Registration Parade

on March 27, 2019

A Facebook posting by a well-known WA photo personality has alerted us to the coming of some important regulations for drone flyers.

CASA will apparently be requiring you to register if your drone is above a certain weight. You'll be taking a course and test and then your information will be stored ready to track you down should you do the wrong thing.

How people who see your drone doing the wrong thing - like flying in restricted air space or snooping at the nurse's quarters on Shower Night - will be able to tell it is yours is a moot point. It's not like you'll be painting buzz codes under your tiny little fuselage in bold letters. If your miniature helicopter darts in, drops a bag of flaming dog poo on the doorstep, then disappears over the treeline, the victim will be outraged but lose sight of the drone quickly.

Still, there may be hidden circuits in the things that report your every move back to Canberra...or Beijing, for that matter...and they may be able to track you down from that. I don't know what might exist in drones that have been sold prior to the establishment of stricter controls - and whether theese devices will be able to change hands on the second and thirdhand market to people who would never register for anything anyway.

Is there a provision for the local police to demand that a drone flyer show a license now? Or to comply with any direction at all? Are there CASA inspectors on the roads with sound detector vans listening for the whir and buzz? Are we firmly and fearlessly bolting the door to the sound of departing hoofbeats?

Heading Image: If you are going to take aerial pictures at least do it in some sort of style. At about 400 mph...

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