Quote:
Originally Posted by Verlander
I suspect the drone deliveries will be to Amazon centres rather than households.
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Amazon already has "lock boxes" near most homes where I live. One can get instant delivery if one wants a product already stocked there. They are usually inside other stores like supermarkets. When I make a purchase from Amazon now and the merchandise is in the "lock box," I see a popup at the Amazon site asking me if I want to go there to retrieve the item. I have never checked that box since I prefer home delivery.
Thus, drones may only be used at first to send packages to those installations. Later on drone deliveries may be limited to private houses and may require purchase of a Drone Package Receiver from Amazon to be placed somewhere on the homeowner's property.
By the way, here in America one can already purchase private drones from Amazon here:
http://www.amazon.com/DJI-CP-PT-0000...eywords=drones
Those hobby drones are operated from cell phones or tablets using WiFi and have limited range. Commercial drones will probably require radio signal control.
So far as I know, the only FAA regulations so far are those applying to radio controlled hobby air planes from the 1960's. They require those planes to stay a certain distance away from airports and less than 400 feet altitude. Many US States also regulate them by limiting their use to remote locations away from population centers.
The problems with radio controlled hobby planes and drones is that they could fly further than the control unit's range and then get lost, crash or end in a remote tree. One model now sold by Amazon automatically returns to where it took off if control is lost. However, one reviewer at the Amazon site stated that function failed and his drone was lost never to be recovered.
Operators of those devices should check with their insurers to see if Homeowner's and/or supplemental liability insurance covers them or new riders must be purchased on their policies.
There already have been near misses of drones crashing into large passenger planes. Thus, FAA strict regulations are probably already being developed. The FAA may require commercial drones to be equipped with transponders so that Air Traffic Controllers can see them and communicate with the operators if required. That is the only way to prevent accidents in the sky. Those drone operators would probably have to be in continuous radio contact with the nearest Air Traffic Control Station.
Radio controlled planes have always been subject to the same FCC licensing and regulations as ham radio operators with concerns that frequencies used did not interfere with already allocated ones.
If commercial drone use is authorized by the FAA, the operators will probably have to undergo training and receive FAA licenses and possibly FCC licenses as well. Plus, all 50 US States will probably enact their own specific laws to govern their use. It may be legal in some States and illegal in others.
It all could well happen by this Christmas if Amazon puts pressure on the FAA and the various states. The first State will probably be Washington State where Amazon is located.