My use of those locations was obviously deliberate.
Pilot Mountain is a real place.
Mountain Pilot a real place is.
There’s an article on CNN’s website this morning titled “Private helicopter pilots band together to help hundreds of hurricane victims”. The photo at the top of the page is a helo on the ground in Bat Cave, NC.
While it’s not the biggest helo out there, I know of a certain Bell 47 (think MASH helicopter) that should be rushing it’s way up there from it’s home in FL. The helicopter I have in mind? Yes, it’s the original one from the TV show that made Adam West & Burt Ward famous.
I know & have worked with Gene’s brother
I’ve been watching a few youtube videos. People bringing in Supplies. Road closures are a big problem.
One I watched was given bad detour directions by their GPS. They ended up on a single lane gravel road that was blocked by a tree. Luckily they were in a van. Backing up a long distance with a trailer can be very difficult. You’ll probably end up in a ditch.
They advised people to take supplies to a designated distribution site. Don’t go into the damaged towns or neighborhoods.
Bring your own food,water and gas. Don’t be a burdon on local resources.
I know boats and aircraft need different management. But in a hurricane a few years ago did a bunch of people trailer up their small boats to help with rescue. Small boats that could take to the new waterways. Brought them from another state.
Boats are a help and aren’t going to impact other efforts in the way that aircraft can.
There are also some huge drones carrying supplies:
These areas are cut off from both land and water access.
I haven’t looked into the details of these particular operations, but drone flying is generally regulated by the same airspace rules and TFRs that apply to manned aircraft. In fact, they’re usually more strict with drones - they’re not allowed into most kinds of controlled airspace without a waiver, and always have to yield to manned aircraft.
Hopefully, these folks are playing by the rules too.
Edit: They would almost certainly have to be operating on a waiver for being outside “line of sight”. That’s before even considering the airspace and TFRs.
Drones are also used for finding lost hikers. A huge help. Rather than send out a team all day to search a trail, a drone can do it in an hour or two.
Some hikers get Cliffed out. Can’t go up, can’t go down. Then once you find them, let them know that help is on the way.
Admittedly not as good as lots of eyes at ground level, and they can’t easily get through trees (neither can people).
And I hope the rules are set up so that it’s an easy process under obviously safe conditions. Super low altitude, point-to-point operation, no nearby traffic, etc. It should just be a rubber stamp the majority of the time. If help is being denied because of overly restrictive rules set up for different situations, the rules should be relaxed.
For instance, line of sight should probably be relaxed when the drone has a 100 megabit/s, low-latency satellite connection onboard.
Many, many drones these days have really good cameras. Even the fairly inexpensive ones, but line of sight is mandatory unless waived on a case-by-case basis. This is primarily for separation from manned aircraft and all the FAA documentation is very firm on that point.
The waiver process is through LAANC. I’ve not yet used it myself, but some waivers for airspace are said to be nearly instantaneous. Others take time to be approved. Again, I don’t know what’s going on there in NC exactly.
The aftermath of Hurricane Milton could severly stretch FEMA and Red Cross resources.
Maybe its time for Military relief flights? Obviously coordinated to fly safely in that air space.
Little Rock Airforce Base hosts C-130’s. One of them can supply heavy items like generators, temporary housing huts, ATV’s etc. Along with boxes of food and relief supplies.
LRAFB is close to my house. I see the contrails from the planes taking off.
Section 107.31 is clear about the requirement but also states the motivations:
(a) With vision that is unaided by any device other than corrective lenses, the remote pilot in command, the visual observer (if one is used), and the person manipulating the flight control of the small unmanned aircraft system must be able to see the unmanned aircraft throughout the entire flight in order to:
(1) Know the unmanned aircraft’s location;
(2) Determine the unmanned aircraft’s attitude, altitude, and direction of flight;
(3) Observe the airspace for other air traffic or hazards; and
(4) Determine that the unmanned aircraft does not endanger the life or property of another.(b) Throughout the entire flight of the small unmanned aircraft, the ability described in paragraph (a) of this section must be exercised by either:
(1) The remote pilot in command and the person manipulating the flight controls of the small unmanned aircraft system; or
(2) A visual observer.
But 1-4 obviously depend on the sophistication of the drone itself. With enough cameras and other monitoring systems, there’s no reason why those things can’t be satisfied.
That doesn’t change the law, obviously–(b) still holds. But perhaps a waiver is more likely if the intent is satisfied.
As for the video I posted specifically, it looks like they maintain line of sight to me. The camera has to zoom in a fair amount but it’s also quite a big drone. Should be visible with good vision.
Paragraph A specifies “unaided vision”, so it seems the feds really, really want attentive visual scanning. AC 107-2A goes into more detail, including the guideline that momentary losses of LOS are acceptable for various reasons. But it seems they are loathe to depend on the drone’s onboard technology.
I suspect that’s because drones aren’t built with the same oversight and technical standard orders used with manned aircraft. Every manufacturer does things differently, so I would guess there’s no way for the FAA to certify a system that automates obstacle avoidance of various kinds. They certainly won’t allow it to guarantee separation. Maybe they could have chosen to do that, but the horse is now out of the barn.
I also suspect the truth is most drone pilots operate without LOS all the time. A small drone is very hard to track visually beyond a couple of hundred feet (400’ AGL being the un-waivered limit) and there’s a fancy, shiny screen to give you the camera’s POV. It’s just a matter of time before someone accidentally brings down a manned aircraft with a drone, regardless of visual scanning or technology. I’m amazed flying one at an airport within Class G is allowed, but it generally is.
They’re way ahead of you, though now they have to evacuate their own personnel in the path of Milton while also planning on the response after while also continuing the response to Helene.
The FAA published guidance on BVLOS in the past year or so, and while I generally skim over those headlines, I see a lot of Special Conditions and Exemptions being published for this type of operation. The demonstration that a specific drone type is capable of a reliable communication and control connection, reliable Detect and Avoid and reliable behavior in a conflict condition based on its own onboard programming seem to be pretty critical (again, based on my only skimming some emails on the subject).
These drone are, generally, the bigger, high tech ones for surveillance and delivery, not the little toy ones you get at Walmart. You won’t likely get permission to operate one of those BVLOS. The “commercial” ones are, aft all, aircraft, and like any aircraft are being mandated (gradually) to demonstrate reasonable levels of safety and performance.
Part 107 is for drones up to 55 pounds (including whatever they’re carrying). I can’t tell how big the ones in Dr. Strangelove’s link are, but they could very well be larger and subject to different regs.
All Congress has to do is bring in some emergency funding.
I could totally see a “rescuer” looting an abandoned house, or even demanding sex in exchange for rescue.
You think someone bought a high dollar aircraft and learned to fly it in the hopes of taking advantage of poor people living in remote areas? That doesn’t seem cost effective.