Pilots and Drones

Pilots and Drones

David Sparks Ph.D.
David Sparks Ph.D.
The Federal Aviation Administration recently announced its final rules governing commercial drone use across the country.  Ian Smith is the Business Development and Marketing Manager for DroneDeploy in San Francisco.  He said announcing the rules is a big step for the drone industry and potential users of the technology. If you're a certified pilot under part 61 rules, you just have to take an online test at FAA safety dot gov (www.faasafety.gov). If you are not a certified pilot, you'll have to take a test. "People who are not a certified pilot have to go take a written test at one of the 690 testing centers around the US and they will have to do it in person."

 

Not all of the new rules are ideal for agriculture. One of the new rules requires operators to keep the drone within their line of sight, but Smith said there's an approved way around that. "There is a really cool provision in there for actually operating from a moving vehicle.  you are allowed from ground or water vehicle in sparsely populated areas  and if the drone is not transporting property for compensation or hire, you can operate from a moving vehicle." 

The new FAA rules aren't in effect yet, but they're expected to become law sometime in late August.

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