So You Think You’re Going to Wait Out the FAA?

So You Think You’re Going to Wait Out the FAA?

There are literally thousands of people over the years that thought the same. Some lost a few thousand, others the whole enchilada, including their marriages, separation from their kids, and so on. There are only a few stories in the naked city, and the “stuff” gets real when you aren’t on the public dole with a fat pension on the other end. If you’ve got the DC pay differential and the federal pension with health insurance, the end-users’ fate is of little consequence to you.

We’ve been promised the potential of drones both economically being $82 billion or more. Saving the world’s precious resources and ending hunger by making farming more efficient. It is the downside of 2019 that I still can’t get my Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman DVDs or a stinking burrito delivered by drone. Amazon’s Jeff Bezos predicted 5 years ago that this was going to happen.

Were the visionaries that far off the mark, or were they listening to fools? I’m going with the latter because I know the fools to whom they were listening. Those fools are some of the same gaggle that ruined the US drone industry for the rest of us through their hubris and vanity.. Some of the same SMEs believed and told clients and bosses that when Part 107
was finalized, they’d be able to do whatever they wanted. Not a fantasy, but more of a flim-flam. Not going as far as a con, since it is hard to be clueless and pull off a decades-long ploy.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/videos/inside-jeff-bezos-prediction-for-amazon-drone-delivery/vp-BBRnGBt

I guess old Jeff decided Amazon would just go with the technological, low-hanging fruit of reusable rockets and commercial space instead?

Most of the consultants and lobbyists can keep the drone-delivery gravy train alive by going along with the old “safety of the NAS,” and “It’s hard” saws. These “advocates” and “experts” actually reinforce the notion, since it buys them more years of income at the gilded trough of enlightenment.

It looks like the over people problem might be fixed with the ex-FAA administrator on the board of ParaZero? Imagine that, even without the pesky LE requirement of Remote ID (RID). Now, all we have to do is find a BVLOS company with a position open for him on their board, and then maybe we won’t have to wait for 10-years-plus for full NAS integration?

For reader reference:

The UASIO, serves as an interface between the UAS community and FAA. So, the way it works is:

UAS pilots and pilot operations – Flight Standards (AFS)
UAS vehicle airworthiness – Aircraft Certification (AIR)
Integration into NAS for ATC operations – Air Traffic Safety Oversight (AOV)
This is the same as it would be for manned aircraft, The UASIO was carved out of AFS, to deal with the unique and emerging issues that come with UAS.


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Patrick Egan

Editor in Field, sUAS News Americas Desk | Patrick Egan is the editor of the Americas Desk at sUAS News and host and Executive Producer of the sUAS News Podcast Series, Drone TV and the Small Unmanned Systems Business Exposition. Experience in the field includes assignments with the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command Battle Lab investigating solutions on future warfare research projects. Instructor for LTA (Lighter Than Air) ISR systems deployment teams for an OSD, U.S. Special Operations Command, Special Surveillance Project. Built and operated commercial RPA prior to 2007 FAA policy clarification. On the airspace integration side, he serves as director of special programs for the RCAPA (Remote Control Aerial Photography Association).