NorfolkSouthern

Modelers may be in an uproar over this act, but people will have to start to realize that model aviation started with free flight, and then went to control-line. RC is not traditional model aviation. It only started to become popular in the late 1970's. In those days, most of what you could buy at a hobby shop were powered by .15 sized engines or smaller. The stuff you could buy off the shelf at the local K-Mart had an .049 or even as small as a .020 engine and control-lines. You could even buy a .010 sized for free flight and other hobbies. Back in the day, you could fly control-line at the local baseball diamond, empty parking lot, or playground. All this was routine in the 1950's, 1960's and 1970's. And AMA membership was nothing more than an option.

And then modelers started flying bigger, and bigger planes. Quarter scale, 50cc and larger gassers. The models got so big, that they now require a special runway and fly in large, sponsored fields away from residential areas. One model of a large jet even caught the attention of the FAA. This was a MODEL airplane, not a drone!

Then there were threads all over the place on the internet about converting the smaller nitro models to electric, and now all this technology exists to enable multi-rotors, and autonomous flight. Plus, auto stabilization. Plus, electric park flyers that can fly out of anybody's back yard, with no vetting, testing, or ANY training required to fly. Just go to Wal-Mart, take it out of the box, and go fly. Simple. Easy. Any fool can do it.

And now we have this bill, which even the Experimental Aircraft Association supports. And yes, in spite of the FAA's regulations, home-built aircraft are still being built in garages. And they are still being furnished with airworthiness certificates after completion and inspection. The bill, as it is written, will not stop people from building model airplane kits. But it will stop fools from buying a toy from Wal-Mart and doing stupid things.

Iif you want to build that huge half-scale warbird gasser, you will probably have to have it certified. To me, that's not a big deal. There's just a little more paper work and inspection involved. They take 6 months to build anyway, so what difference does a few days of testing and inspection make so it's actually safe to fly? It won't end model aviation as we know it. It will only add value to the sport. If I build another plane, and have it certified airworthy, and I am able to acquire the necessary license and medical certificate, then I will have something I can be proud of. I would no longer have to consider the hobby as a meaningless pursuit. I could even apply my skills towards full-scale.

I see no problem with it as it is written.