modelflyer5

I think that these two documents were written to show the FAA that the AMA was not going to just stand by and let them do what they wanted. It is to my understanding that late November, the FAA board was replaced with all new members. More of the members are or where RC pilots. These two documents to me look like a call to arms sort of thing. It looks like the FAA saw the writing on the wall. That is why in early January, at the convention, you saw two organizations showing a mutual repect for each other.

AMA officails at the AMA convention discussion on the FAA concluded that no part of Model Aviation would be left behind. I think this to be true. These groups in question have not posed a major threat to anyone. I do think that a very few of the turbine guys are making it bad for all the rest (pushing the envelope will eventualy end in a very bad accident). The AMA officials didn't say much about what was coming, but they did say that they wouldn't let these groups be extinguished for the good of the rest.

I think that the FAA are targeting certain aspects of the RC aircraft world:

1.The aircraft that are flown by cameras (My label) are a big part of what the FAA are after. It makes sense. The limited visibility of the pilots makes them dangerious. To be able to use this system to target is another danger!!!

2.The pilots who choose to fly where they want without regaurd to public safety. The so called park fliers. Not all of them, the few that think they have the right to be there and no one else does. They fly with no regaurd to who is around them or without the aid of a spotter. In this case public safety is a big concern.

3.The groups that fly without AMA guidance. We have a group that flies at a location not made to be a flying area. It is only on Saturday or Sunday when there are very few people around. The problem is that you have a bunch of independent thinking pilots that fly the way they want to with no set of rules. Eventually, someone will get hurt. A lot of us in the area will not fly there because of the lack of respect for there fellow pilots.

I think it is to early to make judgements on this. We have no real information on what the regulations are. These regulations will have teeth though. I think that there will be a specific set of rules that will carry consiquences. I think that the FAA will inforce the rules three ways. The first being after a major accident. The second is when they are notified of something happening that shouldn't be (like what happens in full scale when one pilot does something that everyone else knows is against the rules). The third is when they happen to see it.

As for the rules that we are afraid of. There just is no real information coming out that there will be restrictions that don't allready exist (with the exception of the three things listed above).It is odvious that the rules that the AMA suggest work. With the amount of aircraft in the air at one time (full scale and model) it is amazing that there are not more accidents than there has been. Why wouldn't the FAA adopt what works? Why wouldn't they take what works and make them a clearer set of rules than what is in place? Once they are in place, then there will be clear consequences to those who choose to brake there rules. I think they are taking very vauge suggestions and making them clearer rules.