Talk:Drones

Drones

Swept in from the pub

I was looking for prominent/interesting articles to translate to the Hebrew Wikivoyage and I came across the Drones article. Unfortunatly at its current state it is a very short stub, which I think is a shame, as this is a topic that currently is of interest to many people looking to do some drone flying as one of the fun activities they regularly do during various trips they take. I'll be gratefull if some other Voyagers, knowledagble about this topic, would be able to help expand it a bit more (and I'll translate your work to Hebvoy afterwords). ויקיג'אנקי (talk) 22:50, 20 November 2020 (UTC)

I'm actually not sure this article falls within our scope. What, after all, is different about flying drones while travelling than otherwise? I can't see this article evolving much beyond a mix of 1) drone-relevant but not travel-relevant content and 2) a list of jurisdictions where drone flying is legal vs. illegal of the type that belongs on Wikipedia rather than here. -- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 23:00, 20 November 2020 (UTC)

Yeah, it's tangential to travel. I don't think the little article that's there now is doing any harm, but I'm not sure I see the point on enlarging on it, unless there are specific regulations about taking drones on planes or other modes of transportation. Ikan Kekek (talk) 23:43, 20 November 2020 (UTC)

It is an increasingly difficult subject relevant to tourist spaces (there are many now with drones prohibited signs at tourist locations in Australia for instance) and so complex across a range of interests - legal, administrative and technical - that I agree with Andre being better on wikipedia than here. The actual carying that Ikan identifies, is perhaps as complicated as the requirements for any other technical gizmos when travelling. I am not so sure where that might go. It could get very complicated. JarrahTree (talk) 04:47, 21 November 2020 (UTC)

If many people would consider taking a drone on their travels, I think there indeed is travel related info to include. My impression is there is not a black-and-white legal vs illegal distinction, but more or less tight regulation. I suppose that using a drone could be legal in a country, "except near airfields and security sensitive areas, provided the flight height is low enough and you respect people's privacy". In other countries you might need to have a flight certificate, or keep the drone in sight. Typical restrictions, where to find them etc. might very well be worth an article.

Much of the content could be in a Wikipedia article, but there is currently no one article on this topic, and Wikipedia articles tend to leave out e.g. actual regulations in preference for namedropping them (often without links), and mixing up historic and current regulation. The current w:Regulation of unmanned aerial vehicles has only random pieces of information. There is very much a niche for an article concentrating on practical aspects of using drones across borders at an amateur scale.

Still, it seems we lack the expertise to write and maintain a useful article with more than some remarks and pointers. The current outline (actually: stub) does no harm, but is also of little use. If somebody actually has experience of researching legal aspects and bringing and using a drone abroad, they could probably make it actually useful.

–LPfi (talk) 13:00, 21 November 2020 (UTC)

There are often limits on the capacity of Li-Ion batteries that can be carried aboard airplanes. Those are quite commonly set lower than the capacity of even relatively small drones... Hobbitschuster (talk) 13:22, 21 November 2020 (UTC)

Isn't this one of those topics that will just stay as a stub/outline until someone with both passion and knowledge comes along and works on it? As long as it's within scope (which I think it is), there's no harm just waiting for that person to arrive, and if anyone else wants to tinker around at the edges in the meantime, all the better.--ThunderingTyphoons! (talk) 13:36, 21 November 2020 (UTC)

The question in my mind is always "what's a drone"? This might be one of those things that's too complicated and too changeable for a travel guide, but I've seen what I'd call a flying toy for sale in airports, and at least in the past, under some regulations, those were "drones" that would have required registration. WhatamIdoing (talk) 18:31, 21 November 2020 (UTC)

I've met a lot of people who are travelling with drones. Because a lot of drones seem to be noisy enough to wreck the serenity of a place, I'm in favour of the "no drones" policies that are being adopted, and not interested in writing an article about them. But i think that they are very much in scope. Ground Zero (talk) 18:58, 21 November 2020 (UTC)

Yes, that's a problem. Writing a good guide that emphasises the ethics might not make the problem worse, though, except if people are droning specifically those serene places. But you are probably right. The drone uses I have been thinking about are all such that they are better done by locals, e.g. the aerial images of all guest harbours of the Great Barbour Book (the yachters' Bible over here, produced by volunteers), or WMSE documenting Kiruna before relocation – those are just one drone session per site, and some others not that much more. –LPfi (talk) 20:31, 21 November 2020 (UTC)

New rules in UK and EU...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-55424729

In summary:

• All drone users and operators (outside certain limits, for 'toys' and so on) will now need to obtain a license
• the distinction between commercial and recreational use has been changed.
• "Heavy" drone users, such as those operating filming platforms are subject to tighter regulation than before. In some cases drones are now subject to the same rules as other aviation.

ShakespeareFan00 (talk) 15:03, 2 January 2021 (UTC)

UK Official advice seems to be here - https://register-drones.caa.co.uk/drone-code ShakespeareFan00 (talk) 15:04, 2 January 2021 (UTC)