FAA new proposals for night flying

[slick]

FAA Proposes More Commercial Drone Operations at Night and Over People

 

[PatR]

Draft of NPRM

 

[Phaedrus]

Going to take awhile before this happens. This is a draft NPRM. They'll have to finalize it, issue that actual NPRM, have the comment period, address the comments and then issue a final rule. Then we'll have to wait for manufacturers to develop and certify compliant aircraft (for flights over people). Lastly all of this is contingent upon implementation of remote ID, which we have not even seen a draft NPRM for yet.

And so there is no confusion this applies to Part 107 pilots/operation only. It does not apply to Recreational sUAS operations.

My best guess is this is 12 to 18 months out from full implementation. But it is a nice step in the right direction.

 

[PatR]

If we were to use Part 107 as a sample that timeline might end up a bit over 30 months.

 

[Phaedrus]

I was being overly optimistic. I think you may be closer to right. Of course, these are tweaks, not an entirely new addition to the FARs

 

[PatR]

True but I think we’ll see a lot of resistance from the ranks of full scale pilots. Once the active NPRM is released for comment drone operators of all kinds will be needed to sit down and put coherent thoughts on the subject, devoid of emotion, to paper or Word document for submittal and review.

There’s a lot of benefit to this proposal but there will still be a need for qualification and restriction. It can’t be a one way street without speed limits and have any hope of passage.

One easy suggestion would be incorporating a hard altitude “floor” for manned aviation unless taking off or landing. Helicopters flying at low altitudes put themselves at higher risk when operating in the altitudes we are limited to, and night flight further increases that risk. If such a floor was incorporated the need for remote ID would be significantly reduced, allowing implementation of drone night flights much sooner.

 

[Phaedrus]

I don't think we'll ever see the FAA do much in the way of altering manned aircraft operations to accommodate sUAS operations. I believe very strongly that the FAA views us very much as secondary users. It is on us to accommodate manned aircraft operations, not the other way around. It will always be on us to see and avoid and not interfere with manned aircraft.

With AOPA, ALPA, various helicopter groups, and major deep pocket commercial groups lined up against us I think we will always get the short end of the stick.

 

[PatR]

I tend to agree.