FAA ready to ruin RC aircraft hobby

Yeah. I have been on the AMA's site quite a bit. I still have not joined. There is a small RC club here in Jacksonville and the AMA membership is mandatory to fly at the field.. For the time being I just go out in the middle of a field and fly where no one is around. I think the problem is going to wind up being all the people getting cheap aircraft, and doing dumb things with them. Here's an assemblance of videos from a safety forum at another site I am a member of.. THESE are the people that will drive further regulation than what they are even talking about in the article. http://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=149589
 
As a former member of the AMA, and a RC flyer, I felt the need to comment on this thread. The FAA has been looking into the control of RC flying for quite a while now, with some very good reasons. I do feel, however, that no matter what rules they pass, it will be for nothing, as if someone wants to do something evil or bad with an RC aircraft, all the rules in the world won't matter. RC flying technology has vastly improved over the last several years with the advent of smaller and more advanced equipment now available "off the shelf" so to speak. Many RC flyers have delved into RPV and some have even tied in pre-programmed flights utilizing GPS, all for probably less that $1000 or so. Yes, they are using rather small(er) planes, but to up-size to something that could hold a significant bigger "package" doesn't take much imagination or technical ability, if you are already familiar with the standard size planes. I have even flown a few of my own planes with various cameras attached, and recorded video for my own pleasure. Many RC people are now earning money doing this very same thing. Unfortunately, all it takes is one knucklehead like this guy in the attached video link to give the whole operation a bad name and to make authorities take a much closer look at what is going on. All the videos linked previously are dealing with choppers, but the real issue is with RPV and planes, especially those that are being flown while "out of sight" of the actual pilot. Unfortunately, it has become a very fast growing area of RC, which has caused the governing body of flying here in the USA (FAA) to clamp down on the hobby. Take a look at this video, and remember, no harm was done, but just imagine the possibilities...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9cSxEqKQ78
 
Per the FAA currently you cannot operate a UAV or RC aircraft commercially (for hire or profit) in the NAS without a COA. Private COA's were stopped being granted over 2 years ago. The only COA's for UAV flights (either autonomous or remotely flown) in the NAS are granted to those with a public entity sponsoring them (i.e law enforcement, DARPA, the military, a local municipality, et. al.)

In order to fly an unmanned aircraft for hire (no matter what size) in the NAS you either have the COA or an airworthiness certificate. Once you cross the line from sport/hobby/recreation to flying for profit the FAA wants to be involved.

So, the guy taking real estate photos with his RC heli is probably breaking the FAA regs. the guy doing crop surveillence with his fixed wing with a video camera underneath is also breaking the law........provided they don't have a COA or Airworthiness Cert.

If you want to fly your UAV without a COA or Airworthiness Cert for hire/profit you have to do it in restricted airspace and work it out with the owner of that restricted airspace.

The problem the FAA will have is trying to enforce any sort of FAR's they may create. The only 'punishment' the FAA can actually mete out is to revoke or suspend someone's license. It will be up to criminal courts to seek punitive damages IF someone is caught.

The other factor to consider is that the majority of RC pilots could care less about breaking the regs. Not everyone that flies RC is a member of the AMA. There's no requirement to join.

I've been flying RC for over 30 years and involved with UAV flight test for over 10 years . There are way more people out there going 'cowboy' with their UAV flight ops. They know the rules and willfully disregard them. I know for a fact they are and have mentioned it to them. They knowing acknowledge the rules but continue to operate around those rules.

There are over 200 small companies trying to market UAV's/UAS's. The majority of these are garage/basement businesses started by guys involved with RC. They don't have the wherewithal or resources to go the laborious legal route so they operate on the fringe and hope they don't get caught.

Another fact is the FAA doesn't understand small UAV's (RC plane type). They can understand a UAV like the Predator but when you put a small RC/UAV in front of them they just don't know what to do. It was painfully obvious when we tried to get several of our certified with an airworthiness certificate. You have to present the same level of documentation for a small RC sized UAV as you would any manned aircraft. The problem is you are trying to compare apples to oranges. But the FAA does not want to change the way they do things. They want you to conform to their long established paradigm.

The fear is any rules the FAA passes down to sport RC flying will be onerous and burdensome. There's also the likelihood RC pilots will ignore the rules and fly at their own peril.

There will be no easy solution now that the government is involved.

-G-
 
I guess New ,Prohibitive regulations are good for the masses..with logical Ryme and Reason ,they extract from one what someone likes ,or does....this not to include braking existing laws!.Take smoking? Micky "Ds" ,PLEASE!
But for the greater good,safety,and what ever is popular today,THINGS get eroded!.

No more cowboy and Indian games,or cops and robbers by kids...for its now deemed a menace....such is our Brave new world.....hope rubber-band propulsion is not prohibited in stick,Glue,dope models..for ya see those INGREDIENTS can kill ya,Worse the plane can Poke yer eye out!

All this of course is a matter of whose OX gets gored!...we ALL have OX's ya know,and when our personnel OX.gets GORED..We too, Will Yell Like a Stuck hog!<label for="rb_iconid_19">
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They could just outlaw them altogether. Which is my main concern. Seeing as all it would take is for some idiot to kill someone through their negligence to bring this into the public spotlight. Or someone to see a video like the one buzzing through NYC to whip people up into a frenzy. I didn't even realize people were making UAV ones with camera's and stuff. I saw the little toy UAV helicopter's with camera they sell in Wal-Mart for $60. Didn't think anyone mounted them to the full size RC planes though.
 
It seems as if every time the FAA does something nice and/or creative, like the LSA Category for pilots, it has to balance itself out by shi##ing on somebody else. As a former balsa chopper and AMA member my sentiments are with the RC'ers. All the way. LA
 
Roadburner440 said:
They could just outlaw them altogether. Which is my main concern. Seeing as all it would take is for some idiot to kill someone through their negligence to bring this into the public spotlight. Or someone to see a video like the one buzzing through NYC to whip people up into a frenzy. I didn't even realize people were making UAV ones with camera's and stuff. I saw the little toy UAV helicopter's with camera they sell in Wal-Mart for $60. Didn't think anyone mounted them to the full size RC planes though.
Click to expand...


Just take a look at some of the threads in this forum.


Thttp://www.rcgroups.com/uav-unmanned-aerial-vehicles-238/

This will give you an idea of what is really going on in this area of RC. It's really neat, but obviously it has the FAA and Homeland Security's interest to say the least. I think "Lateral-G" has done an excellent job summing up a portion of what's going on, and it appears he has some involvement with the AMA's dealings with the FAA. I used to work for the FAA, and they, like all other government agencies, are just a ponderous entity that will most likely pass some rule/regulation that for the most part will be ignored by the general RC flying population. Except, of course, around major metropolitan areas. I live in rural GA, and believe me when I tell you, many things can go on out here that no one knows anything about. Hard to bother people when there aren't any to bother!!!
 
I remember about 30 years ago, when I had a solar zeppelin from a German kids magazin (Yps). It looked just like a large bin liner until you inflated it. 3 meters long x 1 meter diameter. The material was ultra thin black aluminium foil, that in sunlight heated the air inside and made it 'fly'.
Obviously I was not the only person to have bought this, but hundreds of thousands of other kids enjoyed it!
But not air traffic controllers!
Hundreds got lost in controlled airspace, and showed up on the radar, causing major disruptions. Finally they got banned!
A shame really, I would like one today...:icon_lol:
 
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