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There's hope for my drone - The FAA makes provisional drones ruling

So finally the FAA has released its take on how to regulate the commercial use of drones or unmanned aircraft on USA territory. It's mostly good news although, some companies (like Amazon) will not be too happy. The gist of the rules are as follows (copied from here):

  • Unmanned aircraft must weigh less than 55 lbs. (25 kg).
  • Visual line-of-sight (VLOS) only; the unmanned aircraft must remain within VLOS of the operator or visual observer.
  • At all times the small unmanned aircraft must remain close enough to the operator for the operator to be capable of seeing the aircraft with vision unaided by any device other than corrective lenses.
  • Small unmanned aircraft may not operate over any persons not directly involved in the operation.
  • Proposes a microUAS option that would allow operations in Class G airspace, over people not involved in the operation, provided the operator certifies he or she has the requisite aeronautical knowledge to perform the operation.
  • Daylight-only operations (official sunrise to official sunset, local time).
  • Maximum airspeed of 100 mph (87 knots).
  • Maximum altitude of 500 feet above ground level.

The only thing that might not be coherent with the CAA draft proposal, is the requirement of RPL (remotely piloted license). The FAA has requested for feedback and comments on these regulations and we hope that Aviation authorities in African continents will follow suit once guys like us come along with our little 'demons of the skies'

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