Did you get your drone license?

Just wondering if you, @jonobacon, ever did get a drone? If so, are you going to get it licensed?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/drone-registry-faa-transportation_56252b3ce4b08589ef4842f6

Is this a good thing?

I don’t see how this is actually going to solve the problems that bad drone pilots create. Not every drone has a GPS module or tracking device to determine when it’s going into restricted airspace. If this becomes a requirement, it could kill off the hobbyist drone fanbase really quickly.

I went out with a pal of mine to do some drone flying this weekend. We found ourselves an unoccupied sportsball field at a local high school, and flew his custom built FPV drone and my little Hubsan until rain chased us out. I’m just getting into the hobby, and have been building up a shopping list for a FPV build of my own. These types of regulations would likely make his drone illegal - it would be too easy to detach any identifying marks that the “license” for his quad requires, and it would be impossible to enforce any type of GPS tracking device since the craft itself is basically a silicon and carbon fiber sandwich set up for easy modification. I’d hate to see this hobby get legislated out of existence because of a few reckless folks endangering others.

I fully support shooting these devices out of the sky if they encroach on restricted airspace - its not a good move if you endanger a plane full of people to fly a remote controlled aircraft. A common sense test for pilots before purchase might be more effective than licensing, though.

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As a (fairly low time) private pilot, I am all in support of greater regulation of drones. In the latest UK airprox report, 25% of all near misses involved remotely piloted aircraft. It’s not even just about planes full of people or restricted airspace although those are what grab the headlines; sooner or later a Cessna and a drone are going to find themselves occupying the same bit of sky.

I admit I kind of rolled my eyes when @jonobacon admitted to (nearly?) landing his drone on his neighbour’s car.

That said, I tend to agree that this initiative by itself isn’t likely to solve the problem. Education of drone pilots is what’s needed. I wonder if this is a pragmatic policy i.e. get something in quickly so at least legislators have a handle on what’s being sold where, with possibly more regulation to follow in due course.

[EDIT]
Just saw this bit at the bottom: “operators will have to pay for and take a knowledge test to receive a certificate”. So that’s coming along too. Sounds good to me.
[/EDIT]

I would say that this percentage has changed significantly with the promotion of drones of youtube.

https://gfycat.com/gifs/detail/ScarceTightCentipede