RCUer75345

Probably. Not just Amazon, but lots of other companies that want to use drones for commercial purposes including delivery. Drones can't see, so the FAA wants to create a new Unmanned Traffic System (UTM) to keep them from running into each other. Remote Identification (Remote ID) is needed to make that happen.

Not yet. You can read the whole FAA Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) here:
https://www.federalregister.gov/docu...rcraft-systems

You can also make comments, which the FAA has to review before the rule goes final. The comment period ends March 2 -- so don't wait too long.

If the rule passes as written -- Yes. We'll have to put individual numbers on all our planes (except micros weighing 0.55 lb or less). And that means paying a fee for each plane.

No, only aircraft are required to have registration numbers. But there's a catch: The Remote ID requirements apply to "systems", not just airplanes; and the FAA defines a "system" as including the airplane and everything needed to fly or control it. That means it's not clear whether we can still use one transmitter with multiple Remote ID compliant airplanes.

There is a way you can keep using 72 MHz equipment, and also newer equipment without Remote ID. It's called a Federally Recognized Identification Area (FRIA), meaning a place the FAA knows planes will be flying without Remote ID so drones can be steered around it. If you belong to a model club that has a fixed flying field, the Community Based Organization (CBO) that the club is part of can apply to have the field recognized as a FRIA. If you fly at a fixed site that doesn't have a club, you might want to think about forming one so you can protect your field in this way. You'll only have 12 months to do this after the rules go final.
Without a FRIA to fly in, your old radios and planes can still be used for 36 months after the rule goes final. After that they aren't legal to operate outside of a FRIA.

It's more than "chip". The FAA NPRM says what the FAA wants the system to do, but not how to do it. You can't buy Remote ID equipment today, and there's no guarantee that components you can put in your own planes will ever be available. In fact the FAA is discouraging that -- they want all Remote ID compliant model airplanes to be off-the-shelf complete "systems" bought as a package. If you want to build new planes from kits, you can do that -- but only if you have a FRIA to fly them in.

Probably can't shut it down, but one purpose of Remote ID is to make the data available for law enforcement. So if you're flying a Remote ID compliant plane at an illegal altitude, or an illegal location, your signals are creating a record which law enforcement can track or which can be used against you in court.

Hope this helped some. We're all going to have lots of questions as this shakes out.

IMO the best thing you can do right now is read the NPRM and make comments.