Eric Brooks

Briggs
English 2010
2/24/2015

Lightweight Future
Five hundred feet above the streets, I listen to the rotor blades rip
through the undisturbed air, FWAP FWAP FWAP. I look down at traffic as I
blaze my own path, uncontrolled by the city grid, towards Park City. I begin to
climb at a steady rate to achieve the altitude needed to cross over the East
Ridgeline, also known as the benches. A call is received over the radio from
air traffic control (ATC), helicopter 206GH traffic three oclock; type
unknown. With a heightened sense of alertness I begin to scan the area and
find the Traffic. Responding to the tower with having traffic in sight, I
describe the unknown object as a small remote controlled aircraft and
confirms I will keep visual separation. ATC acknowledges the call, I look at
the aircraft with interest. This is my new competition, a small, lightweight,
affordable means of flight.

Although drones have been used for many years now in military
operations as well as by hobbyist recreation, the civilian use commercially is
still in new and uncharted territory. After crossing over the benches just east
of Salt Lake City, a conversation begins between myself and my flight
instructor, Kevin, on how the future might look with the implementation of
drones. We both agreed that if and when drones are allowed to be flown for
commercial purposes, (for the purpose of making money) then many jobs
that are directed towards helicopter flight will be obsolete. We discussed the
potential for jobs such as, site surveys, photo flights, crop dusting,
firefighting, bird chasing, banner towing and search and rescue to be
replaced. Many of these have already been replaced in other countries with
less airspace guidelines than the United States.
Now flying over Parleys summit, the lowest crossover point along the
Wasatch Front, the conversation continues regarding implementation of
safety factors that are already in place and should be in place in the future of
this new generation of flight. We may have seen the drone earlier that day,
but never saw the person flying it. Did he see us? These are unknown
factors, and quite scary ones. If the control tower had not warned us of an
unknown obstruction in our path, the possibility of a midair collision was
extremely high. We decided that it would be safest if regulations controlled
the height at which these small aircraft were flown at. If they exceeded that
elevation, contact with a controlling agency would be mandatory and
maintained throughout operations, just like any other aircraft in the space.

We have now made our way over Park City looking down at all the
ski/snowboarders. Kevin brings up a buddy of his who is a video editor and
has his own personal drone, like the one shown in the picture above, the
price tag of which was around fifteen hundred dollars for the drone and
camera. To put that into perspective, the cost of my training flight that day is
twice the price of his setup. Kevins friend has a ton of footage you can find
on YouTube showcasing what kind of video/ pictures you can get with the new
age technology. He currently makes his living operating his small,
inexpensive drone. Hearing this gets me excited but I also am aware that his
operations are not legal yet.
About one hour into our flight we have burned almost two hundred and
forty pounds of fuel. That is roughly two hundred dollars in fuel, and we are
only half way through our flight. The topic of efficacy sparks. The phantom
drone flys for roughly twenty minutes before having to recharge, which
takes about an hour. Having three charged batteries, and rotating them
through the charging cycle, would give you the same flight time we have just
accomplished. If I was a photographer and wanted to get an aerial photo of
a location, hiring a person with a drone seems a lot more affordable than
hiring a helicopter and pilot, flying to the spot instead of driving, and burning
much more fuel. At this point, I had started to reconsider my career path.
Flying such an expensive aircraft no longer made sense with the new
developing technology.

I was bummed two years of my life seemed to be wasted in an instant,

another career outsourced, it had seemed. I expressed my concern to Kevin
and he agreed but had heard the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
wanted to put restrictions on commercially flown drones, requiring their
operators to still obtain a private pilots license, and possibly even a
commercial license. I was once again excited. I could possibly be part of this
new evolution, instead of being pushed out of it. I could not wait to get back
on the ground to start researching the topic and where it was headed, even
possibly buy my own drone. The next hour of our flight was full of practicing
maneuvers and less talking, but the topic remained on my mind. As we flew
back through Parleys Canyon, the drone we had flown by on our outbound
flight was no longer buzzing around. Clearance with Salt Lake International
Airport was obtained, with no issue, and our flight was terminated back at
the airport.
The FAA is currently issuing experimental airworthiness certificates
The FAA has received 342 requests for exemptions from commercial entities
and individuals.
Proposed Rules
A small UAS operator must always see and avoid manned aircraft. If there is
a risk of collision, the UAS operator must be the first to maneuver away.
The operator must discontinue the flight when continuing would pose a
hazard to other aircraft, people or property.

A small UAS operator must assess weather conditions, airspace restrictions

and the location of people to lessen risks if he or she loses control of the
UAS.
A small UAS may not fly over people, except those directly involved with the
flight.
Flights should be limited to 500 feet altitude and no faster than 100 mph.
Operators must stay out of airport flight paths and restricted airspace areas,
and obey any FAA Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFRs).

FAA proposed rules

https://www.faa.gov/news/press_releases/news_story.cfm?newsId=18295
Bell 206 Photo http://www.heliweb.ca/bell206b.htm
Dji Phantom Photo http://www.dronefly.com/product-p/dji-phantom.htm