Drone Law—No, Thanks!

Dear Reader

Mistakes happen, first, because no one is infallible, and second, because the temptation to test our limits—both below and above the clouds—is particularly strong in aviation. As is well known, this fact is as old as time and has been etched into our collective subconscious, so to speak, ever since the story of Icarus. The excessive focus on safety in society and politics means that every mistake is turned into a safety issue, and calls for the government to enact a new law soon follow. Even though our aviation authority, the FOCA, has clearly regulated the use of FPV model aircraft (the term “drone” is rather amateurish) with the simplest and briefest amendments to the VLK, this still does not seem to satisfy our compulsive perfectionists. Already, they see dark clouds of entire swarms of flying wings and microcopters bearing down on them. This is just one current example.

there’s a new trend in aviation where this or that organization or person is held responsible for certain areas or is required to ensure that this or that doesn’t happen, and so on. Shifting responsibility is the order of the day these days. However, this has little to do with actually determining who is at fault. Just as the police cannot prevent someone from speeding and causing an accident, our model flying clubs cannot prevent mistakes and missteps by their members. A club must, without fail, inform its members about dangers and also ensure discipline on its grounds. Everything else rests on the personal responsibility of each individual model aviator—no matter who shifts the blame onto whom. It is said that new technologies should lead to new regulations. Agreed! But since new technologies supplant or replace old ones, the

old laws, which are based on the old technologies, must logically be repealed. The increasing number of regulations is detrimental to new technical developments. Even a so-called “innovation park” at the Dübendorf airfield won’t help with that. The year 2012 brings us a hundred new laws across Switzerland. Please memorize them all—or don’t get caught!

Sincerely,
Emil Ch. Giezendanner

The opinions expressed on this page by the editor—as well as by other authors of this issue—do not necessarily reflect the official position of the SMV. Readers can find official association announcements in the “SMV” section.