Originally Posted by
bruceal
If the FPV aircraft is flown within the boundaries of the flying site, that would be one thing. However, who is going to police people to make sure that they are within bounds when no one else is there. The temptation to fly over a park or golf course is a big one. It's just human nature to push limits. I also don't know many people who want to invest in FPV to just fly in the pattern. In one case, another area club had a member flying 2 1/2 miles away over a golf course. He was being spotted by his father who was using binoculars. I'm not saying that all FPV users would do this, but again in our case one time would be the last time. My stance is that not all flying sites can accommodate all types of aircraft.
Some good points there. I also agree with the poster than stated "how to you ensure
any safety rules are followed?
The point I am making is that flying FPV responsibily, within the AMA guidelines and within the normal confines of your flying site, simply does not seem to be something that needs to be outlawed. I see another posters point that most people will likely not invest in FPV and want to fly in the confines of a normal field. However, ay my club field, we have a couple of people that do just that. Not causing a problem at all.
My club operates three club owned trainers and gives free flight instruction one day a week to the public. This winter, we are upgrading one of them and adding an FPV system and some flight stabilization equipment and will offer training in FPV as well, in a responsible way within the AMA guidelines.
I do respect the right of any club to set safety rules as they see fit and I can complete agree that many club fields cannot accomodate
unlimited FPV. I would hope a club that I was a member of would outlaw only the part of the activity that would create an issue and not outlaw the entire activity in one fell swoop. We all must exercise a little self discipline at the club field and FPV operations are no different.
I know of a club or two that decided that 2.4 radios were not safe when they were introduced and they outlawed them. Seems foolish now. Other clubs outlawed lipo batteries as they were simply too dangerous to be allowed at the flying field....
.