Originally Posted by
franklin_m
Unfortunately, that is just not supported by the language being used by the only people that matter, the FAA. Just yesterday they said that the group was to develop "a process for owners of small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) to register their aircraft."
I don't see "drones" or "multi-rotors" mentioned anywhere in that. In fact, I'll remind you that the FAA defines aircraft as "any contrivance invented, used, or designed to navigate, or fly in, the air. 49 U.S.C. 40102, see also 14 C.F.R. 1.1." They went on to add that "Although model aircraft may take many forms, at a base level model aircraft are clearly 'invented, used, or designed' to fly in the air."
FAA has consistently used sUAS and "aircraft" in the context of this registration discussion. Any belief that there is some hidden spirit or intent that it applies to a smaller subset is simply not supported by FAA official statements.
Yup, FAA's position is pretty clear and predictable. This being an AMA discussion forum, I'll ask what position AMA took on the matter.
(a) Did they support modelers (members only, of course that's a given) that have supported AMA with their dues for many decades and argue for exempting fixed wing?
(b) Did they hold to their current marketing obsession and go with the "we're all in it together" shtick so as to not offend the droners?
(c) Did they prevail?
We'll have the answers in due time when the minutes of the task group are made available. I'm asking now to get insight into what was/is expected of AMA's representation of our interests in the issue.