I’m trying something new. Each week I’m going to recap my favorite stories from the past week as well as our discussion during the weekly live stream. I’ll fill in some of my opinions on the topics, throw an interview in here or there, and see where it goes from here. Hope you enjoy it.
New York City opening up to drone use
Since the product came on the scene, New York City has had a de facto ban on drones. The city law bans take-offs of aircraft that don’t use approved locations by the Department of Transportation or the Port Authority. That definition pretty much means only heliports or airports, which are impractical for any film crew or recreational pilot to use.
However, thanks to several factors, including a lawsuit by a film production company and the need to use drones for building facade surveys, New York is “opening up” the ability for drone operators to receive flight permits. However, the permits won’t be the easiest to get. No casual pilots will be getting the NYPD’s stamp of approval. Here’s what you’ll need in the application:
- Name and contact information
- Description of purpose for the flight
- Take-off date, time, and location
- Flight plan details
- Details of the drone you will be flying
- FAA authorizations (licenses, waivers, registration, etc.)
- Insurance policy
- Data privacy and cybersecurity policies
- Anything else the NYPD wants
Oh yeah, and this must be submitted 30 days before the “take-off.” A hearing for the change in city law is scheduled for July 7. I guess we’ll know more then. But is New York in the right for these sort of restrictions?
Well, yes and no in my opinoin. Are these laws constitutional? No idea. New York’s law is very well worded. It does not ban the flight of aircraft in its city. It just prohibits you from taking off or landing them. The law would have to be directly challenged in court with a final ruling for the precedent to be set on how other cities can regulate drones.
Also, like do I need to get approval for every take-off or just once for the whole project? Cause if I’m filming a multi-day event, that’s a lot of battery changes and is so unpredictable when you’ll have to land and take-off again.
How much regulation is too much?
Here is where my mind is split on drone regulation. Can you blame NYC for wanting to keep drone flights to as few as possible? You can argue your right to fly or right to capture events with your cameras, but you have to look at it from both sides. There are some idiot drone pilots out there.
In a city of almost 9 million, maybe having strict drone laws is a good thing? Now who that comes from, I think, is easy to answer, the FAA. Constitutionally the FAA has the authority to regulate airspace, no one else.
I’ve said this often on our YouTube streams, and I’ll say it again. In the right hands, drones can create beautiful things or save lives. But drones in the wrong hands can be very, very dangerous.
For us normie pilots out here that just want more places to fly, trust me, I’m with you, my city also has a similar ban to New York’s, and the best bet is to continue to be good pilots. We should continue to follow the laws, be active in our community, and hopefully be good stewards that open local officials up to friendlier regulations.
Or we all run for office, take over the FAA from the inside, and create a new drone world order. I’m joking, I’m joking… ish.
Will Chinese bans force US innovation?
Let’s talk about the hottest form of regulation going on in the US at the moment. There are several of these flying around, with plenty already in effect. Florida banned Chinese-made drones for its agencies earlier this year, and of course, there’s the DoD’s Blue UAS list.
There are more coming. The Senate is working on a bill that will ban the FAA from using federal funds to purchase drones from a list of countries, including China. Then, of course, there is the sentiment around anything Chinese being bad and must be banned, like TikTok.
If we want to see the future of bans on Chinese drones, we will have to see if TikTok’s regulatory issues succeed. Both have very similar qualities to them. Both arguments lack concrete evidence and rely on the Chinese fear of the people and “national security concerns.” Finally, they are both set up for some sort of legal challenge. TikTok’s bans are way more mainstream, and I suspect those will be challenged long before any Chinese drone law is.
We’ll have to wait and see what would come of any potential TikTok ban challenge, but if the ban sticks, then I can see the drone bans continuing. If TikTok’s ban can be challenged and overturned, then I don’t see why these Chinese bans couldn’t be challenged either.
But this could take a while, maybe years, and business has to continue. Many agencies forced to move to US-made drones have complained of limitations compared to those from China, like DJI.
Can the US market take advantage of the bans?
It’s time for the US drone sector to step up. The federal and some state governments have literally handed them dominance in the US market on a silver platter. Sadly, when governments spoon-feed success to companies, it usually doesn’t go over well. Is there another option?
Well, I have a hunch that instead of US companies stepping up and becoming powerhouses, the existing leaders might make the hop over the pond and set up shop here.
DJI is out of the question. Like Bytedance (TikTok’s parent company), DJI’s roots are in China and have too many ties there. Autel, on the other hand, could. Autel already has a US foothold through its automotive wing and wants to compete with DJI in the enterprise market. What better way to get ahead of DJI than doing what they cannot and embracing the US market and move?
Now I make it sound effortless, but I remember asking Autel CEO Maxwell Lee about it at CES this year, and he didn’t shoot it down right away. It didn’t sound like it was something he wanted to do, but he acknowledged it was possible.
Anyways, the regulation space is not a fast-paced one, so I’m sure we will have a chance to retouch this topic again.
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