porcia83

My Feedback: (8)

Worship....lol.

skylark-flier

Yeah, got mine back too.

Bye bye! Don't let the door slam on the way out.

I'm not totally happy with either AMA or FAA (not by a long shot), but I'm not about to abandon either of them - or my planes either.

TomCrump

Exactly. I'm not about to give up a life-long passion so easily.

This hobby means to much to just let it go at the first sign of adversity. There may come a time to stand up, and take action. I'm not so sure that it's worth leaving the hobby for a 5 minute registration and a poorly handled negotiation. .

scale only 4 me

My Feedback: (158)

It's continues to amaze me how people get so angry with those that don't 100% agree with their opinions, The AMA does some great things,, as well as something I totally disagree with. I far from Worship or Despise them,, Life isn't that black or white.

jmiles1941

I registered 21 dec got my refund back last week , AMA now says to register they are going to fight but going to take a lot more time than feb 19 glad igot mine done

HoundDog

My Feedback: (49)

Sport if it weren't complicated we'ed all quit posting and go fly or build or someting,

But NOPE we just continue to INSULT each other ... Oh Well it's just getting more

complicated.

HoundDog

My Feedback: (49)

Again NO ONE is stopping U from starting Your own R/C TOY airplane organization with

cheep dues and Insurance to cover Flying Field Owners and .
You...Go For IT nobody is is

twisting your arm to belong. Maybe U can get AVEMCO to

cover your toys.

https://www.avemco.com/default.aspx?...5F8aAr3B8P8HAQ

maillemaker

I'm still on like page 4 of this thread so forgive me if some of this has already been covered.

I'm relatively new back into things RC. about 20 years ago I was in to RC planes pretty heavily. I had 3 or 4 planes. I built a camera box for an auto-advance 35mm camera and mounted it to the belly of one of my planes and used a servo to activate it to take some pretty cool pictures.

Last Christmas my son got a little drone but it wasn't much of one - just a counter-rotating helicopter that did not fly very well. This year he got an Envision quadracopter with a built-in 720 resolution camera. It fits in the palm of your hand.

It's not just first-person view pilots causing the issue here. It's the fact that technology has progressed to the point where it takes virtually no skill to fly these things, and combined with GPS and/or other internal guidance / autopilot capabilities these things now have the potential to do some serious things.

Yes, voyeurism is an issue, and little boys in rich suburban neighborhoods all over the country are going to be hovering over the neighborhood pool this summer recording girls in their bikinis. But how many of you have seen the video of the drone carrying and firing a handgun on it?

Facial recognition is already "old" technology. How long before a drone can be outfitted with a camera, facial recognition software, and a gun, and then programmed to fly to and loiter in an area where the intended victim is anticipated to be, so that it can assassinate them on sight? This sort of thing is probably easily achievable right now. Even simpler, how long until these are used to deliver home-made bombs onto the roof top of the abortion clinic directly above the facilities operating room, or the resident doctor's office inside?

We are only on the tip of this iceburg right now.

Of course, on the issue of voluntary registration, this, like the idea of firearm registration (welcome to the club, RC folks), it's a waste of time. It doesn't stop crime, and it won't help you follow up on crime if the item isn't registered to start with or if the identifying markings are obliterated. Of course the next step coming up is registration won't be voluntary, it will be mandatory at the point of sale. Sellers will be required to submit a record of what is bought and when, and unlike firearms which are simple mechanical machines drones contain microelectronics which can contain identifying codes that cannot easily be obliterated.

We are on the cusp of cheap, robust, semi-autonomous robotic aircraft. It's only a matter of time before these are used to deliberately target and kill. You think the **** is hitting the fan now, wait until the first drone murder happens. Wait until its target is a politician.

maillemaker

The way I see this going down is the registration requirement will be made at the point of retail sale. And unlike firearms, drones are sophisticated electronics that will be capable of holding an indelible identification code inside its electronics, beyond the reach of most people.

Of course then you have the same problem the firearm registry people have - how to record private sales, which the federal government cannot regulate, and which is difficult to enforce in any case.

But I would not be surprised to see a registration requirement at point of sale.

Steve

maillemaker

Unfortunately, I think we are just at the tip of the iceburg for drone problems.

The first time one of these is shown to have deliberately been used to kill or injure someone, or they are used to post to the internet nasty/compromising pictures/video of some rich person, all bets are off.

Steve

TomCrump

How would this work for those of us that build our models ? I can't foresee a time that I would need to register a few sheets of balsa.

TLH101

My Feedback: (90)

You do not register the models!!!!!!! The pilot registers ONCE, and it's good for 3 years.

skylark-flier

For the 1st time in any of these threads, I'm going to disagree near 100% with many of the comments above.

Guns have been used to kill and maim for 400+ years - and they're available publicly.
Cars have been used to kill and maim for 100 years - and they're available publicly.
Boats too, airplanes (fullsize) too, clubs too, axes too, knives too, saws too.
Food has been used since the caveman to poison people - and it's available publicly.
Cameras have been used to photograph people with and without their permission for 150 years - and they're available publicly.

The sky ain't falling!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, FAA got caught with their pants down, no doubt about that. Yes, the US government in general is so out of step with the rest of the world I doubt they'll ever catch up. NO, there was no tsunami of 1,000,000+ drones in the sky after Christmas. Actually, on that point the FAA might actually have had it close when they said they expected the majority of those sold to be out of action shortly (a heavy paraphrase here). Just in the past 3 weeks the number of drone crashes on u-tube have quadrupled, and then some.

It's a craze, like any other craze. The only difference in this one is that it impacts "traditional modelers" like me more than any other has, and for awhile at least, we've gotta jump through a little hoop before we can go back to doing what we love most - building and flying model planes.

As my wise old father once said - "and this, too, shall pass".

maillemaker

I expect that like firearms only register the receiver, with aircraft they will go after the receiver.

I never said anything about anything not being publicly available.

I said registration will become mandatory at the point of sale - at least retail sale. Similar to guns, cars, and boats, by the way.

Will it be just a "craze"? Perhaps. One fueled every 12 months with the latest technology, though.

What we've already seen is a toy that would have cost $600+ 20 years ago now be available at Walmart for less than $50. Sometimes less than $30. And the things can now be made semi-autonomous. The quadracopter my son got for Christmas for $50 will turn a flip in mid air at the push of a button. I'd bet they are already available, but if not, it won't be long and you will be able to buy these that are flown from your ipad/iphone. You'll pull up a Google Map which will show where it currently is, and you'll draw a map with your finger of where you would like to fly, and your flight path will be limited by the amount of power/fuel it has remaining to get home. They will have collision avoidance built into them, and be able to be told to loiter in a spot, video or take pictures, etc. You won't have to fly it or land it - it will do all that by itself.

I suspect you are right that the majority of these will be "disposable" toys that will be flown for a month or two until some catastrophic failure and then the kids who got them for presents won't have the money to put into fixing them, and Mom or Dad won't be into fixing the disposable toy, either, and that will be that.

But I also think you are going to see sinister things done with these things, and it's going to be easy to do. And it's only going to take one high-profile case to bring down the hammer.

Steve

skylark-flier

Fine, no problem actually. I've got a gun, and I've seen thousands of killings on TV news, and not once has any kind of law enforcement come to me to bring down the hammer. They look for the GUILTY party.

It'll be the same with model aircraft.

HoundDog

My Feedback: (49)

Maybe U could register as a SEMI Experimental air craft and have obtain an Airworthiness Certificate an "N" number and provide a POH including Weight and Ballance INFO, Emergency Procedures, for Engine failure, On board Fire or Maybe Ditch instructions in order to fly your Pride and Joy Just like the Full Scale Experimental builders do.

radfordc

My Feedback: (14)

What....I've been flying experimental aircraft for 20 years and now you tell me I have to have a POH! Who knew!

Actually, I know that such a thing isn't a requirement.

dirtybird

My Feedback: (5)

I don't plan to register. I have my AMA number on my A/C and that is all I am ever going to do.
I think the reason they have this rule is to be able to slap a fine on someone they catch flying where they should not be flying.
Before all they could do is say don't do that.

radfordc

My Feedback: (14)

I think the chance of you ever getting questioned is minuscule. But, I can't see any down side to the registration process. After serving a career in the military, following the rules must be ingrained in me.

jmiles1941

I go to church with a captain at the sheriffs dept Houston County Warner Robins GA he has told me the sheriff and local authorities are going to be enforcing the law , I wouldn't chance it for a minute not worth the 12,500 to 250,000 fine and 3 years in jail oh well I am not worried cause I registered

jmiles1941

[h=1]Advocacy Updates with UAS Registration[/h]As you know, we have been working with our legal counsel and the FAA to find a solution for our members on the registration rule. To date, FAA has agreed in principle to several proposed initiatives that will help ease this process for our members. Specifically, they are:

• AMA and the FAA are working to streamline the registration process for AMA members whereby those who register with the FAA will be able to use their AMA number as the primary identification on their model aircraft, as opposed to adding a new federal registration number.

• In addition, AMA members’ federal registration will automatically renew provided membership remains active and current. We are working with FAA in negotiating the renewal fee, but in any case it is envisioned the renewal process will be provided as a member benefit.

• In the future, federal registration will automatically be accomplished upon joining the AMA, eliminating the need to register with both AMA and the FAA.

These initiatives are a step in the right direction. However, we want to emphasize that this is not the end of our efforts to protect AMA members from this overreaching regulation. We are continuing to explore all legal and political options available, but these conversations may take time and a definitive solution is unlikely before the February 19 registration deadline.
Currently, registration is free of charge until January 19. If you would like to take advantage of this free period, you may want to register before that day. But please note that you have until February 19 to register in order to avoid violating the federal rule. You can register at www.faa.gov/uas/registration/ or by calling (844) 244-3565.
We also want to encourage our members to submit comments to the FAA about the registration rule. It is critical that all AMA members are heard loud and clear on this issue. The deadline for submitting comments is Friday, January 15. Additional instruction is available here.
Thank you for your patience as we work to find the best path forward on registration. We are committed to doing everything possible to protect our hobby and ensure that future generations have the opportunity to fly.

read line 7 in the future when you register with AMA it will register you with the FAA AMA knows they have no chance at this !!!

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

The pressure to "jump the gun" and register early is so intense..!
I just don't know how much longer I can hold out.

HoundDog

My Feedback: (49)

I fly with a Retired Sheriffs Lieutenant and a current Sheriffs deputy. Both say they don't have time to bother with TOY Drones unless some one Uses one to rob a bank, 7-11 or do a drive by Murder.

HoundDog

My Feedback: (49)

Go For IT there Mr. Combat. U get Your 5 bucks back to FEED MAW KEEEIDS..

jmiles1941

well they will be breaking the law "no one is above the law"