airspace to be used by all, we need to make sure everyone knows how to use it. Drone registration is the first step to be able to know who needs additional training and knowledge. After all, you can’t jump behind the wheel of semi and get on the highway the first day after you get your drivers license. Why should you be able to do the same in the sky?
At Kittyhawk we want every flight, manned or autonomous, for fun or profit, to end safely. We know that registration is a hot button topic for many of you, but as staunch advocates of this exciting new industry I think it’s in all of our best interest to support and encourage common sense regulation that keeps those in the air and on the ground safe.
Sincerely,
Joshua Ziering
Aviation Enthusiast & Founder, Kittyhawk.io
P.S. If you liked this story, please, hit the recommend button at the bottom so I can get the word out! It’s always fun to write for an audience.
