Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

New U.S. FAA rule requires drone owners to register by Feb 19

reuters.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 245 posts

Re: New U.S. FAA rule requires drone owners to register by Feb 19

#21

Post by smackfu »

loeber wrote: post #17
Someone1234 wrote: post #5

What surprises me is is the minimum weight requirement: 250 grams. That's well below a weight that could reasonably be considered a danger to aircraft or people. Just for comparison purposes, a McDonald's Big Mac weighs 215-240 grams without wrapper, so with a wrapper if you turned a Big Mac into a drone, it would likely require registration. The real question is, what is their endgame here? Just send out notificatio…

Suppose a 250g drone fails mid-air, hypothetically at a height of 100m, and falls freely. At terminal velocity, it's a lethal projectile. Have no illusions about the damage that can be done by small things falling from a great height, or travelling at a high speed in general. The 250g weight is entirely reasonable -- I would actually claim that it is quite generous.

Heh, they actually do that calculation in the task force report, from the max allowed height.

Re: New U.S. FAA rule requires drone owners to register by Feb 19

#22

Post by god_bless_texas »

Someone1234 wrote: post #5

What surprises me is is the minimum weight requirement: 250 grams. That's well below a weight that could reasonably be considered a danger to aircraft or people. Just for comparison purposes, a McDonald's Big Mac weighs 215-240 grams without wrapper, so with a wrapper if you turned a Big Mac into a drone, it would likely require registration. The real question is, what is their endgame here? Just send out notificatio…

A half pound is enough to damage something when you're going 150 mph. I have seen bird strikes that were in that weight range and blew out a windshield.

I imagine the FAA is going to find out how many people in the United States are unable and unwilling to put up with their more onerous requirements. I think it will begin a real conversation through Congress about whether or not "The FAA has jurisdiction on everything above the surface of the earth". The reason they won't implement rules about flying indoors is not because they are nice guys, but because they cannot have a legislative opinion written that supports this as an area they can control.

Re: New U.S. FAA rule requires drone owners to register by Feb 19

#24

Post by peter303 »

Someone1234 wrote: post #5

What surprises me is is the minimum weight requirement: 250 grams. That's well below a weight that could reasonably be considered a danger to aircraft or people. Just for comparison purposes, a McDonald's Big Mac weighs 215-240 grams without wrapper, so with a wrapper if you turned a Big Mac into a drone, it would likely require registration. The real question is, what is their endgame here? Just send out notificatio…

Force is porportional is the square of velocity. The standard must anticipate FAST drones, not just their weight.

Re: New U.S. FAA rule requires drone owners to register by Feb 19

#25

Post by nqzero »

loeber wrote: post #17
Someone1234 wrote: post #5

What surprises me is is the minimum weight requirement: 250 grams. That's well below a weight that could reasonably be considered a danger to aircraft or people. Just for comparison purposes, a McDonald's Big Mac weighs 215-240 grams without wrapper, so with a wrapper if you turned a Big Mac into a drone, it would likely require registration. The real question is, what is their endgame here? Just send out notificatio…

Suppose a 250g drone fails mid-air, hypothetically at a height of 100m, and falls freely. At terminal velocity, it's a lethal projectile. Have no illusions about the damage that can be done by small things falling from a great height, or travelling at a high speed in general. The 250g weight is entirely reasonable -- I would actually claim that it is quite generous.

guess we should start regulating rocks that weigh more than 250g too then ...

Re: New U.S. FAA rule requires drone owners to register by Feb 19

#26

Post by didgeoridoo »

threeseed wrote: post #15
yc1010 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So now people have to register toys they own.... The anger you are feeling is the screws being tightened a little tighter. Everything nowadays is regulated, controlled and monitored, we in the west are not free, especially in "the land of the free" And some beuracrat(s) at FAA just guaranteed themselves job security for long time

Except that they aren't toys. They are flying blades and we've already seen situations in which they have interfered with lives/property being saved. And if you are so angry at regulation then go and live in China. I would highly recommend Beijing this time of year. Just remember to breath in deep and taste the freedom.

For the record: you are holding up China, a communist dictatorship, as a shining example of free markets and lack of regulation.

...I guess it's an improvement from the similarly-logical "go live in Somalia" meme.

Re: New U.S. FAA rule requires drone owners to register by Feb 19

#27

Post by soylentcola »

Someone1234 wrote: post #5

What surprises me is is the minimum weight requirement: 250 grams. That's well below a weight that could reasonably be considered a danger to aircraft or people. Just for comparison purposes, a McDonald's Big Mac weighs 215-240 grams without wrapper, so with a wrapper if you turned a Big Mac into a drone, it would likely require registration. The real question is, what is their endgame here? Just send out notificatio…

Guess I need to go weigh my cheap little toy quad. Pretty sure it's lighter than that but I'd rather not deal with any fines if somehow I'm playing around with it in the park and the quad-cops get a complaint.

Either that or I may just stop flying it and wait until I eventually (someday, dammit!) get around to building that little 250 racer I keep price-shopping parts for.

Re: New U.S. FAA rule requires drone owners to register by Feb 19

#28

Post by tomswartz07 »

yc1010 wrote: post #7
Glyptodon wrote: post #3

Somehow this really angers me.

So now people have to register toys they own.... The anger you are feeling is the screws being tightened a little tighter. Everything nowadays is regulated, controlled and monitored, we in the west are not free, especially in "the land of the free" And some beuracrat(s) at FAA just guaranteed themselves job security for long time

The only requirement is the weight.

Yes, if your 'toy' is over the minimum weight, then it has to be registered.

However, there are a great number of inexpensive toy drones that are less than $100 and fall below the weight requirement. See the Cheerson CX-10: http://www.amazon.com/Bestpriceam-Cheerson-Cx-10-Quadcopter-...

If you want to avoid having to deal with the registration, then purchase a toy that doesn't have the ability to hurt someone.

Re: New U.S. FAA rule requires drone owners to register by Feb 19

#29

Post by [deleted] »

threeseed wrote: post #15
yc1010 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So now people have to register toys they own.... The anger you are feeling is the screws being tightened a little tighter. Everything nowadays is regulated, controlled and monitored, we in the west are not free, especially in "the land of the free" And some beuracrat(s) at FAA just guaranteed themselves job security for long time

Except that they aren't toys. They are flying blades and we've already seen situations in which they have interfered with lives/property being saved. And if you are so angry at regulation then go and live in China. I would highly recommend Beijing this time of year. Just remember to breath in deep and taste the freedom.

[deleted]

Re: New U.S. FAA rule requires drone owners to register by Feb 19

#30

Post by Someone1234 »

omni wrote: post #8
Someone1234 wrote: post #5

What surprises me is is the minimum weight requirement: 250 grams. That's well below a weight that could reasonably be considered a danger to aircraft or people. Just for comparison purposes, a McDonald's Big Mac weighs 215-240 grams without wrapper, so with a wrapper if you turned a Big Mac into a drone, it would likely require registration. The real question is, what is their endgame here? Just send out notificatio…

I was under the impression that pretty much anything getting sucked into a jet turbine is a major problem, can anyone speak to whether that's true? Birds don't weigh a lot either, but run into one and you could have a major problem on your hands.

> I was under the impression that pretty much anything getting sucked into a jet turbine is a major problem, can anyone speak to whether that's true?

Definitely untrue. Air, water, and particulates get sucked in all of the time, it doesn't cause a "major problem."

It really boils down to mass and in some cases chemical makeup. Smaller birds get sucked in all the time, and often don't even damage the fan blades. Whereas a couple of Canadian Geese could clog up an engine causing it to stop.

While the news likes to drum beat about large commercial aircraft, it is "unlikely" that a drone could be a real threat. It is more smaller single engine aircraft and helicopters that are at risk from drones flying into them (in particular during take-off/landing).

Larger drones definitely need some kind of moderation. But as I said above 250g is too small, a pigeon weighs over 350g by comparison. How are you going to regulate them?!

PS - I actually fully support regulating pigeons, those things need to be taken down a peg or two.

Post reply on HN