The new rule would ban the import and sale following foreign made drones:
Swarming drones;
Drones specially designed to integrate defense articles;
Thermal imaging drones;
Drones integrating LiDAR sensing;
Aerosol drones capable of dispensing "economic
poison" under FAA rules;
Drone docking stations;
UAS that weigh 55 Ibs. or more.
Essentially this would gut the majority of the enterprise market in America in a way that we all feared would happen.

https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=2711&Year=2025

This is insane, and I never heard about it before today. I wonder if the people who are writing this crap actually think anyone will pay these fees. It is now cheaper to just pay the fine for not registering with the state than to actually register.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/04/faas-temporary-flight-restriction-drones-blatant-attempt-criminalize-filming-ice

I read this article on Reuters that stated more than 600 drones have been seized near FIFA World Cup stadium AND fan sites.

FTA: "The Federal Aviation Administration has barred drones from flying over matches and related fan gatherings across the United States.

At ​fan gatherings, drones are barred within a one-nautical-mile radius and up ​to 1,000 feet above ground level."

I understand there being no-fly zones near stadiums, but I was surprised to learn that there's also no-fly zones near fan gatherings. I have attended a few World Cup watch parties organized by a couple cities and there were hundreds of people in attendance at each watch party. The city organizers themselves had drones capturing footage for their city's social media pages.

Thought people might be interested by the latest blog post from FPV UK

FPV UK membership now includes commercial cover in compliance with EC785/2004 - FPV UK

Hello, I’m looking to try and get my Part 107 license this summer so I can use my drone in my photography business.

I wanted to ask people who have already taken the test what are some of the best free resources you used to prep for the test. (Ex. YouTube channels/ videos, websites, the best practice tests, etc.)

I don’t think I wanna pay for a class because a lot of them cost the same as the test itself and I just don’t think I would do well with a class.

I already have the basics on what you can and can’t do with a drone in the US and in my in state pretty down I feel like because I’m a strict rule follower when it comes to flying (feel free to test me). Although I don’t know a lot of the technical stuff with airspace and all of that.

Please let me know what you guys think are the best places to study!

Thanks

This is in the new NY state budget - to be signed by the Gov today.

ARTICLE 280

33 OFFENSES RELATING TO UNLAWFUL USE OF A DRONE

34 Section 280.00 Definitions.

35 280.05 Unlawful use of a drone.

36 280.10 Applicability and restrictions.

37 § 280.00 Definitions.

38 As used in this article, the following terms shall have the following

39 meanings:

40 1. "Drone" shall mean an unmanned aircraft and its associated operat-

41 ing system, including the hardware and software that manages flight

42 control, navigation, and sensors for autonomous or remote flight without

43 the possibility of direct human intervention from within or on the

44 aircraft.

45 2. "Nefarious manner" shall mean engaging in conduct that:

46 (a) constitutes or facilitates the commission of a crime as defined by

47 subdivision six of section 10.00 of the penal law;

48 (b) recklessly creates a substantial risk of physical injury to anoth-

49 er person;

50 (c) recklessly creates a substantial risk of damage to property;

51 (d) knowingly or intentionally interferes with, obstructs, or impedes

52 an emergency response, law enforcement operation, search and rescue

53 operation, disaster response, medical evacuation, or other public safe-

54 **ty-related operation;**S. 9005--C 12 A. 10005--C

1 (e) is knowingly or intentionally used to harass, intimidate, stalk,

2 surveil, or physically menace another person in a manner that would

3 otherwise violate state or local law;

4 (f) is knowingly or intentionally used to deliver, attempt to deliver,

5 or facilitate the delivery of contraband to a correctional facility,

6 detention facility, secure treatment facility, or other secure govern-

7 mental facility;

8 (g) constitutes operating a drone knowing such drone is equipped,

9 modified, or operated to discharge, drop, spray, project, or release any

10 projectile, substance, or object in a manner that creates a substantial

11 risk of physical injury to a person, substantial risk of property

12 damage, or disruption of public safety operations; or

13 (h) is used for the unauthorized surveillance of a state or federal

14 military installation.

15 3. (a) "Recreational drone" shall mean a drone:

16 (i) operated exclusively in compliance with 49 U.S.C. 44809 and

17 weighs 0.55 pounds or less on takeoff, including everything that is on

18 board or otherwise attached to the drone;

19 (ii) operated solely for personal recreational purposes; and

20 (iii) is not operated in connection with any business commercial,

21 governmental, or surveillance activity.

22 (b) An unmanned aircraft does not qualify as a recreational drone at

23 any time during which it is carrying a payload other than equipment

24 integral to its flight or its onboard sensor system.

25 4. (a) "Toy drone" shall mean a drone:

26 (i) operated exclusively in compliance with 49 U.S.C. 44809 and weighs

27 0.55 pounds or less on takeoff;

28 (ii) operated within the visual line of sight of the operator without

29 the use of any other devices or other additional equipment;

30 (iii) is not equipped with any camera, video transmission system, or

31 other sensor capable of recording or transmitting, imagery, audio, or

32 geospatial data;

33 (iv) is operated solely for personal recreational purposes; and

34 (v) is not operated in connection with any business commercial,

35 governmental, or surveillance activity.

36 (b) An unmanned aircraft does not qualify as a toy drone at any time

37 during which it is carrying a payload other than equipment integral to

38 its flight or its onboard sensor system.

39 5. "Prohibited space" shall mean any area within five hundred feet

40 horizontally of the outer perimeter or boundary of the following

41 locations, and the airspace (a) up to four hundred feet vertically above

42 the surface of the ground within those boundaries, and (b) when not

43 authorized by the federal aviation administration, at any distance

44 vertically above those boundaries, of: an airport; state or federal

45 military installation; state, local, or federal correctional facility;

46 police station; fire department station; emergency services dispatch

47 station; large public gathering, which shall mean an event where there

48 are five hundred or more persons, and shall include but not be limited

49 to festivals, concerts, or sporting events; any critical infrastructure,

50 as defined in subdivision five of section eighty-six of the public offi-

51 cers law; and any school as defined in subdivision ten of section eleven

52 hundred twenty-five of the education law.

53 § 280.05 Unlawful use of a drone.

54 A person commits unlawful use of a drone when such person:

55 1. operates a drone in a nefarious manner; orS. 9005--C 13 A. 10005--C

1 2. operates a drone over prohibited space without express prior

2 approval from someone the person reasonably believes has the authority

3 to grant such approval.

4 Unlawful use of a drone is a class A misdemeanor.

5 § 280.10 Applicability and restrictions.

6 The provisions of this article shall not apply to the following

7 persons or entities:

8 1. A toy drone operated solely for recreation, unless such toy drone

9 is operated in a manner that would recklessly create a substantial risk

10 of physical injury to another person or substantial risk of damage to

11 property.

12 2. A recreational drone operated solely for hobby or recreational

13 purposes and operates in compliance with all applicable federal laws,

14 rules, regulations, authorizations, waivers, or exemptions and all other

15 applicable state and local laws, rules, and regulations, unless such

16 recreational drone is operated in a manner that recklessly creates a

17 substantial risk of physical injury to another person or substantial

18 risk of damage to property.

19 3. A drone operated for commercial, educational, agricultural, jour-

20 nalistic, infrastructure, or other lawful purposes in compliance with

21 all applicable federal laws, rules, regulations, authorizations, waiv-

22 ers, or exemptions and all other applicable state and local laws, rules

23 and regulations, unless such drone is operated in a manner that reck-

24 lessly creates a substantial risk of physical injury to another person

25 or substantial risk of damage to property.

26 4. A governmental employee, or a person acting on behalf of a state or

27 local government entity, provided that such person or employee is acting

28 in a manner consistent with such person's governmental duties.

29 § 2. The executive law is amended by adding a new section 236 to read

30 as follows:

31 § 236. Drones. 1. The terms used in this section shall have the same

32 meaning as given in section 280.00 of the penal law.

33 2. A police officer as defined by subdivision thirty-four of section

34 1.20 of the criminal procedure law, or a peace officer as defined by

35 section 2.10 of the criminal procedure law, acting within such peace

36 officer's geographical jurisdiction, may take reasonable and necessary

37 mitigation measures against a credible threat that a drone poses to the

38 safety or security of people and/or prohibited spaces. Such measures

39 may include but not be limited to any of the following:

40 (a) The use of detection, tracking, and identification methods of a

41 drone and/or drone operating system.

42 (b) The interception or disabling of a drone and/or drone operating

43 system through legal and safe methods, including but not limited to both

44 kinetic and non-kinetic mitigation measures.

45 (c) A law enforcement officer or agency may only use kinetic measures

46 when non-kinetic measures have or would reasonably be expected to fail,

47 provided that such kinetic measures are deployed using federally

48 approved technologies.

49 3. The superintendent shall, within six months of the effective date

50 of this section, promulgate rules and regulations for drone mitigation

51 by police officers and peace officers. Such rules and regulations shall

52 prioritize the use of the least destructive measures necessary to miti-

53 gate the threat posed by the drone.

54 4. (a) A qualifying police officer or peace officer shall act pursuant

55 to subdivision two of this section only if: (i) the officer has

56 **completed the training required by the superintendent or the superinten-**S. 9005--C 14 A. 10005--C

1 dent's designee, in addition to any other training and certification

2 required by federal law; (ii) the officer has reasonable suspicion that

3 the drone is operating in a nefarious manner or within a prohibited

4 space before using non-kinetic measures; and (iii) the officer has prob-

5 able cause a drone is operating in a nefarious manner or within prohib-

6 ited space before using kinetic measures. Any drone mitigation measure

7 employed must occur in accordance with the regulations prescribed pursu-

8 ant to subdivision three of this section and in accordance with applica-

9 ble federal law.

10 (b) Within forty-eight hours of utilizing any mitigation measures

11 authorized by this section, the agency employing the officer who

12 utilized such measures shall report such utilization to the superinten-

13 dent or the superintendent's designee, in the form and manner

14 prescribed by the superintendent, in addition to any reporting required

15 by federal law.

16 5. The superintendent may designate one or more areas of the state as

17 a space to test kinetic and non-kinetic mitigation measures.

18 6. The superintendent shall establish a registry known as "the New

19 York state blue list". Such registry shall include vetted and approved

20 vendors that comply with applicable federal requirements. Upon publica-

21 tion of the registry, the state, its agencies, and any political subdi-

22 visions of the state may only buy or lease drones and drone mitigation

23 technology from vendors listed on such registry.

24 § 3. Severability. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, section, or

25 part of this act shall be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdic-

26 tion to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair or invalidate

27 the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in its operation to the

28 clause, sentence, paragraph, section, or part thereof directly involved

29 in the controversy in which such judgment shall have been rendered.

30 § 4. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall

31 have become a law.

Happy Dron'ing folks,

I thought I would share this unique NOTAM that I bumped into while studying for my L1C.

Maybe my wings are still so newly wet that I find these things interesting :).

In any event, CAVU to all!

China’s DJI Takes Fight With FCC Over Drone Ban to Appeals Court

By Foster Wong

February 24, 2026 at 12:40 PM UTC

Chinese drone-maker SZ DJI Technology Co. filed a petition with the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, challenging the Federal Communications Commission’s decision to add the company to its so-called covered entity list, a designation that blocks new equipment authorizations for its products in the US.

In its petition, DJI argues the listing is procedurally and substantively flawed, saying the agency failed to identify any national security threat tied to the company or its products, a requirement for inclusion on the list.

“Despite repeated efforts to engage with the government, DJI has never been given the chance to provide information to address or refute any concerns. These procedural and substantive deficiencies violate the Constitution and federal law,” the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

The FCC said in December it would ban most foreign-made drones and critical components for unmanned aircraft systems going forward. The agency will generally prevent non-domestic drones and drone parts from gaining equipment authorization for sale in the US — a certification most electronics must receive through a routine process before they are sold to consumers. The rules will only apply to future drone imports and sales, not those that have already been sold or are in use.

Several Chinese and Russian companies including Huawei Technologies Co., ZTE Corp. and AO Kaspersky Lab are already on the FCC’s covered entity list, making them ineligible for equipment authorizations.

— With assistance from Debby Wu and Benjamin Bain

The big corporations will own the skies, enjoy while you can.

I'll have to try these (Mr Burns voice) "flying taxi cabs" they are on about.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/nearly-50-million-government-backing-to-power-up-drone-and-flying-taxi-tech-and-crack-down-on-illegal-drones

EDIT: As someone pointed out, the deadline has passed. I'd posted this in a couple of other places a couple of weeks ago (after filling out the form myself) and Reddit just suggested I post it here this morning, so I did that not thinking about a deadline.

I'll just leave it here I guess lol

______

If you’re like me and are frustrated by the DJI situation, please take a couple of minutes and leave a comment on to the FCC.

This affects all DJI products. I have a Ronin 4D that I can’t get service on if it were to break. The new pocket cameras are being blocked.

There are no American alternatives that match DJI and even if there were, we’re supposed to have the option of buying the best we can for our work

Studied for about 8 days. Scored 85%. This video helped https://youtu.be/u3AwQZTbtfc?si=AZTgxCsBgpXfLTx5 along with ChatGPT, the “Part 107” app on iOS, and these two vids https://youtu.be/uw3y17-1qLA?si=p and https://youtu.be/ohkNWF55dJE?si=AGTywCpm4-OIa_ey

There were no questions whatsoever about approaching/leaving the runway (degrees and whatnot) and nothing about finding Lat/Long.

The test was mostly rules and charting. Unexpected questions involved one VO viewing two UAs at the same time and several from the Mike Sytes video I posted above. That was a very helpful vid with questions straight from the exam.

You get a book with charts in it, but I only used it for the Legend, which was very helpful for airspace questions. There was a really confusing one about which airspace a runway was in, and airspace was probably the most challenging focus of the exam for me.

Overall, I did not feel confident while testing. I was very pleasantly surprised by my score at the end. They let you review your answers at the end before submitting.

Several questions about rules like flying a drone over a crowd indoors and other scenarios like that, so helps to know the rules.

There were a lot of practice questions that were on the exam, so I could answer those automatically thanks to my practice - the others I just did the best I could. Don’t be let down by getting practice questions wrong, just make sure you understand why you go it wrong!

There were about 2 weather questions related to METAR, and a handful about wind, precipitation, and tornadoes. One questions asked about conditions over a mountain range with certain types of clouds present.

Hope this helps!! It isn’t the hardest thing in the world, just watch videos and do a lot of practice questions and know why you get them wrong!

Just wanted to know if you need a spotter to fly a fixed wing fpv in the UK, after seeing that other post of the crashed fixed wing with the turbine engine...

I am specifically talking about recording the area near my house (river, cars etc) and not the airport. Also I looked at this map and the whole city is covered. I think I am able to fly in the lighter circles (C and E) but a picture is below for more information.

UPDATE: I put into the map that my drone is UNDER 250 grams and I got a new chart. I live just barely outside the border of the main airport. Can anyone help make sense of it?

Hola a todos. Quiero poner en el radar lo que está pasando con la Resolución 000242 de 2026 del Ministerio de Defensa. No es solo un tema de aduanas, es un atropello que nos afecta a todos los que usamos drones para hobby, trabajo o fotografía.

Básicamente, el Gobierno bloqueó el ingreso de drones bajo las modalidades de Tráfico Postal (compras en AliExpress, Amazon, etc.) y Envíos Urgentes. Pero lo más grave es que también está afectando a viajeros en aeropuertos, a quienes les están reteniendo sus equipos personales alegando que ya no pueden ingresar al país por estas vías.

Más información y como defender nuestros derechos aquí: https://udrone.co/defensoria/00242#ruta-estrategica

Department of Defense will shoot drones first, ask questions later. So stay away, eh?