ARPAS wants more regulations, more prosecutions, licensing of all pilots, etc!

[Heliotrope]

Personally I don't think my business needs any protection and certainly no representation from a wannabe body like ARPAS. The fewer regulations you have, the easier it is to operate for me.

I don't give a wet fart if someone does some houseshots for 50 quid. The misconception is, that ppl tend to think that by restricting access to the market you can keep the prices up. That's not the case - if the cheapest way to do a house shoot is say 250-300 quid then most estate agents just wont do aerial shots. And will probably not consider doing them in the future for projects with higher budget.
Same for inspections - if flying up a wind turbine is more expensive than calling an industry climber than they wont call you. Plain and easy. It's really not hard to understand.

From that perspective every new bit of 'protection' endangers my business.

As recreational pilot I can only say that the BMFA and ARPAS can f..k off and leave me alone.
Rules are restrictive enough as they stand.

So basically you want a free for all and are happy to be undercut by anybody. Doesn't seem like a sound business plan to me.

If you don't have a USP then that's the harsh reality of capitalism.

Also just because there is more competition out there doesn't mean everyone can or will undercut you. Everyone got operational overheads and therefore there is a limit on how little you can charge.

And it's not the others fault when you jumped into a highly competitive market without assessing the situation before you shell out the money for you certification.

Welcome to reality

Thank you for the lesson o wise man and master.

[Lola]

Guys, let's not turn this into a rant at each other please.

Thanks.


It is right 😀

[skyscraper]

hmmm. "drone enthusiasts" ?
http://www.balpa.org/News-and-campaigns/News/PILOTS-AND-DRONE-USERS-CALL-FOR-ACTION-ON-SAFETY.aspx

[Heliotrope]

Guys, let's not turn this into a rant at each other please.

Thanks.


It is right 😀

OK fair enough - but having set up, built up and sold a couple of successful businesses as well as being an NED of a some very profitable SMEs I do not appreciate being patronised.

[Lola]

Cheers fellas 😉

[skyscraper]

OK.. Since I was chewed up by a mod for (allegedly!) going OT in nother thread... here is the first line of the Thred

"ARPAS are pushing for more regulations, a mandatory licence and more prosecutions of recreational drone pilots."

Now I reckon anyone who is also a professional EDITdroneUAV/S pilot should declare that interest up front. Then please try to stay on topic  :dazed:

regards
Andy

[FPVSteve]

Exactly.

And why would they do that?

Because "amateurs" can get pretty good footage that would be suitable for about 80-90% of cases that a so-called "professional" rig can capture at little (or no) price.

Having spent ££££ on a BNUC-S why wouldn't they now want to screw the recreational pilot over?

I wonder how many of those 47 members are flying Phantoms for at least some of their footage anyway... they therefore offer very little over a recreational pilot while attempting to extract loads of cash from unsuspecting clients.

The whole thing (to me) is underhand.

[mark1975]

if anyone want's me ill be out flying lol

[Dizzy]

Exactly.

And why would they do that?

Because "amateurs" can get pretty good footage that would be suitable for about 80-90% of cases that a so-called "professional" rig can capture at little (or no) price.

Having spent ££££ on a BNUC-S why wouldn't they now want to screw the recreational pilot over?

I wonder how many of those 47 members are flying Phantoms for at least some of their footage anyway... they therefore offer very little over a recreational pilot while attempting to extract loads of cash from unsuspecting clients.

The whole thing (to me) is underhand.

I agree Steve W,  there are some good points put forward by members.
I did take a look into taking the exam myself but after spending some time with a company already doing this sort of photography i decided the financial benefits were going to be hard won because of the reality of good competition already, My own feelings is this as grown because some people are not making the money they thought they could because they didn't do their sums properly. Capitalism at its best Lol so lets make some  money in the process at the expense of all the little guys. :(

Just a foot note I would happily pay for a license for a modest sum after all I had to when I started in RC many years ago. I think from memory it was 5 bob  25 pence todays money LOL.
But being forced to take an exam is another matter  :+

dizzy :D

[skyscraper]

Well, Ive been thinking about all this and actually got pretty depressed. I was planning to write an article but as I started to research it I just started to think..Its hard to dispute that BALPAS has got a point....

http://www.fpvhub.com/index.php/topic,22920.msg181487.html#msg181487
http://www.fpvhub.com/index.php/topic,21788.msg173608.html#msg173608
http://www.fpvhub.com/index.php/topic,22071.msg175490.html#msg175490

Self regulation? Never works

(But of course thats not a popular view so I'll keep it to myself )

So I'll look forward to the "Noddy" safety course I have to attend and will be interested to see how much they try and screw out of us.. Will it stop the dickheads? Yeah Right!   :laugh:

regards
Andy

[wgt40w]

Additional Points:

Authorities always tend to listen to 'professional' bodies much more than representations from 'amateurs' or 'enthusiasts' groups.

I'm loving all the increasing association of 'drones' = 'multicopters'.

I will continue to fly my fixed wings, with FPV and Waypoint flight controllers, (sensibly and safely) in total innocence !!

[Dizzy]

 :thumbsup:

dizzy ;D

[Heliotrope]

I agree with Dizzy that a lot of people probably haven't done their sums properly.  However IMO the single biggest thorn in the side of many commercial guys (certainly so far as I am concerned) isn't the flier without PFAW, or the weather, it's the 30/50 metre rule which I think came about before smallish multirotors became the weapon of choice for roof surveys and the like. I can well understand it for helicopters!

I can trace this back two years ago to my training course attendance when they categorically said that as long as you adopt a "corridor" approach for takeoff and landing that would be perfectly acceptable. This meant that, within reason, you wouldn't have to worry too much about people/buildings to the side and behind you.

I pushed them on this at the time because that wasn't the way I read it, but they insisted it was acceptable, and that was a very important point to me. Fact is it turns out that this is not the case. They have done a U turn on their position and trying to do flights on what should be bread and butter work on most industrial estates, churches etc. is very difficult.

Sorry to stray off thread a bit.

[skyscraper]

[...]
Sorry to stray off thread a bit.

(?)


regards
Andy