What You Need to Know About Drone Safety

I was recently interviewed for an article in Farm Journal's AgWeb about liability issues surrounding drone usage. Author Ben Potter does a nice job of discussing these issues and others that might arise from drone flights on the farm:

Randall Adkins, a precision farming specialist for Scott Equipment in Louisiana, has been researching several models of rotor drones over the past several months. On this clear spring day, he’s assembling his first fixed-wing model.

"I got a cheaper fixed-wing model so when I crash it, I don’t cry," he says. "One thing I know for sure – this thing’s going to be painted orange."

Continue reading at AgWeb: What You Need to Know About Drone Safety

Are Drones Legal as "Hobby" Aircraft?

The prevalence of drone flights on farms and in other remote locations has apparently caused some real concern at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).  There are court cases pending to determine whether current drone usage is legal (from both a regulatory standpoint and a First Amendment standpoint--more on that in future posts), and new FAA regulations are expected in 2015 integrating drone use into U.S. airspace.  But in the meantime, many farmers are taking to the skies--either believing drones are already legal or believing no one will notice or care.

The main reason I hear explaining why drones are legal in the US is that they are essentially "model" or "hobby" aircraft. I thought it was worth digging into the legal basis for this claim. Here's what I found.