Technological advances have always outpaced any societies ability to cope. And as soon as new gap appears, the news media is there to exploit it, usually by making everyone feel vulnerable and afraid. That keeps folks glued to their TV's and sells ads. American Capitalism at its finest, facts be ****ed. Remember the little girl, Jessica Dubroff who died ( along with her flight instructor) trying to "set a new world record for youngest person to fly across the US"? And Congress moved quickly to write new rules about under age kids trying to "set flight records". Yea, I was right in the middle of all that and saw how the media fabricates "facts" and got everybody all upset. Congress, after it's big TV moment ended up doing nothing because there was nothing to do. It (the world record attempt) was total fabrication by the media. There is no world record category for student pilots.
You can go online now and buy all the technology you need to operate a fully autonomously controlled drone. Program it, launch it, even watch it's flight live from an onboard camera as it flies itself. But you can't fly it in US airspace. That's because the entire FAA flight rules system is designed around the idea of "see and avoid" . But a drone can't see and avoid. It'll fly right into another aircraft because, unlike humans, it has no self preservation instinct.
The "new" FAA policy for drones is just a restatement of the rules R/C hobbyists have operated under for decades, written by the American Modelers Association (AMA) which promotes safety and provides a key ingredient as a benefit to joining….FLIGHT INSURANCE. And this is the key point here, that the new crop of hobbyists who buy cheap "Quad Copters" and fly them over populated areas, never thinking about liability issues. For the most part, they are unaware of the existence of the AMA or the value of having insurance, should their toy cause damage or injury, or otherwise find themselves being sued for something like unlawful photography or panicking livestock.
OK, i'm officially ranting now. Time to take a chill-pill. You can see the technology in action by searching youtube for X8 flying wing video. x8 flying wing video. Please note, the video is probably shot in China or Taiwan, not the US.
BTW: Non of the popular, off the shelf "drones" available in the US market today are capable of autonomous flight.
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