Drone Air Traffic Control 2025

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Kyle.Sanders
Posts: 819
Joined: Sat Jan 18, 2014 5:13 pm

Drone Air Traffic Control 2025

Post by Kyle.Sanders »

Got this link from a shared post by the NATCA Facebook page:
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-d ... story.html
Kyle Sanders
Miniwebbs
Posts: 28
Joined: Sat Jun 04, 2016 1:45 am

Re: Drone Air Traffic Control 2025

Post by Miniwebbs »

I guess we will be seeing some real "drone traffic" on PilotEdge in the coming years haha :lol:
Amateur scenery developer and aviation enthusiast that hopes to be a pilot one day!

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Catch me making scenery live!: https://www.twitch.tv/miniwebbs
Kilstorm
Posts: 200
Joined: Sun Jan 19, 2014 7:38 am

Re: Drone Air Traffic Control 2025

Post by Kilstorm »

As a drone pilot, for a long time have made the feature request to add a TCAS to the DJI line of products. My drone transmits all kinds of info including battery temps, battery life, position and it also knows where it took off from. Since it is transmitting all this info, all you need is a receiver to pick it up which all pilots have with a screen showing a map. So what if I was able to see other drones that are within my range by seeing them on my map screen.

At special events like say the Rainbow Fleet Parade here on Nantucket https://vimeo.com/179765572 there is a small area to get the shot and as pilots avoiding all the footage traffic, we might take off and fly there like I do as oppose to launching from the site. This might cause a congested area and we never even know there are other drones in the area. So if I could see all the other drones, be able to click on them and see where they took off, I would have a great amount of info about the traffic in the area.
Nathan Palmer
Nantucket, MA
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zerofay32
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Location: Grove City, Ohio

Re: Drone Air Traffic Control 2025

Post by zerofay32 »

Since the FAA will most likely never remove the line-of-sight requirement, UAV TCAS is useless for single pilot ops. It would require too much 'heads down time' to be useful.

Personally, if one have trouble judging distances from objects or other vehicles, they shouldn't be operating in a congested environment (or operate under a commercial license but that's just my opinion of course).
Andrew Fay
PilotEdge V-3; CAT-11; I-11; Skyhigh 10
Commercial Pilot/Instrument ASEL/AMEL- KOSU / Commercial sUAS
Kilstorm
Posts: 200
Joined: Sun Jan 19, 2014 7:38 am

Re: Drone Air Traffic Control 2025

Post by Kilstorm »

zerofay32 wrote:Since the FAA will most likely never remove the line-of-sight requirement, UAV TCAS is useless for single pilot ops. It would require too much 'heads down time' to be useful.
The OP is an article about BVLOS and the FAA is already looking at BVLOS. http://www.expouav.com/news/latest/beyo ... egulation/ so I feel your comment about the FAA will most likely never remove the LOS requirement will be short lived.

I'm a little confused also about your statement of "It would require too much 'heads down time' to be useful." The LOS rule is a requirement that the pilot (or spotter) has the ability to see the drone, not that he must fly by LOS only. I couldnt even imagine a commercial UAV pilot that flys strictly by LOS and does not use a display as the footage would look horrible and a waste of time and money for the client.

There is no requirement that the pilot must be able to see the UAV in a manner to determine what side they are seeing or direction of flight it is going, only that it is within line of sight. A high intensity strobe attached to it will allow for well over 2 miles of range. All the FAA cares about is keeping drones away from aircraft and that drones dont cause damage to humans IMHO.
Nathan Palmer
Nantucket, MA
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zerofay32
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Joined: Tue Aug 19, 2014 8:34 am
Location: Grove City, Ohio

Re: Drone Air Traffic Control 2025

Post by zerofay32 »

Kilstorm wrote: There is no requirement that the pilot must be able to see the UAV in a manner to determine what side they are seeing or direction of flight it is going, only that it is within line of sight. A high intensity strobe attached to it will allow for well over 2 miles of range. All the FAA cares about is keeping drones away from aircraft and that drones dont cause damage to humans IMHO.
Sounds like you need to re-read part 107.31

§107.31 – Visual line of sight aircraft operation.
(a) With vision that is unaided by any device other than corrective lenses, the remote pilot in command, the visual observer (if one is used), and the person manipulating the flight control of the small unmanned aircraft system must be able to see the unmanned aircraft throughout the entire flight in order to:
(1) Know the unmanned aircraft's location;
(2) Determine the unmanned aircraft's attitude, altitude, and direction of flight;
(3) Observe the airspace for other air traffic or hazards; and
(4) Determine that the unmanned aircraft does not endanger the life or property of another.
(b) Throughout the entire flight of the small unmanned aircraft, the ability described in paragraph (a) of this section must be exercised by either:
(1) The remote pilot in command and the person manipulating the flight controls of the small unmanned aircraft system; or
(2) A visual observer.

Emphasis is mine.

I fly UAS for an aerial survey company. We use downlink video and telemetry to keep an eye on the UAV and sensor package but I would never let $15000 worth of equipment get so far away that I could not fly it visually. We have yet to encounter a mission that couldn't be completed with keeping VLOS (as per the regs ;) ).

Fixed wing ops is a different story and they will benefit the most from the beyond VLOS systems IF they ever get implemented.
Andrew Fay
PilotEdge V-3; CAT-11; I-11; Skyhigh 10
Commercial Pilot/Instrument ASEL/AMEL- KOSU / Commercial sUAS
Kilstorm
Posts: 200
Joined: Sun Jan 19, 2014 7:38 am

Re: Drone Air Traffic Control 2025

Post by Kilstorm »

Yeah my big take away with Part 107 in that aspect was that they werent forcing non-FPV...only that it had to remain in LOS which was a huge worry that they might prior to them making the regs. Of all the fines the FAA has imposed to UAV operators its all been involving reckless flying. Which is why I siad what I did. I was extremely disappointed when the FAA didnt go after that man in Kentucky for shooting down an "airplane" because it was a UAV. Kinda a double standard.

Heres a video of this mornings flight. Its in 4K for best playhback.
https://youtu.be/ZJmDJkrIHpo

I made it for the boat owner and crew.
Nathan Palmer
Nantucket, MA
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