Silent-AV8R

These are ONLY what the Task Force came up with, it is NOT the final FAA Rule:

http://www.faa.gov/uas/publications/...t_11-21-15.pdf

cj_rumley

Tnx for the pointer, Silent.

First impression is that the Task Force did a very competent, rational, and comprehensive job. I doubt that FAA will have any problem incorporating it nearly verbatim into regulation.

kmeyers

I feel safer already.

250 - 24970 grams. Makes me want to drop a 249 gram object on somebodies head.

I think I will start working for Trump's election team.

Although this is seemingly simple, I would bet it will have little to no effect on the safety of the NAS.

JMHO

Sport_Pilot

Validating stupidity isn't rational. Even if competent and comprehensive.

Sport_Pilot

I agree. How many full scale planes have crashed because of drones????

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

Why should any agency that is responsible for public safety be expected to wait until AFTER there is a loss of human life before doing their job...?
No reasonable person needs to be told that registration is THE solution...but most reasonable folks ought to see that it's the most logical first step towards successful prosecution of offenders whether they are registered or not.

cj_rumley

Probably fewer than the number of people on the ground that have been maimed/killed by 'drones,' some bearing AMA registration markings.

The task force pointedly set the threshold for mass of a sUAS required to be registered based on consideration of safety of persons on the ground. They did not base it on the potential for crashing into full scale planes, citing a lack of data to justify doing so. .

kmeyers

This would make sense only if registration would have prevented any incident in the past.

I don't think I could come up with a single incident that would have been prevented by a registration Law.

I do not see the wisdom of being able to assign blame post incident. If and only if the person at fault is a follower of the rules.

Sport_Pilot

Who said anything about loss of life? Even a 55 pounder amounts to a fender bender. Model airplanes including large ones have been around a long time and people have been doing stupid things for a while. Nothing has happened, and when it has there has been little damage to the aircraft. I'm not saying we should allow people to fly in front of aircraft. But registration is an overkill!

Sport_Pilot

The answer is none! NaDa! No one has been killed by an air to air collision with a model airplane or drone!

Sport_Pilot

The answer is none! NaDa! No one has been crashed by an air to air collision with a model airplane or drone!

cj_rumley

The intent seems to be to weed out some of the persons that are not followers of the rules, prosecute and make examples of them, i.e., for the deterrent value.

Sport_Pilot

Like they would know or care about registering?

cj_rumley

Maybe so, but so what? As I said it was not a consideration in the recommendation by the TF for a 250g mass threshold for sUAS..

rgburrill

But 12 to 15 case of serious injury to a person on the ground over that last few years according ot the AMA.

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

You can't compare the odds of a traditionally operated RC craft doing serious harm to the odds that exist with drones. The vast majority of Traditional RC crashes take place within the relatively safe confines of the club field.
By design, a large percentage of Drone crashes are destined to take place OUTSIDE of the safe confines of where the pilot has chosen to operate..
I don't even know how to respond to the "55 pounder is just a fender bender" line without sounding disrespectful.

porcia83

My Feedback: (8)

Wow...he's getting the kid gloves treatment!

And yes..the 55 pound comment is odd. I've seen what a much lighter plane can do when striking a person on a mower. Multiple fractures of a leg, pins and rods.....$125,000 settlement. Hardly a fender bender.

cj_rumley

Possibly not, until a few cases of non-compliance get some publicity. That is likely to provide some 'education' that gets attention.

You know Sporty, you're never going to be happy with this. Too bad you weren't there to tell them how to do it. Did you comment as DOT provided for? I did, and was surprised that the product nicely encompassed what I submitted. Probably a drop in the bucket or totally coincidental, but just maybe............

Lifer

My Feedback: (1)

After reviewing the document, I would say it is a reasonable and rational approach. Currently, at all AMA sanctioned fields we are required to have our AMA number in or on the model. Simple enough. The federal number might even surpass the AMA i.d. number requirement.
Everything else I own has a number attached to it; cars, houses, weapons,.... ME. If this will allow law enforcement an opportunity to control those who are doing stupid or illegal things, I say fine.

kdunlap

My Feedback: (12)

Just found this in USATODAY.

"The Academy of Model Aeronautics, which represents 180,000 hobbyists nationwide and participated in the task force, wanted to file a dissenting opinion and was prevented from doing so, executive director Dave Mathewson said. Mathewson said factors other than weight should trigger the registration requirement, such as whether it could fly higher than the current 400-foot FAA limit.“Unfortunately the task force recommendations may ultimately prove untenable by requiring the registration of smaller devices that are essentially toys and do not represent safety concerns,” Mathewson said.


"http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/11/23/faa-gets-recommendations-register-all-drones/76253444/"

Here are my questions.
Why was AMA prevented from filing a dissenting opinion?
Since it can't be filed... could the AMA post the dissent please?
What is preventing AMA from sending a letter to the Administrator?

My understanding is that the report was unanimous. They specifically said no dissents. FAA announced this morning.

Just wondering. Simple questions. Simple answers.

franklin_m

An LTMA1 at AMA max allowed speed of 200MPH (293 fps) has the same kinetic energy as a average weight Mini-Cooper at about 22 mph. I'm fairly certain that if a car of that size crashed into someone, it could be fatal. Even with a 2 second shut down timer on loss of signal, that same aircraft will cover 500 feet before the engine stops, let alone how much further it will go before it hits the ground. Now put it at 400 feet in the air -- it can go a very long way.

Silent-AV8R

Here is the actual AMA statement:

http://amablog.modelaircraft.org/med...-registration/

porcia83

My Feedback: (8)

Agreed...would even go so far as to say that car hitting a pedestrian at half that speed could be fatal, if not serious. I've seen some catastrophic injuries occur as a result of low speed collisions. Recently we had a member flying a Yellow Aircraft F-16 at the field, 10S set up. Cruising by doing a low level high speed pass and as he started to pull up towards the end of the field, a scale heli popped over the trees at about 300 feet at best. The plane veered off sharply to the left the heli kept right on coming. It all happened within 3-5 seconds at best, and there is no doubt that F-16 at 20 or so pounds would have completely taken that heli out of the sky. Can only imagine the kinetic energy that had stored in it. Scary.

porcia83

My Feedback: (8)

Thanks for that. They sound frustrated.

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

The simpler they keep the criteria, the less confusion there will be.
The AMA goes on record that they did everything they could though...lol.