Originally Posted by
Jim Branaum
That first quote says it all. There are no longer real laws in this country that hold anyone responsible for their actions, rather beliefs that x, y, or z should be prosecuted for a, b, and or c. If you doubt that, check out Mike Nifong and his activities.
As for you comments in the second quote, I have reservations about the AMA's ability or willingness to educate rather than control as the approach in use appears to be control to manage the collateral damage rather than educate so the difference between renegades and us is seen, recognized, accepted, and acted on. Having said that and having looked at the politrician class I am not convinced that education to that standard is possible by anyone, much less the AMA. Remember politicians AT ALL LEVELS are folks who do things for and by looks and they depend on the entertainment media for direction. Other people call the entertainment media 'the news'. This is heavy meat for a totally different very serious discussion but not for modeling.
Jim: I agree with that statement. The AMA only " Makes Safety Suggestions for Flying". They do not control anything. The FAA makes Rules and suggestions, passed by Congress for Law, However, they do need to make new restrictions , where ""ALL R/C aircraft"" are not considered "Drones" in a catagory buy itself." Newly developed Quad Copters" make it clear.
R/C aircraft have been around for 50-75 years or so, and no problems surfaced until the latest invention of the "Quad Copter" with cameras within the last couple of years.
Airline Pilots has submitted numerous reports about this subject, but nothing has been done to correct it. Numerous Firefighting Crews powered by Props and jets, have been grounded by idiots flying around a fire, to capture a photograph of the fire.
These idiots, do not understand the very basic rules of Safety when flying, they just go ahead and do it,
It is time for US to come up with a Safety Plan that will serve the public and preserve our hobby as it is now.
If this is not done, we will see more regulations, more rules, and a slow destruction of this hobby as we see it today.