This column will irk many of my professional pilot friends, but here goes…
What got me started is a short piece titled “Par Avion,” page 128, August 2015 Smithsonian magazine. I’ve read it over and over, and it worries me each time.
“Par Avion” includes a photo of the Swiss flag, the Alps, and a drone (or UAS, if you prefer) apparently inbound to an isolated cabin. The opening line says that “...the Swiss plan to take airmail to a new level—using American-made drones.”
“Par Avion” cites World Cargo executive Oliver Evans who says the receptiveness of Swiss officials to drone technology makes his country an ideal testing ground. Then the author points out that “The U.S., so far, is less welcoming.” You can say that again!
Note that U.S.A. industry is making the drones to be used by the Swiss. Our industry is way ahead of our guvmint in this new opportunity. Note also that, “More than one billion people worldwide are isolated by poor roads.” Drones are more competitive in that environment, and folks, one billion people is no small market, even if Congress does make a billion dollars sound like chump change.
In our country—as I understand it and unless it has changed again—the guvmint must grant permission—certification—for each new project using drones commercially. The guvmint says this is to control safety. I wonder if the guvmint is just trying to keep its monopoly on drones. Why would it want to do that? I don’t know, and can’t think of a single answer that wouldn’t scare me badly.
Drones (UAS) make up a huge new opportunity already growing like Jack’s beanstalk. Drones should be managed by people who are willing to invest their money in a new project that they think will be profitable, not by governments who think they can make a better decision. Hell, let businesspeople do the research, take the risks, suffer the losses, and/or reap the rewards. That has worked wonders in this country.
What if Ford had been required to get permission to build the Model T, Edison, the light bulb, and the Wright brothers to fly at Kitty Hawk? Most of us can’t imagine such a silly thing. So why do we so placidly accept insane regulations on this gigantic new market? Hey, Congress can’t get its own budget approved on time, how can it manage this?
Eventually—probably sooner than later—you may have pilotless aircraft flying parallel approaches into your airport. Will your airport be ready? Or will you have to rush your readiness in order to meet all-at-once demand? Surely it would make sense to get all of that drone experience a little at a time—the way airports learned about jets—rather than wait until drone hit airports all at once.
Footnote—Just this morning, I heard on the radio that a Congressperson plans to propose that our law enforcement be forbidden to use drones to search for suspected criminals. Why? We seek them with other aircraft. Sheesh!
