Folks in Massachusetts hate drones
A friend decided to purchase a more advanced avionics suite than a combination of what is in an Airbus A380, a Boeing 787, and a Gulfstream G650. In other words, he has a DJI drone.
We went around our local town asking the Millionaires Who Hate Trump if they would mind if we flew the drone near their property. One hundred percent of the people with whom we talked refused to permit the operation. The only people who were polite and accommodating were the Tower controllers at Hanscom Field, one of the busier airports in the U.S. (more than 300 operations per day). These are the folks who actually do own and control the airspace in question.
In addition to being awed by the DJI technology, I learned that folks in Massachusetts seem to hate drones!
Supposedly the FAA, not the states or local authorities, regulates airspace. I wonder if the fix will be to make it an illegal human activity (“no human is illegal,” of course, but humans may still engage in illegal activities?) to control a drone while standing on the ground. This will motivate folks to bring back Google Glass and control the drone without an obvious rig?
Readers: If you have a drone, what have you observed? As the U.S. population expands to densities formerly known only in China, will we have to give up our drones to keep Americans from killing each other? (Second Amendment guarantees that people will have guns, but drones are optional!)
Related:
- “Is Flying a Drone Illegal? A Comprehensive Guide to America’s Drone Laws”
- article on a North Carolina law outlawing flying drones near prisons (how can this be a valid law if the FAA has exclusive authority to regulate airspace? how is it consistent with the First Amendment? What if a news site wants to show a video of life in the American Gulag? The particular law is only for the last 250′ AGL, but it still seems to be in conflict with established doctrine regarding the FAA.)