Drone Pilots In China Have to Register With the Government (engadget.com) 58
China's Civil Aviation Authority has announced that drone pilots will be required to register any unmanned aerial vehicle heavier than 0.55 pounds with the government starting on June 1st. "Online registration will open up on May 18th, and the government will start publishing no-fly zone data for civilian airports on the same day," reports Engadget. From the report: The initiative will also see regulators working with local government and police to curb drone interference, and will eventually standardize commercial drone use with four main categories: aerial photography, agricultural use, aviation photography and license training. The country already recognizes over 200 training outlets that have issued over 14,000 certificates so far, so some of this standardization would really just expand on what's already happening. It's hard to escape concerns that this will help the government crack down on drone pilots for spurious reasons, such as when they record protests or questionable government activities. However, the registration officially comes as a response to a mounting number of safety incidents involving drones at airports. Authorities note that Chengdu alone saw eight examples of drone interference since April, six of which grounded 138 flights. If those sorts of figures are applicable elsewhere, that's a lot hassle and potential danger.
0.55 pounds (Score:3)
China's Civil Aviation Authority has announced that drone pilots will be required to register any unmanned aerial vehicle heavier than 0.55 pounds with the government starting on June 1st.
Hmm... Ok, sounds like 250 grams.
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What's a gram?
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What's a gram?
A gram is an International Standarized Measure Unit used by 90% of the World Population.
Ignorance is what the other 10% of it uses as a shield against innovation.
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Well, according to this: http://o.canada.com/business/i... [canada.com], the a gram of cocaine is $480 in New Zealand, whereas a gram of marijuana is $10 - $15 in Canada. I hope this explains things for you.
Re: 0.55 pounds (Score:3)
Is that local dollars, Zimbabwe dollars or US dollars?
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>> Is that local dollars, Zimbabwe dollars or US dollars?
The currency here is not the dollar, but the gram of Cocaine or Marijuana, so the correct question is :
"is that local drug, or where is it from ?"
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A gram is a unit adopted by a bunch of numerically semi-literate blood-thirsty European barbarians during the Reign of Terror after they decapitated large numbers of math teachers, because they couldn't stand all that dividing by 2, 12, 24, etc. The same people also came up with 10-day work weeks and 10-hour days. Like all such revolutions in Europe, a little more than a decade later, France got themselves a totalitarian ruler who abolished the unpopular 10-day week and then proceeded to go rampaging and ki
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Wrong Headline (Score:2)
>> Drone Pilots In China Have to Register With the Government
This headline is really really wrong.
First, there's no such thing as "drone pilot", as a drone is a plane without a pilot.
Secondly, in China everbody has to Register with the Government, not only "Drone Pilots"
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Of course drones have pilot you numpty. The pilot is just elsewhere.
Some drones are completely autonomous, without even a remote "pilot".
The headline is inaccurate. It is the owner of the drone that has to register it, not the operator.
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You seem to know a lot about the matter. Do you own a registered drone? If so, will you let me operate it please? That would be really cool...
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It's perfectly valid to use US customary units to specify quantities, especially on a US website. However, using decimals like "0.55" is a misappropriation of the SI system, and is highly discouraged.
They should have said "8 and 13/16 ounces".
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Wrong [caac.gov.cn].
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I'm pretty sure they specified the limit weight as 250 grams.
More likely they said half of a jin.
1 jin = 500g
Chinese units for Mass [wikipedia.org]
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When you violate somebody you violate somebody. Both deserve equal punishment.
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You better limit yourself to 250 grams though, otherwise you'll have to register as a drug pilot.
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When you violate somebody you violate somebody. Both deserve equal punishment.
You are exactly what is wrong with the world today.
And I'm really not going to explain you why flying an unmanned aircraft is different than the act of physically forcing a woman to non-consensual sexual activities.
Please remove yourself from the gene pool.
Sincerely,
The rest of the world.
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>> Flying above other peoples property places them at risk. Those who do so should be held both criminally and civilly responsible.
How is it for the operators of U.S. Killer Drones ? do they get criminally responsible when they don't murder people ?
Isn't it the same in most countrie? (Score:2)
Drones flying around are potentially dangerous, intrusive into privacy and are already being used in crime; I don't think anybody can dey that this is the case. I think it makes perfect sense to require them to be registered and sold under a license, and I think it is nonsense to talk about how "the government" is going to keep everybody under close surveillance that way - it is simply not practically possible, since the amount of investment in computer processing power required would far outstrip the rathe
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Yes this is exactly the same in most countries - china is even later than the US, which was *super late* in this kind of regulation. The USA has an identical regulation for 250g to 25Kg (over 25Kg requires licensing, not just registration).
I for one am not that thrilled about drones that have a mass of 20Kg only needing registration....
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I for one am not that thrilled about drones that have a mass of 20Kg only needing registration....
The reality is that most drones of that weight are going to be expensive enough that registration is the absolute least of the hurdles the creator is going to be facing. Although now I'm wondering if leaf blower engines have enough power to fly a quadcopter. I read around and it seems relatively simple to reverse a two-cycle engine, unless it has a rotary valve on the crankshaft...
/. hypocrisy (Score:1)
Remember folks, the US would be doing 5% of what Chinese government do, you'd all be demonstrating against "fascism", but as China does it under the name "communism", then suddenly, it's all OK.
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Lovely meaningless diatribe.
The US already has this exact regulation, and has had it for over a year. This is a non-story, other than China is coming into alignment with the EU and US on drone policy (where the EU was long before the US).
So just like the same as USA, 18 months later. (Score:2)
Why is this a story? This requirement already exists in the US.
Re: So just like the same as USA, 18 months later. (Score:2)
Because China has more people.
What's the problem (Score:2)
Not much difference (Score:2)
Nope (Score:1)
No, he's correct. Drones are autonomous. Definition: "an unmanned aircraft or ship that can navigate autonomously, without human control or beyond line of sight". Real drones *might* be setup to allow a human to interfere with the controls, but the beauty of a drone is it just flies on its own.
Most of the things, around the world, which are being called "drones" are actually RC (Remote Controlled or Radio Controlled) aircraft. Most the "drones" used by the US military (and CIA) are actually called UAVs (
People are lDIOTS (Score:2)
Oh, my! Really??? (Score:2)
Golly gee whiz, imagine having to register recreational activities with the government of Chairman Mao's workers' paradise! /sarcasm