When Flying a Drone Felt Like the Wild West

Before I get into this, I want to quickly say that I love flying drones, I love my job, and I couldn’t stop unless I was forced to…which may or may not happen. Even though I didn’t have the luck or privilege to be an early adopter drone pilot, I do know people who were, and they have told me those were the days. So how about we all take a ride in Mr. Peabody’s Way Back machine?

In the early days, flying a drone was simple in a way that’s hard to explain to us newer pilots. They bought a drone, charged some batteries, found an open field, and just flew. There were fewer apps, fewer warnings, less geofencing on the map, and much less awareness from the general public; the skies felt open. Pilots were learning in real time. So were manufacturers. And so were regulators. There was a sense of excitement every time they flew (BTW, there’s still excitement, it’s just now we have to worry about alot more). Aerial video and photos were now available to ordinary people, not just film crews with helicopters and $$$. They taught themselves camera moves, chased sunsets, filmed empty beaches and landscapes just because they could. How cool was that? Pilots learned through online forums, YouTube videos, trial and error, (and the occasional “bad” landing). There was less “paperwork” and a lot more fun. It was, in a sense, an innocent time. However as with most things, the gravy train doesn’t go on forever.

As drones became more common and popular, the risks started to become more obvious, and it became clear that drones were no longer just toys. They were becoming part of the national airspace conversations. The FAA responded by building a more formal framework around drone operations, specifically for commercial work. Today, drone pilots operating under a Part 107 certification face a system that also includes drone registration, airspace authorization rules, waiver pathways for certain operations, and Remote ID requirements for most drones that require registration. And then there are the practical hoops every working pilot needs to be aware of. Before every job/mission/flight, we are checking multiple maps to verify whether the site is near controlled airspace, looking for stadium restrictions or other TFRs, confirming whether the property itself allows launch and landing, making sure your aircraft is properly registered, and ensuring your Remote ID setup is working. If the mission falls outside standard operating limits, then we may need an operational waiver and a safety case to support it. The FAA gladly supplies multiple online tools that must be navigated for us to stay compliant. Suffice it to say in today’s world, being a licensed drone pilot is about much more than just knowing how to move sticks on a controller.

Does that sound like the old days? Nope. The romance is gone man! The days of just throwing a drone in the truck, finding a beautiful location, and being airborne in minutes with no second thought are over. What once felt like a cool hobby with a camera attached now feels like a regulated flight operation, because that is exactly what it is now.

Now let me talk about the good, because it does matter to the industry as a whole

Today’s drone industry is much more credible because it has the structure now… and our clients and customers take us more seriously. Public safety agencies and responders, inspectors, land surveyors, filmmakers and photographers, and construction teams can now build sustainable drone operations because there are established rules. The system is certainly not perfect, nor convenient for that matter but it has helped drones evolve from toys/gadgets to real world valuable tools. FAA clearly separates recreational flyers from commercial drone pilots now; it even requires safety knowledge for the recreational flyers. The gray areas are becoming less.

So maybe, at the end of the day, it’s not the freedom of the good old days versus the (what seems like it anyways) never ending bureaucracy. Maybe it’s simple – We’ve just grown up as an industry. Early on, being a drone pilot meant exploring the possibilities. Today, the possibilities are still there but now it means proving you can do it responsibly.

I understand why veteran pilots miss the early days of drone flying. Sometimes, I wish I could have been there too; I’m sure there was magic to it. But I also understand why we now have the rules. Once enough people were flying, and once enough money, risk, and public attention entered the picture, the Wild West was never going to last.

Until next time, have fun and fly safe!