"Where there is no reason for a civilian drone to operate above more than 400 ft above the ground."

Sure there is. My entertainment. You may not see it as a valid reason, but it's a reason nonetheless. It's also fairly hard to accurately gauge height AGL without telemetry... and hard to prove any hobbyist is flying above 400' AGL without telemetry, unless they hit an aircraft. Which is also the issue at hand: the drone operator in this incident clearly failed to remain clear of a manned aircraft.

He's already violating regulations. By proposing additional regulation, you're doing little more than piling charges onto someone who's already violated regulations, and further restricting other hobbyists flying their aircraft legally.

Oh, that's right... we live in a nanny state these days. Carry on. /sarcasm.

Odd. Maybe I'm blind, but in that first link you're quoting, there's a link to the Special Rule for Model Aircraft (P.L. 112-95, Section 336) (https://www.faa.gov/uas/programs_partnerships/uas_arctic/media/Sec_331_336_UAS.pdf)

The only reference I see to 400 feet in that document is 334.c.2.C, which address government public safety agencies operating UACs:

(C) allow a government public safety agency to operate
unmanned aircraft weighing 4.4 pounds or less, if operated—

(i) within the line of sight of the operator;
(ii) less than 400 feet above the ground;
(iii) during daylight conditions;
(iv) within Class G airspace; and
(v) outside of 5 statute miles from any airport,
heliport, seaplane base, spaceport, or other location
with aviation activities.

The closest I can see is 336.a.2:
(2) the aircraft is operated in accordance with a community based
set of safety guidelines and within the programming
of a nationwide community-based organization; ... which then fails to define which "community based set of safety guidelines" should be followed.

Not that it matters all that much in this case, since 336.a.4 clearly states that the UAC operator must not interfere with manned aircraft, which this drone operator clearly did.

All I'm saying is that the "must not operatie above 400' AGL" rule being bandied about frequently doesn't exist in my eyes.

FAA rule 107 (https://www.faa.gov/news/fact_sheets/news_story.cfm?newsId=20516) pertains to non-hobbyist drone flight: "The new rules for non-hobbyist small unmanned aircraft (UAS) operations – Part 107 of the Federal Aviation Regulations (PDF) – cover a broad spectrum of commercial uses for drones weighing less than 55 pounds."

We already have laws to punish that drone pilot as well. I don't believe we need more laws and regulation to punish the other R/C hobbyists who haven't interfered with a full size aircraft in their pursuit of happiness.

I've said it above, but I'll say it again: do you have a reference on that 400' ceiling for drones? All I'm seeing is that it's a "safety guideline": https://www.faa.gov/uas/gettin...

Got a reference on that ceiling requirement?

All I've seen is a "safety guideline" that suggests model aircraft be flown under 500'. No absolute ceiling was provided: https://www.faa.gov/uas/gettin...

New York State can't get most folk to register their "assault weapons": https://hudsonvalleyone.com/20...

I wish the U.N. lots of luck. Ain't likely to fly here in Upstate (Look Ma, I made a pun!)

/\ this.

I've got fiber strung on the pole outside outside my house, about thirty feet away. Verizon won't let me touch it. FIOS is not available.

My guess is that one of the nearby corporations (GE, SI, Environmental One) have a dedicated lease.

Irritates me to no end, since Spectrum has no competition and acts accordingly.

Try doing that 100 miles a day on a bicycle in the middle of January in Upstate NY. If the cold doesn't slow you down enough, the snow and ice likely will.

May you never grow complacent in watching your guardians, either, lest you need to guard yourself from them in turn.

I find it particularly ironic that a great deal of folk are throwing fits about drones needing to be regulated... and yet ultralights don't seem to be an issue.

Not all milk. Here in NYS, we have a loophole allowing farms to sell raw milk directly from the farm. It's worth the drive out once a week to pick it up. I was raised on fresh raw milk from a Jersey cow milked by the family. Milk just ain't the same if you don't have to shake it a bit before opening...

Damn right I'm entitled. I pay monthly for a service. I expect that service to be fulfilled, not monkeyed with.

Not if you won't pay a delivery driver enough to deliver them.

How about upstate? I've got fiber running on the pole outside my house. They dropped a spool off last year across the road, while they were doing work on the lines. The cable was clearly labeled fiber optic. The driver of the FIOS van (two bucket trucks were there as well) confirmed it was fiber, but couldn't/wouldn't tell me what it was for or who's data was running over it.

I suspect GE or SI, as they both have a heavy presence locally. More than a bit irritated that fiber is running about thirty feet from the house, and they're not about to use it for residential service.