Interesting article. Thanks Sharkey!

My girlfriend just bought me the Phantom 2 to take out on the water with me this year, it is quite the piece of equipment!

UAVs 1. FAA 0

http://motherboard.vice.com/read/com...al-judge-ruled

Hope some of you guys realize that the larger model drones can carry quite few pounds of weight. I'm guessing some terrorist moles just gonna get one of these instead of hijacking a plane to fly into buildings,LOL.

For what it's worth...I bought my daughter a Phantom 1.1 (she already had the Gopro Hero 3).

A word of caution: DO NOT USE THE WI-FI setting on the Gopro to interface with an Ipad or Iphone. They work on the same frequency as the controller for the Phantom. If you use them together your Phantom will stop communicating with your controller, and wind up crashing into the water just south of Bimini in the Bahamas.

In order to properly see what the camera is seeing, make sure to buy the gimble ($300+) , the 5.8 Wireless TX & RX ($200), and a Wireless LCD monitor ($250)...

Hans final fatal flight over the Sapona wreck on Wednesday.

Drone disaster by bobthebuilder707, on Flickr

Sunset pic at Resorts World Bimini on Tuesday evening:


Our drone by bobthebuilder707, on Flickr


Bimini 63 by bobthebuilder707, on Flickr

Ha! Awesome pictures Bob!

Time for an upgrade!!!

I like the video, music over boat, be cool to be able to hear booth. But the angle of the shot is cool that's for sure.

RC model aircraft have been around for decades and the FAA hasn't found the need to regulate them, never mind title them as drones. The problem I'm having with the title of drones is that the operator(s) still need to see the aircraft along with it still needing to be within proximity of the radio on the ground. Compared to actual drones that can be on the other side of the globe with operators/pilot somewhere in another country thanks to GPS navigation and communication. Now I understand not all drones are created equal but the one being used in this video is simply a very expensive toy with a camera. I am almost certain that some RC model airplane people came up with a contraption to film their RC flights a long time ago, making this nothing new, rather just making it now readily available.

There was a video uploaded on another site that showed footage of the city of Miami and one of the scenes was the American Airlines Arena from fairly high up. The Arena and MIA International Airport are fairly close to each other and MIA takes off 75% of the time to the east. I am guessing this is one of the areas the FAA has heartburn. Single engine climb performance of a transport category aircraft is such, if there is a catastrophic engine failure before leaving the runway, in worst case (heavy weight, high temperature) scenario, only ensures 35' clearance over the end of the runway or highest obstacle on the departure path, ie. arena, antenna or building. This, I am willing to bet, is the last thing anyone wants in the air or on the ground to have one of these RC helicopters high up in air the at wrong time and in the wrong airspace.

RC model aircraft clubs and areas have always been in not very populated or designated areas. RC model aircraft also require a runway for takeoff and landings, whereas these do not. RC model aircraft also require a little aerodynamic knowledge where it is my understanding that these new devices are fairly fail safe when it comes to aerodynamics. Lastly they requiring very little area for them to take flight, with all this considered allows really anyone at anytime to use one. Ultimately, this requires a lot of common sense and a lot of personal liability insurance if something was to go terribly wrong over persons or property. Since we are all human and common sense isn't always present, myself included, some kind of rules need to be in place to protect everyone and everything from ourselves. But is it the FAA's job, don't they already have enough on their plate?

Just my simple thoughts and sadly it is going to take someone innocent getting injured or god forbid killed before true rules and regulations are put into place. In the meantime... just be careful a keep them out of our airport's airspace.