Thank you McDoo for a very good exposition of the situation. Best declare my interest here: my big bruvva (ex-RAF pilot) has just completed the licensing process described by McDoo, and is every bit as professional in his (and his observer's) approach to the task as any AOC holder should be. If I was only sharing the low-level airspace (and you don't get much closer to the ground than following 11kv wires much of the day) with operators like him I would be extremely comfortable and confident.
I am not particularly worried about them taking over my job; the range and versatility of a heli still beats UAS at least 98% of the time in our work, although there ARE specialised instances where a drone can achieve better imagery.
As for operating them at airfields - if you subscribe to CAA bulletins you'll see that one of the most recent INs concerns UAS ops at airfields. Who would want to? How about operators of large aircraft who want to carry out pre-flight/ post-flight inspections... I for one would not enjoy clambering over a Beluga to achieve the kind of look-see that I can give my EC135. Give me access to a good UAS and a competent operating team and I'd be delighted with the results.
Drones are here to stay - get them (and pocket l@sers...) out of the hands of the untrained and they'll be no more hazardous than anything else we have to deal with.