Drone Delivery Gets a Little Closer With New FAA Rules Taking Hold
On Sunday, a major new development in mobile took place, as new rules from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) took hold for drone aircraft.
While the skies are not yet clear for us to receive our smaller item deliveries via drone, we’re just a little closer, as the new rules allow for at least some work in this field.
The new rules apply to drones weighing under 55 pounds, and the good news is that a pilot’s license is no longer required to operate the drone.
Now, only an aeronautical exam is required, and on Monday, the first licensing exams took place with over 3,300 stepping in to try their hand at the exams.
The bad news, however, is that there are still a lot of roadblocks involved in ferrying goods about with a drone aircraft.
One of the biggest is the requirement that the drone always be within the line of sight of the operator, meaning that deliveries pretty much have to take place within eyeshot.
Drone delivery is the kind of thing that’s tailor made for mobile payments as we can order and pay from the same device, and have that expand to things like food.
Order a bottle of wine for that moonlit walk on the beach, and have it arrive on the beach. Need a new movie for movie night in an area without good streaming access?
Order a DVD and have it arrive. Order food for a tailgating party and have it arrive in the parking lot. The possibilities go on from there.
First, however, the FAA has to get its act in gear and get out of the way. Granted, there are some safety concerns, but this is too good an idea to pass up for long.
The idea that a restaurant in a small town could effectively open up delivery to a radius as effectively wide as half the battery life of a quadricopter is a huge new opportunity.
With online shopping killing brick and mortar retail, we need new profit possibilities lest small towns die for lack of work. This—along with mobile payments—is one great new option.