FAA Notice of Proposed Rule Making for Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems

Tony

Staff member
This was just released by the AMA today regarding quadcopters, tricopters and so on.

Academy of Model Aeronautics said:
MUNCIE, Ind. — The Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA), the world’s largest model aviation association, today released the following statement in response to the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems released by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

“While we have not yet fully reviewed the proposed rule, we are pleased to see the FAA has concluded that regulations relating to the commercial use of small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) should not apply to the longstanding, educational hobby of flying model aircraft. These are two very different activities, and Congress appropriately made clear in 2012 that model aircraft should be exempt from federal regulation. The AMA will review the proposed rule in more detail to ensure that the rights and privileges of the model aircraft community are upheld.

“As the nationwide community-based organization for the recreational and personal use of sUAS, the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) has created relevant safety guidelines, best practices and operating principles that have allowed enthusiasts to operate their aircraft and safely use this technology for more than seven decades.

“AMA’s 78 years of experience in managing and overseeing the operation of model aircraft shows that a voluntary, community-based approach to managing this activity is far more effective in ensuring enthusiasts operate their aircraft in a safe and responsible manner.

“To this end the AMA has joined with the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, the Small UAV Coalition and other members of the small UAS and hobby industry in launching the “Know Before You Fly†campaign. This educational outreach has been widely accepted and heralded as a beneficial and effective means of educating the new sUAS enthusiasts and addressing inappropriate or improper use of this technology.

“AMA is committed to preserving the safe, enjoyable and educational hobby of flying model aircraft – without the need for unnecessary, onerous and burdensome government regulations.€
 

murankar

Staff member
So far so good. Let's see how this starts to final out. We still have lots of work ahead of us.

Sent from my LG-E980 using Forum Runner
 

Kamper

Member
Hey Tony,

It will be interesting to see how all this works out..How do you protect the world against stupidity? It would be nice if the AMA could self regulate, but I fear there will always be a work around on this regulation..

I never thought it would be that big of an issue until I took the time to look up "High Altitude Drone Flight" on You-Tube..Many postings of Drones above cloud height, say 5000 ft in the sky..WOW if a plane flies by and sucks a Quad Copter into the engine, I can only imagine what the ending could be.. Just imagine at that altitude commercial planes are either taking off or getting ready to land, a loss of an engine could really cause some grief that has the potential to be grave for many..

I talked with a guy at the LHS in Arizona awhile back about the future of Drones and he suggested that the AMA will push for programing on Drones to be governed to max height of 1000 ft. That would help but how do stop the idiots from programing the restrictions out?

I see a black cloud over the RC industry right now, there has been years of unregulated flying in the past, but that was before RC toys came with large payloads, GPS Auto Pilot flight and video/camera gear has become very small. This combination is not good for the RC enthusiast of today..I am glad that I live about 20 minutes from two AMA regulated fields in Arizona, as I fear we will be forced to fly at sanctioned fields only or pay big $$ for a RC Operator license. Quad Copters were among the #1 selling Xmas toys last year, and that means for all ages. Can you imagine if the #1 Xmas gift was an explosive device?

I have been flying for almost 3 years now, and hope I can continue to fly into my retirement in 4 years. I am not selling out yet, but I will have a watchful eye on the industry and hope for a very positive management of the hobby in the years ahead..

Just my $0.02
Ken
 

Tony

Staff member
Yeah, there is definitely a cloud over the quad (ahem drone... I hate that term) world. They are signling those out like crazy. Do they not realize I cna do the same thing with a helicopter? lmao. but yeah, I am watching this as well as I can. And if I hear anything or get an email on anything, I will post it up on here.
 
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