Drone dealer

The FAA rules with respect to drones is nonexistent. The only "regulation/requirement" is that you keep the drone in sight. How they can find out whether or not you do remains to be seen. More info here...
http://rgl.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Guidance_Library/rgAdvisoryCircular.nsf/0/1acfc3f689769a56862569e70077c9cc/$FILE/ATTBJMAC/ac91-57.pdf

Have a great weekend. B-)

Actually there is more to it than that. Besides being kept in sight, I believe there is a maximum altitude (I think 400' above ground), etc. Most importantly a recent ruling says no commercial use. That means you can take pics for your own enjoyment but you can't use them for your business or sell them. There was a recent article by Frank Willis (POB I think) where he talked about using them but no more because of these recent rulings by FAA.

You are correct about the 400’. The FAA is going to have fun enforcing that considering their budget and more pressing issues. It will probably take a drone causing loss of life for them to really crack down. I have a Parrot AR 2 drone, the manufacturers of which have just released a $129 GPS module which allows you to program a flight and have the drone automatically fly it. Fun stuff for under $600. Of course now that I have the Parrot I want a better one but SWMBO say’s “it ain’t gonna happen”. So it’s back to the wireless ip security camera hobby!

Have a great weekend! B-)

I don't know why something like the Parrot AR 2 would be considered a "drone". Without the GPS add-on you mentioned, it's a remote controlled helicopter with a short range. To me, the Gatewing is a "Drone", since it reaches FAA flight limits, takes off and lands by itself, flies a pre-planned route without assistance, can fly beyond sight distance, can't be corrected once it takes off to avoid a collision, etc. But a quad copters with limited line of sight controls should fall under the same rules that allows hobbyists to fly remote controlled planes within strict limitations... whether they are used for commercial purposes, or not.

I read about a guy who had a business that mostly consisted of taking unique aerial photographs of houses for real estate listings. I can't imagine he exceeded 200' very often, but the FAA shut him down. I agree, if you are using something like a Gatewing, more strict regulations need to be hashed out. But when it comes to these quadcopters, does the FAA really believe that professionals who use the equipment everyday are more dangerous than hobbyists?

I was sent this link yesterday: aeromapper-x5

One person here is bugging me to assist him with purchasing this plane (he does not speak English) and he wants me to do some research on it. I was wondering if anyone here have been using this drone, would be great to get some feedback. He wants mapping accurasy 5-10 cm.

That 1981 circular has been updated saying stay five miles away from airports.

Somewhere at www.diydrones.com, you might find it.

In the DC/VA/MD area, I am sure Autometric has what is called stock photography -- rectified and
unrectified aerial photography of large areas. I have known surveyors who buy stock photography,
go set their control with GPS, and rectify the photography. I do not if they have a drone or a large
aircraft for acquiring their images.

If you solicit aerial drone photography or sell drugs, I am sure you are going to get caught.
For example, Woolpert has let the public know that they have a drone, they could get shut down.

If I go to a photogrammetrist in Texas who advertises stock photography, I do not know if he is
using his Cessna or his Gatewing to acquire the images. By the same token, if the FAA shuts down
ABC Drone Photography, future jobs could be subcontracted to a more discreet drone shop.

When it comes to the law, I follow it; I do live on the edge.

I would recommend renting any expensive drone package that includes the plane or copter, flight-planning software,
and post-processing software. In the US, many farmers and small photography shops are building their own drones.

Good Luck!!!

My interpretation of the FAA Drone Policy is that they can't be used for commercial purposes. For private use, not commercial use, they can be flown up to 400 feet as long as they are more than 5 miles from an airport.

I still fly mine all the time for demonstrations and educational purposes and just for my own fun/research. I have held seminars in many states for surveyors and engineers. I brought my drones and flew them.

Turnout for the seminars was great. When the attendees saw some of the new close-range photogrammetric techniques that are little known, they were shocked at the accuracy. This is far more than just geo-referencing the photos. I went outside and flew the drone for a brief flight and mapped took about 100 photos during the flight and returned to the classroom and processed all the date real-time right there in class using some sophisticated software installed on my laptop and got 3D measurements all for all kinds of things. Went back out in field and checked them, and class was impressed with the accuracy of the computed ortho photos and the 3d models. I don't think FAA regulates them for voluntary educational flights.

This thing looks suspiciously similar to the Gatewing X100 We have been looking at these type of drones for a while now, and done some demos and experimentation. The problem with getting the precision you're looking for is the number of surveyed photo targets that you need to adjust the photo data properly.

> I was sent this link yesterday: aeromapper-x5
>
> One person here is bugging me to assist him with purchasing this plane (he does not speak English) and he wants me to do some research on it. I was wondering if anyone here have been using this drone, would be great to get some feedback. He wants mapping accurasy 5-10 cm.

At the sake of appearing to promote, I'm going to embed this video, which compares drone to conventional laser scanning and gps. I'm not sure what model it is.

[flash width=420 height=315]//www.youtube.com/v/wLrU8ln8IuI?hl=en_US&version=3[/flash]