ORIGINAL: Silent-AV8R
Keep in mind that based on everything I have heard a lot of what is in the ARC recommendations may not actually show up in the Rule. The FAA folks said exactly that at the AMA Expo in January. So I would not start thinking that the ARC recommendations are going to be what the Rule says.
Amazingly accurate description in post 192 Silent 8.
The fact, and it is a fact, is that the ARC was formed to construe recommendations for commercial/public UAS and sUAS operationsin the NAS,period. PERIOD. Model aircraft fell into the fray by virtue of those enterprising folks who did one of several things with a (pick your noun) related to a commercial activity while operatingin the NAS, some with advertisement, and it resulted in or it will result in some form of compensation.They in essence claimed exemptionvia the ACas aMA activity when it was clearly not intended as such. Since the sUAS and UAS industry has all but exploded in terms of growth and request for CoAs, everything that resembled a UAS (MA and sUAS included) was deemed to be in need of review; that was in order to determine what was really what.Somelikened itto the supposed explosionof the VLJ market a few years ago and the impact itwould have on air trafficcongestion. No one reallyknows how many, 100, 1000, 100,000, commercial sUAS could conceivably enter the NAS; you really want to gamble your life (or an injury)or another's life on whether or not ithappens orwhen it happens?
The NPRM was not driven by the Colorado incident, it wasn't caused by the Blimp incident, and it wasn't caused by the NYC incident. If anything it was caused by the (and perhaps only anticipated) demand by commercial and public usedevdelopers wanting to conductvarious types ofoperations in the NAS; and it actually started with the good old USAF in about 1997. Do some research (on your own) and you'll find a lot more than the ARC and a few AFS-400 documents to chew on.
It's been said before, and it's quite simple, regardless of what standards are put in place by the AMA or a CBO, if the rule declares MA
exempt, then they are exempt; and in the end it won't matter whether it was under Section 2 or 3. Don't believe it? Simple enough, call an attorney and ask him/her what exempt means in terms of a regulatory requirement. It is highly, very highly, unlikely that if one does whatever to rock theirgonads and causes harm to persons or property, the one to call on them will be from the FAA. It is muchmore likely it will be from the damaged party's attorney.You have more to fear from the local PD if and when they deploy sUAS for surveillance work than you do from the AMA or the FAA.
Furthermore, the government just announced how it planned to reduce spending, throughout several LOBs,under its continuing resolution by up to 78 billion dollars. It has stopped hiring, it is looking at RIFs, and might even do early buy-outs; where in the world are they going to get the resources to do what some here suggest. Nextthere will be thescreaming because of the freebies that got whacked in the process and who will you blame for that? Nothing sweet last forever, so you compromise, you adjust, you observe, you adapt and you move forward. Will the AC be revised, probably. Will it bring mayhem anddestruction to what is said to be a billion dollar industry? I for one seriously doubt it. Will it be the ruination of MA because by definition MA are sUAS? No, because the intent is to differentiate it from numerous (and onerous) other regulatory requirements;in that very same context the intention is to segregate it by exempting it. Individuals can turn, twist, and knot that anyway they wish, but in the end the bottom line is that the activity is exempt.
Lambasting the AMA, the FAA, or any organization here only proves you can put your finger to a keypad. No one is forced to be a member or to follow any AMA rules. The AMA was founded for a purpose and it still has a purpose, perhaps it needsredefining. So make a suggestion for change. You don't like like the FAA, fine, suggest something constructive via the comment period or petition to have the rule removed (yes, there is a procedure for that). *****ing, degrading,and moaning about it does nothing but reiterate what most already know, yet it seemingly creates a hostility amongst fellow modelers; and that just seems silly. Fire away.
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