porcia83

My Feedback: (8)

Wait a sec...are you saying people make campaign contributions hopipng for favors? Like...quid pro qou. Color me shocked, and dismayed.

porcia83

My Feedback: (8)

K, thanks for the clarification.

porcia83

My Feedback: (8)

I'd be interested in those numbers as well. Somewhere in the ether of the web, I saw either 2,000 or 20,000. I would guess the former, and that would probably be on the high side. You do in fact need AMA if you are flying FPV with quads at chartered fields, and I would say absolutely there are some that only fly this...I signed up two at my club this year. That's one percent of the membership, gotta start somewhere. FPV racing is twice as big now as it was 2 or 3 years ago. RCG has loads of threads on this, and events are cropping up more and more, with big names sponsoring it. They had fpv racing at the NEAT fair, Joe Nall, and I believe SEFF as well. Again, another great reason why I think the AMA made the right call on inclusion (clearly a minority opinion here I know). Anyway, it will probably be bigger in the coming years. A LHS near me sponsors these races, and we actually had two compete in our Pylong race event this year. Not my cup of tea at all, hard enough to keep a plank in the sky sometimes, but fun to watch. From behind someone.

porcia83

My Feedback: (8)

In all fairness, bringing an alternative position to the table or trying to get someone to validate what they purport to be fact when it's really a generality or opinion isn't popular here. It's certainly easier to go with the flow and just pile on. If you look closely though, you'll see folks who would rather attack the poster, rather than challenge the comments. Personal attacks, mean spirited comments, and name calling are resorted to. If you take the time to look, you'll see it's not generally those trying to add a different perspective (nobody is immune though). It's wasted energy to look back amount 1219 comments for sure, just look no further than #1222 for a general idea though.

mike1974

My Feedback: (1)

I totally agree with what you're saying. FPV has some really cool, AMA approved applications!!! The racing is really cool! I have a 250 FPV race quad. It's really fun to go to my club field and rip it up and down the runway!! It's quite the rush to be zinging along the runway a few inches above the ground!! All AMA approved flight with spotter LOS.

I really think there are far fewer problems/incidens with multis, or any rc aircraft, then "they" are leading us to believe. It's just hard to believe there are that many people without any common sense or thought of safety. Who knows.

porcia83

My Feedback: (8)

Free entertainment...better than cable TV. I suspect this is not representative of the community as a whole. Some want it to be so very badly, but I doubt the majority of the AMA members feel this way. That's my opinion by the way...not fact.

porcia83

My Feedback: (8)

Absolutely.....this issue is just a popular one to hold up as a bad example. Remember when the lasers were the worst thing going on, pointing at airplanes? Suddenly, this has stepped into the light...where is the proposed registration on lasers?

I applaud your ability to keep that little sucker in flight. I watched someone do some aerobatics and can't fathom keeping track of where they are, even with bright color props.

mike1974

My Feedback: (1)

Ya, I remember that whole laser thing!! They were going to be banned. They thought people would take down a plane, trick people or LEOS's into thinking someone had a sight on them, etc. Then the whole issue just disappeared. It was weird.

If you are talking about me flying my quad like that LOS I cant do that. lol. I can rip it around if I have goggles on though!!

mongo

My Feedback: (15)

towards the end of the 90s, early 2000s, some AMA Vp guy tried to get it written in, that the safety code applied 24/7/52 to any AMA member.
not only did it not get far, he did not win his re election, i seem to remember he did not even run.

nothing is ever really new in this life.

GravyRobber

Haha, you've got that right! I've been a member of the community for almost 20 years, I'm just new to this particular forum. I love some good ole' online bickering as much as the next guy, but some of the mud-slinging on here is a bit off-putting. Especially the fact that its basically all for no reason. As far as I can tell, none of this even applies to us, not even MR pilots. It only applies to those who which to use any RC aircraft for commercial purposes. Now, my biggest concern would be whether or not the good ole' gubment' considers prize money for contests (IMAC, scale, heli, etc...) to be commercial use? If so, that kills a major part of the spirit of the hobby.

Carry on, I've got popcorn ready

franklin_m

My statement was more of the rhetorical variety. In my personal opinion, I still believe the $1M was a near complete waste of money. To be fair, I'm sure some of it went to preventing an asteroid impact that would end life on earth, so I doubt you or another would ever admit it - regardless of what the FAA does in the near term or in the long term.

porcia83

My Feedback: (8)

Same stuff, different era. Human nature. Every now and then an "outlier" comes along and hits it out of the park with an idea, or gets hit out of the park.

porcia83

My Feedback: (8)

Loves me some buttery kernels. Part of the problem is the ambiguous language battered around by the folks in big govt. They sometimes hate specificity, don't want to be boxed into a corner. When they are vague though, it has a ripple effect. I think we'll know more by the end of Nov, and then what might follow from there. For now, it's just all yappin, most if it in good spirit. At the end of the day...it's about toys.

porcia83

My Feedback: (8)

If for no other reason than to "keep them honest", I suspect the AMA would spend that kind of money to keep you around.

N410DC

• 1 and 2: I don't see how they will be able to do this proactively. They will simply have to resort to nailing pilots when they find out about an unregistered UAV serendipitously (e.g. after an incident, a complaint, or via. a random check at a flying site.) Many people drive for years after their drivers license expires, or even after it has been suspended. These individuals are almost never caught until they get pulled over for an unrelated offense, or until they are stopped at a "license checkpoint."

• 3: I have seen some speculation (far from being official) that this idea is being considered. It makes perfect sense to me. The AMA has been using a similar system for decades. If a pilot has 100+ models that must be registered, it's a lot easier for the FAA to simply give him a single registration number, and require him to affix this single number to all of his models. This will also each of us to simply register as an RC pilot once, and use the same number for the rest of our lives, and will save the FAA the administrative headache of having to process a new registration every time a R/C pilot buys or builds a new aircraft.

• 4: As a federal taxpayer, I will be paying for everyone's registration anyway.

• 5: It seems that one will simply have to put the registration number somewhere on the aircraft. Some of the ideas that have been leaked by the decision makers have indicated that we will not have to register serial numbers or any other identifying info for each individual model. If each pilot is simply issued a single registration number for all aircraft (refer to #3 above), then the pilot complies with the rule simply by affixing a registration number to each aircraft. This is really no more difficult that complying with the long-standing AMA guidelines that require us to affix our AMA number (or name/address) to all of our aircraft (even those that weigh less than 9oz, as a matter of fact.)

• 6: Even if a sUAV is being flow legally and responsibly at a CBO-sanctioned field by a very safe and experienced pilot, the devil's advocate would say that the model could fly away due to a radio malfunction, and crash miles away from the flying field. If this were to happen, the FAA (and/or local law enforcement) would want to be able to locate the owner, if the aircraft caused damage or injury. Perhaps it would make sense to allow the registration number to be placed inside the model, though (similar to the AMA's current guidelines.) I am not agreeing with this stance; I am simply tying to step in the shoes of the decision makers.

vertical grimmace

My Feedback: (1)

Interesting time for the quads. I was involved with the RCCA in it's infancy. Probably the newest AMA special interest group. (SIG) As many of you know, the SIG's are the ones who organize and promote their events. The RCCA, is the RC combat group. I am currently a member of 2. MACA and NASA. Miniature aircraft combat association, and the National association of scale modelers. As far as I know, the is currently not a recognised SIG for quad flying. Maybe there is one in the works though. Point here is that the AMA by itself does not create and promote events. The SIG's do this. The SIG's are the ones who organize and run their own events at the AMA national. The AMA adopts and approves the SIG, and the SIG adopts the rules for their events, with rules cycles. I have not seen an AMA quad racing event. So while it may happen in the future, the SIG will have to be created, and rules events created. It is clear there are quad racing events, it would seem that they are occurring without the AMA though.

porcia83

My Feedback: (8)

yes, I agree...not an "AMA" function at this point, it just happens at fields and in many instances those fields are requiring an AMA card. As for the SIG....that's in the works I'm sure.

HoundDog

My Feedback: (49)

Some ones gota the LHS in business ... Heaven knows the El Cheepo R/C Flyers all braf how they got something for a Nickle cheaper than the LHS sells it for. OH and free shipping too and no tax.
I always ask the LHS what they can get something for ... Sometimes it's even less. Ujust will never know till U ask.

TimJ

Speculation. Lets hold tight for the actual regulation......

porcia83

My Feedback: (8)

sounds like something I might have said once or 52 times....

rcmiket

The best part is when you offer them MAP pricing and they order it anyway off the net then expect us to explain how it works or set it up. Better yet expect us to warranty a item they didn't buy from us. Actually funny to a certain extent but does get old after awhile.

Mike

porcia83

My Feedback: (8)

Or better yet they bring in a HK or Nitroplanes set up and ask you to set it up and fix the wacky gear configuration, or set the timing on the ESC without any instructions. Ya...good times.

Lamoilleriver

Will UFO's need to register? Ask the astronauts on the space station to take care of it? Just want to make sure we cover all the bases.

TimJ

Those guys aren't your customer anyway. Spending more time with your actual customers is time better spent. They will never buy from you.

rcmiket

Yes
Mike.