Railfan Technology > Interesting drone law

I was looking at a drone video someone posted on Facebook that appeared to be filmed in a Tennessee State Park.  I did a little research on drone laws in Tennessee.  Here is SB2106/HB1811
Cannot fly drones within 250 feet of the perimeter of a “critical infrastructure facility” for the purpose of conducting surveillance or gathering information. Critical infrastructure facilities include, but are not limited to: oil & gas facilities, power plants, water treatment plants, telecommunications towers, rail yards, and correctional facilities.

Rail Yards?

Have you read all the FAA rules coming? Even now you need to really understand the class of airspace you are flying in, max altitude, and rather permission is needed. They FAA has a phone app for that. Plus, sometime soon you will need to take a test and get a remote vehical pilots license to show you understand the rules. They will be administered by the AMA and other drone organizations. This applies to anything that flies, RC planes and drones even flown by hobbiests.

The world is changing and the skies are not open anymore.

Scott Schifer
Torrance, CA
TinyTrains Website

So much for the friendly skies. I'll stick to dash cams.

tinytrains Wrote:
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> The world is changing and the skies are not open
> anymore.

Thanks for the update. I knew this was coming. This almost always happens when there's adaptation of an endeavor in larger numbers. In some places (Japan for example), teens have been arrested in recent years for flying drones over events without permit, so they made sure enforcement accompanied the rules ASAP.

Hopefully, some of the railroad management's "flying weasels" get their asses enforced. :-)

We have a chance to prolong the "open skies" if people continue to act responsibly, as I predict enforcement will lag behind the rules here. 

cchan006 Wrote:
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> We have a chance to prolong the "open skies" if
> people continue to act responsibly,

Thank you, I really needed a good laugh.

There have been numerous incidents, not all made public, about fire fighting aircraft being delayed in responding to a fire due to drones seen in the immediate area. The latest incident that I am aware of (AFAIK has not yet been made public although "incidents" were alluded to in news reports on Nov 14) occurred on the morning of Nov 9 near the Woolsey fire.

The majority of people in the US believe they are the most important person around. That attitude and acting responsiblity are mutually exclusive.

jst3751 Wrote:
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> Thank you, I really needed a good laugh.
>
> There have been numerous incidents, not all made
> public, about fire fighting aircraft being delayed
> in responding to a fire due to drones seen in the
> immediate area. The latest incident that I am
> aware of (AFAIK has not yet been made public
> although "incidents" were alluded to in news
> reports on Nov 14) occurred on the morning of Nov
> 9 near the Woolsey fire.
>
> The majority of people in the US believe they are
> the most important person around. That attitude
> and acting responsiblity are mutually exclusive.

You're welcome, but it is my "duty" to throw a bone of "positive" to keep people happy.

I used to hear the buzz of drones almost everyday wherever I went, but looks like that has subsided recently, at least here in NorCal, and that was before the smoke from the fires. Latest trend seems to be palm-sized drones with cameras, where people can feel important indoors?

Rules always result from people doing dumb and dangerous things...

Bill Deaver
Tehachapi, CA