A cornucopia of news, opinion, views, facts and quirky bits that need to be talked about. Join our community and join in the conversation on all matters aviation. The blog includes our weekly round-up of the bits of European aviation you may otherwise have missed – That Was The Week That Was
From the beginning of 2016 we have seen a huge influx in reports of ‘bad’ drones. These are those drones that threaten to hit airliners, fly over nuclear facilities, cross borders and have generally become bolder, thus posing a risk. Barely a week goes by without the European Cockpit Association (ECA) releasing yet another fear-mongering statement that starts ‘Barely a week goes by…’
If the ECA and the established aviation industry were actually interested in the truth, they might choose to look not to more of the same established means of compliance, complete with ponderous rules that govern aviation generally; they would actually talk to the drone industry. Dialogue, genuine exchanges of views to learn things and changing their opinion accordingly are not really pilots’ strong suits, so do not hold your breath waiting for that to happen.
The drone industry is not the aviation industry. This is despite the best efforts of the aviation industry to make it so by crushing it with procedures and processes that in some cases pre-date manned, powered aviation. Drone operators are not drawn from the ranks of the aviators, but the ranks of the gamers. Despite the cynicism of the legacy industry, and without being told to do so, they are starting to organise themselves and more importantly, regulate themselves.
The aviation authorities, having mandated that they, and they alone, regulate the industry are already overwhelmed with applications to fly from the booming drone industry. Rogue operators, and yes, there are some, of course there are, have them in the palm of their hands. They break the traditional rules seemingly at will, and post a YouTube video to prove it. Clearly the traditional industry is at a loss. The legacy systems, the legacy industry, have no means to cope. Hence the futile press-release. Think of it as a cri du coeur.
The assumption, based on more than 70 years of the traditional aviation system, is that first we write rules and then everyone, good citizens all, agree to comply. How very, very twentieth century. Whatever will come next? Horseless carriages? What about driverless carriages? No wonder the pilots are upset.
But here comes the future, and you can’t run from it. New generations, yes, all right, the Millennial Generation, does not do rules-first-told-what-to-do-second. It self regulates. So while the big players such as the civil aviation authorities, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the European Commission were still talking about how to control the situation and which gaps need filling, the small players were out there doing it.
These small players are creating, and listening to the industry because they are directly in it, living it. They also knew that the rogue operators were giving them a bad name, and putting at risk their future and their future business models. Being a Millennial does not stop you being an entrepreneur.
In the last few months there have been a number of up-and-coming companies appearing on the drone conference tour circuit, with great ideas that benefit the UAV industry by filling the gaps that the authorities are struggling to fill, whilst streamlining access to information. Take Airport UAV Ltd for example. Its site has drone regulations from across the world and a means for the public to report a ‘rogue’ drone operation.
The site is an example of twenty first century self-regulation. The new EASA website for reporting bad drones has remarkably similar elements to that of Airport UAV, with which it spoke, but did not credit. Imitation is the highest form of flattery, perhaps.
The obvious challenge will be for EASA to maintain credibility in the drone community and be flexible enough to move with the times. Instead, they risk looking like your grandfather trying to tell you about the ‘inter-google thingy’.
The drone industry is fast moving. It is ripe for self-regulation and sees the economic necessity for doing so. Maybe it is better for the traditional industry to admit that the tools the industry needs, and its regulations, must be for and by the people in the industry, rather than imposed from the top down.
Moving at supersonic speed the industry may be, but it needs to maintain cruising speed and altitude with minimum turbulence, otherwise it will crash. Imagine the paperwork then….
