Originally Posted by
chuckk2
"Congress said The FAA has no Jurisdiction over toy airplanes flown for pleasure when they obey the rules of a community based origination i.e. AMA guide lines and rules."
The FAA does not agree, and contends that the Congress's language only applies to new laws/regulations, not the existing ones that basically give the FAA jurisdiction over anything that "flies",
even if it's over your own property. That fight was lost decades ago. Seems that some ranchers with very large acreages were operating light aircraft without all the FAA gotta do's.
Another loss was the 1,500 foot airspace over property "belonging" to the property owner. Actually the FAA often seems to consider light aircraft more of a nuisance/inconvenience than anything else.
Just look at the loss of "uncontrolled" airspace over the last few decades, and the decline of the light plane industry.
I do think that the current FAA stance is extreme, especially when compared to some other nations.
Actually, congress gave the FAA authority to regulate anything that flies when they created the FAA. However, in the 2012 modernization act, they told the FAA that they may not regulate recreational model airplanes as long as operators obeyed a reasonable set of safety rules developed by a nationwide community based organization.