Page 18 - Volume 20 No. 6

and that happens. So, be aware and be vigilant. As a pilot, it is in your and other pilots’ best interest to help educate drone operators. If you have hobbyists that are flying in the area, take a minute and stop and see what they are doing. It is not a time to lecture them about the “evils of drones”, it is an opportunity to talk to them about their interest and maybe share information from a pilot’s perspective.
Word of warning: I stopped to watch a First Person View (FPV) drone race, and couldn’t believe how much fun it was. I was able to get a demo view of the race from “inside the drone”; it was like I was in the drone. The warning is, it’s a blast and it can have an effect on your pocketbook (I recently ordered a race drone).
In the end, aviation is a small community and yet drones are part of it. And, yes, drones do present a risk to pilots. But instead of complaining about the drones, get involved and help educate the drone operators,
and maybe even help transition them to the next level – full-scale aircraft.
Okay, back to the reason I bring this up; there are and have been drone operators and model aircraft pilots flying as hobbyists all around the country for years. The model rules already tell them to stay below 400 feet, day-VFR.
list goes on, including law enforcement, search and rescue, research, surveyors and even claims adjustors.
What I am trying to get at is (and here is where the numbers come in), with the huge growth in drone usage, it won’t just be the modeler at the local model-aircraft field. It will be worldwide usage that can impact almost everyone wherever they fly. Remember, one company sells 15,000 a day! T&T
And there are commercial drone operators that have went through the process of getting the 333 Exemption and flying legally with a licensed pilot. And they hopefully will know and follow airspace rules.
And then there are those people that are flying wherever they want, whenever they want and at whatever altitude they want.
But, there’s more: Now there are power companies using drones to check their power lines. Oil and gas companies are using drones to make inspections on wells and pipe lines. Wind generator companies are using drones to inspect windmills. And the
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Scott “Sky” Smith is a nationally recognized writer and speaker.
He is the author of “How to Buy a Single-Engine Airplane”, How to buy a Skymaster”, “Ultimate Boat Maintenance Projects” and “How to Build a Hot Tuner”.
Smith is a single and multi-engine pilot with over 30 years’ experi- ence. Smith is the owner of Sky- Smith Insurance Agency, which is a nationally recognized specialty insurance agency, insuring air- craft, drones, boats and custom vehicles since 1985.
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16 • TWIN & TURBINE
JUNE 2016