Dr. Dronelove in 2017
Or: How I Learned to Worry and Yet Still Love the FAA
From the perspective of people who don’t own/fly a drone, I found the topic of drone tech falling somewhere on the spectrum below…
Now, I didn’t conduct a scientific study, but I strongly believe 90% of people around the world fall somewhere between the fringe haters and unwavering pro-drone zealots. And these 90% are not entrenched in where they fall along the spectrum. As the technology gets more widely adopted and familiarity grows in the public zeitgeist, their opinion may easily flip to an opposing side of Ned Flanders. And it may even get polarized.
The public’s perception will dictate the future.
Currently, there is no magnetized viewpoint that the majority of public perception gravitates toward. There is no: Michael Jordan was the greatest basketball player or cigarettes are bad for you. From a holistic perspective, the nascent and still very much evolving industry of small unmanned aircraft systems has not been pigeonholed…yet. And that’s exactly what worries me about the future of the industry.
More precisely…
I’m worried about an industry with at least $127 billion in revenue potential (ref: PWC); with actual humanitarian use-cases, being debilitated by fear-driven regulation, restrictive local & state-level legislation or worse yet, drones being demonized in the eye of the public.
It’s bad enough we’re referring to these intelligent flying robots as “drones”.
In 2013, Mark Corcoran wrote a superb article about the inherent conflict(s) of calling drones…drones. But that fight is over and what could have been called “unmanned chopper” (my personal favorite) or “minicopter” or “airbot”, is now commonly referred to as “drone”. Say quadcopter or hexacopter to a person on the street and if they know what you’re talking about, they’ll probably respond back with, “oh…you mean drone, right?”
So that fight was lost.
Thankfully, the public at large has been able to distinguish between the drones that rain destruction on the Middle East and the small, sub-55lbs buzzing plastic machines that zip around local scenic hotspots in the pursuit of the perfect shot.
Perception is power
In 2016, the public relations industry hit the $14bn mark. Now, I’m not sure how much drone manufacturers contributed to this accomplishment, but I’m guessing only publicly-traded enterprises such as Amazon, Facebook and Google, alongside leading manufacturers like DJI and Intel (as a result of their Ascending Technologies acquisition), have the cash reserves to even pursue a favorable public relations strategy.
In the meantime, the majority of the media is doing what the media does in 2016: going after the sensational and eye-catching stories. If you look at the Part 107 Waivers Granted page from the FAA, as I write this, there is no one person/company with an official waiver to fly over people (107.39 Operation Over Human Beings). Sorry, I wrote that wrong. There’s one person named Greg from CNN who has been granted that waiver. One individual out of 320+ million Americans.
I didn’t check all 5,000+ 333 Exemptions, but even if there are a handful of companies allowed to operate over people, it doesn’t diminish the point that media companies are still slow to embrace the technology.
So while the media (both mainstream and tech news) writes a good amount about drone deliveries and new drone tech, they have been quite slow to actually adopt and embrace drone internally. I write this to emphasize that the media really has no stake in how the general public’s perception of drones will evolve in 2017. If someone maliciously flies their drone into an airplane engine and causes lives to be lost, the media will write about it. If all is peaceful and Dominos begins delivering pizzas via drones on a massive scale, guess what…the media will write about it.
So what’s the big deal bro?!
Part 107 was a monumental step forward in the UAV/sUAS/UAS industry. If nothing else, it sure altered my life in a substantial way (i.e. I became a drone pilot and am in the process of launching a commercial drone-content brokerage). And I’m sure a few more lives were affected as well.
But stepping back from how it personally affected me, now pretty much any US citizen 16 years of age and over can quite easily pay $150, study for and take a 60 question test, retake the test in 14 days if they don’t pass, and when they do pass, they can fly drones commercially. I think it’s harder to lose 15 lbs and keep the weight off for 6 months. You technically don’t even have to ever have flown a drone beforehand.
And…..…so?
The concern I have is twofold:
1) Despite becoming a commercial pilot being made so easy, it’s not common knowledge that if you’re a business, you open yourself up to legal risk AND hinder the positive evolution of the industry if you don’t work with a commercial pilot.
2) If recklessness within the industry is encouraged, public opinion can turn sour overnight when something goes wrong. This will lead to increased restrictions on commercial flight and thus, hinder industry growth and potentially interest in non-military drone usage.
I’m honestly not even worried about terrorism. I’m of the opinion that if a person is dead-set on causing harm and destruction, we shouldn’t focus too much on the tools they use, but stopping them and then understanding their intent/motivation.
Industry news organizations such as DIY Drones, sUAS News, Dronelife, My First Drone and countless others all do their part in promoting safety and industry growth, but the average person doesn’t frequent drone news sites; doesn’t subscribe to drone-related email newsletters and definitely doesn’t know who Drone Girl is.
I plan on writing more in-depth about the 2 concerns I mentioned above, but to avoid this post turning into a short novel, I’m summarizing the solutions I see helping alleviate said concerns.
(Apologies in advance for summaries that are not-so-brief)
1. It’s important to promote a strong distinction between hobby and commercial flying.
This is already being done at an industry and educational level, but the mainstream public needs to understand and appreciate this distinction.
I have a friend on Facebook who is a professional photographer. He’s been shooting for years and recently bought a Phantom 4. When he started putting up gorgeous night shots and time-lapses over roads, I didn’t want to say anything. Almost everyone starts off flying over a road or over people or within 5 miles from an airport before they know, understand and fully appreciate the rules. But recently, he started putting up prints for sale. This bothered me.
Now, you might be thinking I’m just bitter because I dished out $150 and had to take a test to get my Part 107 license and all he had to do was buy a drone, composite and grade the right photo to sell his prints. But that line of thinking misses the point. Making a little side money by selling prints illegally is a minor crime. But think about the other clients that might use his services. Do you think they know to check if he’s properly certified?
When you get in an Uber, you assume the person driving at least has a driver’s license. Uber must have checked, right? But who checks if a drone pilot is properly certified when selling his or her drone-captured media? Aside from the fact that I’m working on creating a company that does exactly that, to the best of my knowledge…no one except the FAA itself.
If no one cares, what’s the point of having regulation?
So if you’re in the industry, please keep promoting a strong distinction between flying for fun and flying for money.
And if you’re reading this as an outsider, please know that you can easily lookup any pilot’s certification via the handy online FAA Airman Inquiry site. All you need to do is submit who you are before you search. And all you need to know about the drone pilot you’re inquiring about is his/her last name.
FAA Airman Inquiry: https://amsrvs.registry.faa.gov/airmeninquiry/
2. For everyone’s sake, please follow the rules.
Look, I get it…sometimes it feels good to be bad. But this is not the time for it. The industry is just too nacent.
Laws differ in each country, but if you’re flying a drone that weighs between .55 and 55 lbs in the United States for fun, know the basics. If you’re a commercial drone pilot, you should know the basics and what a cumulus cloud is. So just don’t act like a dumbass…like this guy…
Or this guy…
And while night shots and cool time-lapse photos over roads definitely look awesome, are they really worth the risk? Can you imagine if you took your then new GoPro Karma out for its initial flight over a crowded intersection at dusk and it fell 386 feet, causing a 3 car pile-up?
I hate to be the concerned parent in the room…but I am concerned. If everything goes well, drones can revolutionize so many business and humanitarian operations in the upcoming decades. And public opinion is just starting to turn slightly positive in 2017.
It’s hard to overstate how lucky we are that the FAA made it easy to fly drones commercially. Having spoken to a number of industry insiders, the overwhelming consensus is that Part 107 is a strong step forward to enabling the industry to thrive. Yes, the restrictions are a bit tight in certain regards, but we’re talking about revolutionary machines that can fly 1,000’s of feet in the air with extreme precision.
And this is just the start. Let’s hope the incoming Trump administration doesn’t see small unmanned aircraft systems as an enemy.
Or maybe it’s still a total crap shoot and I’m just letting my bias sway my outlook. All it takes is one idiot to cause serious harm with a drone and we may never see those integral drone balconies ever come into existence.
(Please take my sarcasm with a grain of salt)
There are already too many irrational concerns that plague our society. Let’s not allow small unmanned aircraft systems become another shark or terrorist attack. You’re wayyyyyy more likely to get hit by a drunk driver…or choke on your delicious lunch.
