I agree completely. This coming from a flight software dev, instrument pilot and EAB aircraft builder: embrace the FAA and it's regulation. Don't be afraid to work with them either. If you think for a second that the UAV industry (both hobby and commercial) is going to stop at little quadcopters and 400ft, you're sorely mistaken. Not even the sky is the limit if you learn to work within the mindset that your decisions have consequences, so you very very much want to be treated as equals to manned systems. I know it sounds restrictive but manned aircraft can basically do anything and go anywhere, they just have to take certain precautions.
Tangential - any advice for software devs looking for entry level experience in the industry? It's a topic I'm passionate about and would love to branch into, but I started in computer science and don't have any aerospace experience.
Look into companies like Boeing and Airbus, then branch out into their suppliers and subcontractors. CS is all you need to get started in safety critical software (entry level positions). You’ll learn more on the job, and learn what other disciplines you should study.
Working with a supplier may prove more fruitful. Depending on the size of their components, you can be more active throughout the year. Working direct for Boeing and their peers can leave you with months of downtime sometimes (especially if you end up in the maintenance end of a system’s lifecycle and not the initial development period).
I appreciate the bit about looking into other firms in the supply chain, as I hadn't thought of that whatsoever. I'll start looking into how I fit entry level reqs for safety critical software roles. Thank you for the advice!
I got my start in the supply chain end (safety critical systems, mostly for airliners some DoD aircraft). I moved to other related areas (though not always safety critical). I had a number of friends who went to the big companies like Boeing and Airbus and they found it either very good or very bad, not much in the middle. They either had interesting (for them) work, or were stuck in a kind of nursery waiting for things to do for months at a time, and prevented from doing anything else meaningful by various corporate policies. That is my only real hesitation with those types of companies as places for a first job in the field.
