This thread is nuts...

I fly "drones" for a living. We refer to them as Remotely Piloted Vehicles (RPVs) because the word "drone" is completely inaccurate. Being careful with where and why we are flying these unmanned aircraft is VERY wise. Disaster relief, port surveillance and border patrol are three good uses for these long endurance, unmanned aircraft. Drug interdiction and searching for illegal manufacturing facilities and "farming" are debateable since there is no "just cause" to search your property.

A licensed "for hire" business flying unmanned aircraft to make money is one thing there has to be sensible regulations for, or people not well trained in aviation rules and regulations will be sharing the "friendly skies" with manned aircraft. Not good.

Second, a hobbiest should NEVER be going beyond line of sight, even with FPV aircraft and a safety pilot (every FPV pilot uses a safety pilot and a buddy box, right?) no matter the capability of their equipment.

Third, the mere fact we are discussing this partially is because of the people taking snaps from 1000 feet up in the traffic pattern for airports like LAX...looking DOWN on airliners...or flying over heavily populated cities and taking snaps of bridges.

As a full scale pilot and a UAV/RPA/Drone/whatever pilot, I've been lucky that we can still depend on the "big sky theory."

A well known club in the Eastern Virginia area does not call the tower of a prominent airport less than 4 miles away when they fly, and they fly well over 400 feet AGL on a regular basis. Much like other sensitive issues, if we JUST FOLLOW EXISTING RULES we'd be fine and no public intervention would be necessary.

I only step into discussions like this to state some opinions from a guy who actually flies these things... in the hope that someone is watching who can make a difference directly with the AMA, Congress and FAA.

I also belong to the one organization striving to help the AMA negotiate with the Feds, the Jet Pilot's Organization...consider supporting them if you get a chance.

Great discussion, btw.