CNN gets permission to test drones for news gathering


Ronan

Member
Not a step forward when it's a giant business that get's the green light. Nothing new about that, money talks.

What about John Doe and his small 2 man business trying to do the same thing?...
 

Bartman

Welcome to MultiRotorForums.com!!
Not a step forward when it's a giant business that get's the green light. Nothing new about that, money talks.

What about John Doe and his small 2 man business trying to do the same thing?...

That's a reasonable question to ask Ronan but the 2-man businesses in the US are going to need to fall in behind an organization that is capable of representing them.

Representation is a very complicated term though in that it requires advocacy and possibly even conflict to reach one's goals. While there are plenty of groups popping up here and there claiming to offer "representation" most are trying to be service companies that will sell services to sUAS companies while never putting their own business interests at risk.

A company that organizes marketing materials for an sUAS based business isn't "representation"
A company that keeps an index of members for others to search isn't "representation"
A company that offers training on how to assemble and operate sUAS isn't "representation".

Representation means getting access to the process by which regulations are being formed. It means advocating on behalf of members to make sure the regulations are meaningful and can be reasonably managed. Representation means fighting until the fight is over and not just sitting at the table taking what you're given.

The bitter pill everyone has to recognize is that this won't come for free and that sooner or later we all need to come together behind whichever group proves themselves most worthy and that at that time we'll have to pony up whatever fee is necessary to enable this group to go forth and fight on our behalf.

The FAA won't give a second thought to our needs if we can't unite behind a professional association capable of sitting at the table and functioning as part of a group while also advocating for the needs of its members.

This is a simple truth that our community must begin to accept.
 
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Old Man

Active Member
Bart,

That was on the edge of being a shot across a bow. There are some trying to organize the small operators and they are indeed seriously underfunded. One of them is looking for ways to generate revenue for political activities without directly charging a membership or selling ad space, which could eventually generate a conflict of interest.

IMO there is almost nobody looking out for the small guy right now. The big outfits appear to me to be totally focused on serving the highest bidders and unless one can contribute more to the fund than the established players the only thing on the table for us is scraps. I'll post some data a bit later that indicates what we're looking at for equipment certification, which all the high dollar orgs haven't been telling people about.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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Bartman

Welcome to MultiRotorForums.com!!
Not at all Pat....

I should have more to report by the end of the week also
 

Old Man

Active Member
Bart,

I had totally misread your intent, and sorry about that but it provided another opportunity for us to link up in a voice call again, which I always look forward to. Great talking with you again today. It's always a pleasure when I get to speak with someone like yourself. Our thoughts run along very similar lines and I'm looking forward to the next chance we get to do it again:)

I found the link I was looking for referencing the integration development process. It's a long read but the mention of what and who we are as MR operators and businesses relative to sUAS in the grand scheme of things is very small. That causes me no little amount of concern.
https://www.faa.gov/about/office_or.../agi/reports/media/UAS_Comprehensive_Plan.pdf
 

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